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Rafting - Costa Rica!!!

I'm not sure in what way to write about rafting in Costa Rica, as a rafting guide or as a tourist!
This is how it was, as I rafted down the river Reventazon as a tourist;
Actually, as a guide with another guide who showed me the way and told me about the river, my first impression was that in spite of the low depth of water, the river was so much bigger and stronger then I was used to rafting in Croatia. Very crazy, huge waves, big holes, dangerous lines...
By the way, my visit to Costa Rica wasn't just for pleasure. I went there for work. I started training and after that rafting on very demanding rivers. The first day I spent on the river Rio Reventazon, the water level was very high and two guides who worked on the river both had rafts capsize. The journey itself was very interesting and full of adrenalin.
But as I had enough courage to take that trip, continuing it was very
crazy. I have worked on many rivers, and one just can't say which one is the best. All of them are so powerful. Not everybody can work on one of the best rafting destinations, the selection of the guides is very strict and only the most capable get selected. People who are afraid of the river are out of selection no matter how skilful they are at rowing on a calm river.
Conclusion: If you have already tried rafting anywhere else in the world, when you come to Costa Rica- subconsciously before you go rafting say to yourself "I don't have experience in rafting" and accept the advice of the rafting guide as strongly as if it were the word of God.

Rafting guide has to be cold-blooded, calm, brave, with a great personality and a wide knowledge about nature. You might ask yourselves why all these qualities are necessary? A good guide must be able to calm scared tourists, Ensure tourists are relaxed and trained for the forthcoming challenges. He has to be able to talk about each plant and animal you can see while rafting and he also has to guide the boat expertly through the wild waters so the members of the crew will have confidence in him.

For a long time rafting was only a way to get from point A to point B. Even though during "new" rafting there is nothing much more involved than connecting pure lines and contra-flows while trying to reach the finish in only one attempt.

Other rowers on the wild water (canoers and kajakers) have known for a long time that waves can assure them a lot of entertainment and challenge.

Whether you row down the face of the wave slowly or you surf, both can help develop your skills. This excitement coming from the riding of wild water isn't something you can do on a raft boat with a standard bottom, but a similar boat with emptying systems can allow for such fun.

On a raft with a standard bottom it would not be possible to ride the waves as the raft would fill with water and navigating would become very difficult. Unequipped rafting boats with a team of rowers are better for a competition than shaped boats that can delay time during twisting out. While equipment is secured to the boat, rows lined up, and the crew equipped with helmets and life jackets. Before you decide to play with waves and rolls make sure you learn the difference between the waves you can play with and the ones you can't. If you know in advance what the river will do with your boat, it will help you to neutralize the effect of the river on your speed. Having in mind that twisting off is a normal occurrence during the competition, one should be skilled to return from the roll to the right side(bottom towards the river). You have to be an expert to maintain control of the boat in strong rivers.

Exploring rivers you haven't been rafting on before can be an outstanding experience. Some rafters are extremely attracted to this kind of trip, just as some travellers choose to drive on the local roads instead of highways. Exploring is a wild water challenge that presents you with the unknown testing your skills, intellect and courage. For exploring rafters, at least for the successful ones, you should be maximally equipped. Sometimes it takes much more time for planning than for rating itself (weeks, months and even years). If we do our best to learn all about the river and its surroundings, we will decrease the risks, even though some dangers are unavoidable while exploring the wildness and rafting down wild rivers.
Every rafting trip down an unexplored river has to be started by collecting all possible information. The first thing you should do is to get yourself a regional guide for the river you want to explore and get in touch with regional canoeing, kayaking or rafting clubs. Your expedition won't be the first, it will be the second, the third, the twentieth rafting on that particular river! After that, get yourself a topographic map- that is the most precious source you can have. While choosing the map, make sure you choose the most precise one because it's easier to see waterfalls on such maps.
Reading the map begins by determining the blue line that shows the river. A Fat line means a river with a high volume and a thin line means a small volume of water. The most numerable beds are those with the fall of 2-20 meters per kilometer. More extreme rivers have a fall of 20-40 meters per kilometer, but rafting on rivers with larger height difference is possible under rare conditions. Keep in mind that slow rivers can have sections with very wild dangerous water and waterfalls.

Rafting competitions are a dynamic and exciting sport for competitors and spectators. The excitement is greatest when the moves of the boats determine whether the raft stays upright or not. If the competitors want to go fast making small mistakes, they have to concentrate a lot. All the learnt and practiced skills they have gained must be at the forefront of their minds. In such situations one's skills or lack of skills becomes obvious. Rafting competitions have changed over time, also locations for competitions have also changed.

Today, almost every competition has one or more of the next disciplines:
- Sprint for the start position (doesn't bring any points)
- Slalom
- Spust: ability to travel in a straight path down the river

- sprint (cup system).

Some of the international competitions as one of disciplines have a competition in life saving skills and orientation. Slalom is the most fascinating and the most dramatic of all the disciplines. It is based on a standard canoe and kayaking competition and requires precise maneuvering through the door set on the river while at the same time a battle for speed. Competitors have to combine speed with perfect techniques because each door they touch or miss will lead to a time punishment that is added to their final time. Sprint or "head to head" is competition with cup system where the couples are chosen according to the results from the sprint for the start position. The team with the highest time is allowed to chose the starting posotion for both rafts. The fastest time to the finish, continues with the competition, while the team who lost is added time that is compared to the time of the other teams who lost. The result of this part of the competition is often determined in the first third of the river after the fight for better line.
Spust is the most pure form of rafting competition. This a marathon without the gates, judges at the door or additional punishment time. This is a competition against time where the team, with the fastest time wins. It demands psychological and physical skills combined with a solid ability to "read" the river. Competitions in life saving skills are very interesting. They are full of adrenalin. An example of a life saving skills competition would be to have a raft that must pass through 4 gates and then save a swimmer.

