Hi Jane and Arthur!

Thanks so much for your interest in our rafting tour discounts! I can certainly answer your questions for you. 🙂

The exact duration of the rafting tour depends on several factors, including the amount of rain (if any) the region receives the night before the rafting tour, which influences river levels and the speed at which rafting tours run. On average, though, the river trip ends around 2:00pm-2:30pm. Usually, rafters gather at a central meeting place at the end of the river trip (a headquarters of sorts that’s owned by the rafting tour company–the rafting tour company we recommend has their headquarters in Siquirres), where they can change their clothes, buy souvenirs (including photos of the day’s rafting journey), and board the tourism van that’s headed back to their destination. The vans usually get on the road about 3:00pm-3:30pm, but again, this time can vary significantly depending on several factors.

Travelers who don’t want to use the tour operator’s tourism van are welcome to drive themselves to and from the tour operator’s headquarters. From the scenario you explained, it sounds like you ideally want a combination of using the tour operator’s transportation (before the tour) and driving yourself (after the tour). This is certainly possible; the 3 people in your group who want to raft can use the tour operator’s transportation to get to the rafting tour headquarters, and then you can pick up those individuals at the headquarters later in the day after the rafting tour has finished. Though this plan is possible, it will cause you to waste a few hours of drive time backtracking. That’s because when you drive from La Fortuna to Siquirres (where the headquarters is located), you’ll later need to backtrack along part of that same route to get to San Jose and continue on to Manuel Antonio.

If you’d rather not waste the drive time, as an alternative option, you can plan to meet up with the 3 group members at a set place in San Jose. Since the rafting tour can include transportation between La Fortuna and San Jose, the 3 rafters in your group can take the tour operator’s van from La Fortuna to the river, go rafting, then take the van on to San Jose. If you plan to meet up with the rafters in San Jose, you’ll only need to make the trip between La Fortuna and San Jose (an approximate 3-hour drive) as opposed to from La Fortuna to Siquirres and Siquirres to San Jose (an approximate 5-hour drive).

Meeting up in San Jose would be a great option if you’re able to spend the night there. We typically don’t recommend travelers make lengthy drives after dark (it gets dark around 6:00pm), so it would be great to stop in the city, spend the night, and continue driving to Manuel Antonio the next morning to avoid making the 3-hour drive from San Jose to Manuel Antonio after dark, especially after you’ve already spent several hours on the road.

With respect to the different rafting tour operators, you’re right, some have headquarters in Siquirres and some have headquarters in Turrialba, but all raft the same section of the river. Their “put in” and “take out” (i.e., the places where they enter and exit the river) may be slightly different, but the majority of the river trip is the same. All pass by the waterfall, through the canyon, experience the same top rapids, etc.

Lastly, in case you’re interested in further reading about rafting in Costa Rica, don’t miss our related blog posts:

Pacuare River Rafting Tour: https://costaricatravelblog.com/pacuare-river-rafting-tour/

Your Costa Rica Rafting Questions Answered: https://costaricatravelblog.com/costa-rica-rafting-tour-questions/

Pura vida! 🙂