Costa Rica Pacuare - January 2021 - Logistics

Access to the Top section on the Pacuare required a good 4WD, in places the roads were very steep and were just mud pack - I’d exercise caution if attempting this in or after heavy rain. Amazing Vacations Costa Rica can help with organising shuttles if needed. If you are uncertain about water levels it would generally be worth getting in touch with these guys for advice - jungle rain means rivers can come up quick, and they can stay high for several days after rain.

There is an old guidebook for Costa Rica called Chasing Jaguars. If you can’t get your hands on this then there is an American website somewhere (I can’t find it now) that gives the difficulty and GPS coordinates for all the sections described in the guidebook. Failing this the whitewater guide app has some useful info, and I’ve also recorded the co-ordinates of the get-ons and take-outs for the rivers I paddled:

Lower Pejibaye

Get-on: 9.785361, -83.718194

Take-out: 9.810861, -83.700639

Upper Pejibaye

Get-on: 9.780361, -83.719417

Take-out: 9.828732, -83.688522

Upper Upper Saripiqui

Get-on: 10.388306, -84.138444

Take-out: 10.449861,-84.063444

Upper and Lower Saripiqui

Get-on: 10.32075, -84.173889

Take-out: 10.447306, -84.094944

Top - Lower Pacuare

Get-on: 9.75027778, -83.50083333

Take-out: 10.09833333, -83.48638889