My First 30 footer - La Poza Azul

My journey to the Poza Azul began on a dreary afternoon here in San Jose. It was raining, I had nothing to do for the next few days, and I wanted to go kayaking. I got my gear together (which was still wet from the Pacuare the day before) and set off to the bus station. The first bus I took was to a town called Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui. Once in Sararpiqui, I then took another bus to a nearby town called La Virgen. Once I was in La Virgen, I took a taxi to Sarapiqui Outdoor Center, where I stayed for the night.

La Virgen is famous for two things: the first is a chuch just outside of town where Ticos from all over the country gather on the first of every month to see miraculous appearances of the Virgin Mary. The other point of interest in La Virgen is the sicko whitewater.

The Sarapiqui river runs right through the center of town, and a major economic stimulant for Gringos that go rafting every day on the class III-IV river. Besides the Sarapiqui, there are several smaller creeks that fuel the main river, and these little creeks have some of the best whitewater in Costa Rica.

My plan was to stay at the Sarapiqui Outdoor Center (SOC) Friday night and do some creeking on Saturday. So when I arrived at the SOC and found that I was currently the only customer, the owner, David Duarte offered to show me around town. This was great chance to experience the Costa Rican nightlife with a native Tico, it was a world different than the American nightlife. I found myself really tired and returned to the SOC to wake up in the morning to the smell of breakfast.

After breakfast, David and I went to La Cataracta Poza Azul (Blue Pool Waterfall). This was the closest thing to a park-n-huck in Costa Rica. Except it wasn’t a park-n-huck. It was more like a drive-n-payafarmertousehisland-n-hike-n-scramble-n-climb-n-huck. But when we finally arrived at the Poza Azul, I was awestruck by its beauty.

I had never seen such a beautiful, straightforward, clean, 30 footer in my life. When you look at this drop, it just begs you to run it. After a scouting for a few minutes, I jumped in my boat and above the drop and for a second, I just sat there taking everything in. This was definitely the biggest drop I have ever thought about running, and to be sitting in the eddy, about to peel-out, I had a crazy feeling. I thought back to when I used to go cliff jumping at an old rock quarry, when I would stand there looking down, wondering if I should really jump or not. When you peel-out of that eddy, you don’t have much of a choice to stop – you’re going to do it whether you like it or not.

David went to the other side of the river to take pictures, and when he was set up to go, I peeled-out.

When I went over the lip, I was suspended in the air long enough to process a couple thoughts and take in the experience. It was such a great feeling.

When I was about to land, I remembered that I was supposed to put my paddle to the side of the boat to plug it, it was a good thing I remembered at the last second…

After I resurfaced, I yelled a loud “PURA VIDA!!!” and I was all smiles

After I climbed back up to the top, I gave David all my gear and he suited up and ran the drop as well. When I took the picture of him, it looked like he was inside the waterfall, so it’s a little hard to see him.

Right after he ran the drop, four other kayakers showed up and they ran it as well. I ended up becoming friends with those four guys and I found out that they live really close to me here in San Jose. I also found out that they run a rafting company on the Lower Pacuare River and they offered me a chance to go with them for free anytime I needed a shuttle. This was a good offer because the Lower Pacuare is one of the most beautiful runs here in Costa Rica.

We ran the drop again and took lots of pictures of our new friends and before we left.

(pulling the gear back up)

After we left, we paddled from the Poza Azul out to the Upper Sarapiqui river and had a short paddle down to the take out. At the take out rapid, there was a slalom course set up for a raft race later that day, we changed our clothes and watched the race before I returned to San Jose.

Overall, this is by far the best thing I have done so far here in Costa Rica. This was such a fun trip and I felt such a good vibe coming from the Rio Sarapiqui area. I am definitely going back soon.