A book could be written about rafting competitions that would include a chapter about techniques, training, psychological and physical preparation, and equipment... In spite of that, each competition develops the physical and pyschological techniques of competitors. To achieve good results in competitions competitors must improve their skills, build up their muscles and choose the quickest rafting boat. Before the start of the race time must be spent studying the fastest path on the river.
Cooperation and discussion amongst the rafting team must be made before the start so that maneuvers can be made without additional instructions. The competitions' goal in slalom is to accomplish the best time without punishing seconds. Before the start signal, put your oars into rowing position to attain the best start possible. While waiting, don't squeeze thwe oars tight or you will loose energy.
The techniques of rowing upstream aren't much different to standard rafting. The rowers have to concentrate on making short, quick and strong moves and have to hold their heads up to
have wide visibility of the river. Because the end of the rowing motion can contribute to the speed of rowing, you have to shorten the move and start to return the row into the first position. You will achieve the best time in slalom competitions if you manover the raft smoothly from the gate to gate. That means that jerky and corrective rowing motions should be
avoided. The gate should be approached as concisely as possible while using wide rowing motions or pulling to adjust the position to avoid touching the gate.concentration should remain on the upcoming gate.
In spust competition avoid contra-streams, rolls and slow waters. For the waves mean speed! , make the line over the shoulder of the waves, and not over the crest of the waves. If you get a chance to be faster than the other boat, make sure you plan it very carefully. Don't waste your energy in trying to overtake another boat in slow water, rather choose a wide, fast channel with equally fast streams to overtake.

It would be crazy to try going down the five-meter waterfall before we practice on the shorter waterfalls. Mountain-ridges that water goes over, contain the same streams as a lot of higher waterfalls, so you can learn on them how the boat will react in the moment when the river disappears under the boat. Mountain-ridges in the form of the letter "L" often contain streams that go one over another. The sagged joint that is formed between streams can suck the boat in and throw it in an unwanted direction. Usually the best way to avoid wild drive is to go through the fall on the upper stream. On the rivers you can find falls in the form of the letter "V". If the stream isn't too confusing and if there's enough space inside the
depressed "V", you can go down the fall over the top of the "V". If the fall is in the form of elevated "V" (the top of the letter V is elevated), inside the "V" can be found rough things as well as in the "L" fall, so such a fall has to be passed on its right or left side. Inter-waved falls (if it's high, speed and sheer) can can really test your skills of keeping the raft upright. Often, convex pillows, unpredictable waves and diving streams will combine on a pile and resist the outside mountain-ridges of the fall. If you perform an overturn to the higher level on time in such situation you might avoid twisting off.

Each time a new place for rafting is attempted one of the biggest hurdles to be faced with is carrying heavy and bulky equipment through rugged turrain. If you're willing to make the effort, you might find a paradise for rowers on newly discovered wild waters. And if the river doesn't offer you exciting wild waters, you will be still be able to enjoy the untouched nature. There are many ways to carry a raft to the river. Boats with bottoms connected to the surrounding chambers can be disassembled as follows: the bottom, side chambers and the rest of the boat can be carried as seperate parts by members of the crew. A strong person can carry the bottom of the boat on his back and side chambers on his shoulders for a long distance. Alternatively a deflated raft can be wrapped around an oar and carried on sevearl shoulders. The rest of the equipment (sleeping bag, saving equipment and food) should be brought to the river as well. If you can carry equipment to the river for only a couple of kilometers at a time, think about using a day to carry the equipment and in the meantime make some pauses. If the river is too far away, you can try to carry the equipment in dry bags with shoulder pads that will help you carry the boat at the same time on your shoulders. Those who have too much equipment or a lot of money can use helicopters or animals to carry the equipment.

I organize rafting trips for both calm and wild waters. I would like to highlight a trip I lead on the "black" Pacuareu when I was unintentionally surfing during only one day in a very dangerous hole with another three swimmers. I handled the situation well and managed to get everyone to safety. One of the girls fainted, after recovering she was very reluctant to continue down the river - but I gently persuaded her. After that situation everyone worked hard and the trip ran smoothly until the last wild water called "Wild Mountains". We entered "Wild Mountains" without a lot of power and kicked to the huge hole that looked horrifying, the boat almost vertically turned over so we got of the hole very fast and had to get five swimmers back to the boat.

The statistics for this part of the river are that out of 11 boats 10 of them capsize (flip). An American who worked on the river of Colorado had 7 flips in the same day. What I'm trying to say is that a 100% concentration is required on every part of the wild water or ... say goodbye!!!

When it isn't tourist season, skippers hang out together and explore sections of the river that make your blood freeze. Going down the river on the boat in such situation is so coooooool.

Finally, please listen to my advice: A worm dies if it tries too hard to become a snake, which means if you don't have the nerve then don't force yourself!!!