I took my Gnarwal on our family trip to Costa Rica this summer to paddle a few miles of the Rio Chirripo Pacifico near San Gerardo de Rivas. On this trip in the middle of the rainy season, the section of the Rio Chirripo I intended to run was way above my skill set to run solo, so I bailed. But later on the trip, I got a fun afternoon run on the much tamer but still fun Rio Uvita, located on the southern Pacific coast. I parked at the bridge in the town of Uvita and walked about 3 km on back roads to the river, where I floated back to the bridge. This is primarily a Class II section with a few large holes and ledges that could flip a boat:
Warning: Large (14-foot) crocodiles live just downstream of the bridge, where the river slows as it nears the ocean. Anyone trying this run should take out at the bridge or above.
Vamonos Baby! 