Also, I have to throw a muchas gracias to my man David “Sombrilla” Duarte at Sarapiqui Outdoor center for setting safety and photography, as well as hooking me up with a place to stay. I would also like to throw a big PURA VIDA out to my new amigos that I met at the waterfall: Miguel, Daniel, and Albert.

Bienvenidos a Costa Rica - The Lower Pacuare River

So I was finally able to go kayaking yesterday for the first time in Costa Rica. I have been here for about 5 days now, so I figured I would start out easy on the Lower Pacuare. This river is similar to the Ocoee in the southeast. It is the most commercially rafted river here in Costa Rica and the rapids are not super difficult. It is also that "one run" that you need to do if you are kayaking in Costa Rica.

My day began around 5:30 when I woke up to take the bus to Turrialba (Costa's version of Asheville). I arrived in Turrialba around 8:30 and I went over to Rainforest World, a rafting company owned and operated by West Virginian, Phil Colman. I met up with the crew that was going rafting and Phil let me use his Wavesport Forplay to run the river. For those unfamiliar with the forplay, here it is:
This superslicy playboat was a revolutionary boat of its time, but that time was a long time ago, so there were a few surprises when I tried to play around with the boat. This thing was a lot different than the boat I'm used to (the Fluid Solo), so it was a little shaky at first.

Speaking of things that were shaky, you should have seen this shuttle ride. It was pretty sketchy, especially in a truck loaded with 7 ticos, 2 kayaks, and 3 rafts. Imagine the shuttle on the Cheat river, but much rougher...



Anyway, once we got underway, I found myself in a beautiful gorge with endless whitewater and scenery. It seemed like I noticed a waterfall pouring into the river midway through every single rapid, it's a great way to get distracted.


The river itself is 16 miles long, so it made for a very long day. We stopped for lunch near an indigeonous village and dined among the wild pigs and chickens that were trying to eat our food...
From the river, I was able to see a lot of thatched roofs and indigenous dwellings, and I felt like I was alone out there in the middle of nowhere in this deep gorge, but it's a little erie when you know you are being watched...


The rapids on the river were not too difficult. I like to compare this stretch of river to a mix between the Middle Ocoee and the Lower Gauley; easy enough to have fun (and paddle a throwback boat), but difficult enough to keep your attention.



The best part of the river was a section called Canon Dos Montanas (Two Mountains Canon), this is a box canyon that is almost as deep as it is long. The indigenous tribes say that the spirt of the river lives in these walls. The best part of the canon is that there are multiple waterfalls dropping hundreds of feet into the river and you are able to paddle up to these waterfalls and get a little refreshing shower.

After a long day on the river, we arrived at the take out, where we were greeted with lots of native wildlife.

Las Mariposas (picture just for Emilia)

I guess the iguanas here just chill in the sun the same way we do, this guy had to be 3 feet long!!!

More is yet to come from Costa Rica. I have started to make some plans to run some more serious whitewater in the coming weeks. Hopefully I will get to do all the runs I want, but if not, I guess I am just going to have to come back again!

Pura Vida Amigos!!!

Pura Vida Costa Rica!

Hello Friends,

I still haven't posted much on this blog yet, but that is soon to change. In a week, I'll be jumping on a plane and flying south to San Jose, Costa Rica,where I will live for the next three months. I'll be studying the Spanish language at a university in San Jose. I'm hoping that to take this as an opportunity to learn about a new culture as well as paddle some great whitewater.

You'll hear from me soon, but for now, I'll leave you with some pictures of what I've been up to this summer...



Matt looks on while Brandon Nessler stays dry on the Saluda River in Columbia, SC



Matt Porter looks for answers on the Saluda Riverbed


Don Lowery boofin' big at Boatbuster, Wilson Creek, NC


My little bro Chris, stylin' the French Broad


Matt at the US National Whitewater Center


Adam Johnson cleaning the falls at Big Splat, Lower Big Sandy Creek, WV


And one more shot of Matt below Gorilla on the Green River Narrows... what a day! (Photo by Rob Tompkins)