Heather, Todd and I needed to check out all of the rivers for the Wet Planet itinerary. Following their airport hell, we drove to the Sarapiqui River, putting in at Pozo Azul Adventure Center. The putin below the bridge revealed more water than my last trip down, but still pretty rocky. We were all pretty happy to be on the water after the 3 hour drive from the airport to the Northern plains of Costa Rica.(Photo coming soon)
From the bridge you can see the first rapid. The river goes through a shallow boulder garden before dropping over a jumble of rocks toward the right wall. At low water the rapid is very shallow and you need to bash over many of the rocks as you go.
The river goes along for a bit before the next rapid. In this one, the whole river splits around an island. Go left and dodge the rocks and holes down this chute. Right down the middle is good, and there's a sweet boof over the hole half way down. (Photo coming soon) Below this rapid after the river reconnects there is a beautiful blue pool where you can often find local kids swimming.
About 1km downstream is the Class III rapid, Rocky Road. This is obvious as the river bends right and crashes into a large rocky wall. There are a few holes and rocks close to the wall, so you need to ferry left away from the wall to stay out of them. The rock wall may be slightly undercut, so stay off it. (Photo coming soon)
A bit down from this rapid is the Class III+ Superman. This rapid is obvious when the river has a small gravel bar with a large Y-shaped tree growing in the middle of the river. The channel splits here, and you need to go right of the tree. There is a narrow chute with a hole on the left side, so right is better. Down below the chute is a hidden rock at lower water that is too easy to crash into. Keep an eye out down below for this. (Photos coming soon)
The Sarapiqui then begins what we named The S Turns. This section has a number of bends that terminate in undercut walls, some with, some without pillows. All of the walls should be approached with caution, as they are undercut and are deceivingly powerful.(Photo coming soon)
The river splits again a bit downstream, and you can go either way. Left is good with a narrow channel that drops in next to a wall. Riding the pillow off this wall is fun, and there's another fun wave when it remeets the other channel.(Photo coming soon)
From here down its all good till the takeout. The takeout is on the river left under the first hanging bridge. There is a small parking area here, but don't leave your car here unattended. There are some crazy kids here who will try to take your stuff or dance around like monkeys. Weird.
This is an easy shuttle to hitch hike, and the people at Pozo Azul are super cool and will likely let you leave your car in their parking lot if you ask. Walk from the takeout 100m to the main road. Hitchhike to your left back to Hacienda Pozo Azul. The Tent Camp at Pozo Azul is reasonable and a nice place to crash for boating. Highly recommended. They also have a sweet canopy tour and other activities.
This is a fun stretch of river, especially with more water. After the run, we booked it up to the 28 foot Pozo Azul waterfall to check it out.(photos coming soon)
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