La Fortuna: Sarapiqui Rafting & Organic Farm Tour

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/14

Duration6h–7h

GroupUp to 15

LanguagesEN · DA +1

PickupAt your hotel

Two hours on the Sarapiqui, then lunch where your food came from

You paddle Class II and III rapids on the Sarapiqui for two hours, stop for fresh fruit mid-run, then return to La Fortuna for an organic buffet lunch with a farm walk and sugarcane tasting. Hotel pickup and drop-off, professional guide, and safety gear are included. Photos are available for purchase from the guide.

6h–7h

Step-by-step itinerary

Rafting and organic farm visit

Use bathroom and change at office
Drive through La Fortuna town
Raft Sarapiqui river with fruit snack break
Drive back to La Fortuna
Enjoy organic buffet lunch
Walk and tour organic farm
Sugarcane juice and alcohol tasting

The Experience

The river is already moving when you arrive. You're standing at the water's edge in La Fortuna, Costa Rica, with a paddle in your hands and a guide checking your life jacket. The Sarapiqui River cuts through rainforest thick enough that the canopy blocks out half the sky, and the current here is real — Class II and III rapids, which means you're paddling, not just floating. Your guide calls out the rhythm. The water is cold and loud. Around the first bend, the forest closes in even tighter, and you stop thinking about anything except the next stroke.

About halfway down the two-hour run, the guide pulls the raft onto a sandbar and hands out fresh fruit — something local, something that tastes like it was picked this morning. Your arms are tired. The rainforest smells like wet earth and green things you don't have names for. Then you're back on the water, through the last set of rapids, and the river opens up. The takeout comes faster than you expected.

From the river, you drive back into La Fortuna town — you'll pass the church and the park on the way — and pull up to a two-story restaurant with a view of Arenal Volcano across the valley. Lunch is buffet style, all organic, all grown on the farm behind the building. Your guide walks you through the rows afterward, pointing out what you just ate: the vegetables, the fruit, the coffee they're about to brew for you. It's a small thing, but it lands different when you know where it came from. Then comes the sugarcane demonstration — they cut it fresh, press the juice, and if you want to try the alcohol version, they pour that too. By the time you're back at your hotel, the day has folded into something you'll actually remember.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel pickup and drop-off in La Fortuna, a professional guide, all safety equipment, a two-hour rafting trip on the Sarapiqui River with a fruit snack break, an organic buffet lunch at the restaurant, a walk through the organic farm, homemade coffee, and a sugarcane demonstration with juice and alcohol tasting. A photographer travels with the group and photos are available for purchase.

Good to know

Moderate physical levelNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problems

Operated by Costa Rica Descents

Is this one for you?Pick this if you want a half-day that combines real rapids with a real meal — the rafting and the farm lunch are both substantial enough to fill a morning or afternoon, and the pickup from your hotel means you don't have to navigate La Fortuna or figure out timing yourself.