Canyoneering is a new sport which is becoming increasingly popular in Costa Rica. Canyoneering is defined as rappelling using technical mountain-climbing gear, hiking and downclimbing in a river canyon.

The sport got its start with early European mountain climbers using specialized climbing gear to rappel down and the sport quickly spread throughout the world and is all the rage in the American Southwest, such as in and around Zion National Park in Utah.

According to members of the US-based American Canyoneering Association, the Lost Canyon Adventures canyoneering site has a rating of “3BRII”:

3=Intermediate Canyoneering
B=Mostly Wet Surfaces
R=Partly Risky Descents
II=Activity is done in half-day

It’s equivalent to a class 3-4 river for rafting – it’s like the Río Toro of canyoneering!

In most parts of the world, canyoneering is done in mountain canyons with flowing water. In the US, descending wet mountain canyons is sometimes referred to as canyoneering, while descending non-flowing desert canyons is often referred to as canyoning.

Much of the canyoning done in the US occurs in the dry slot canyons carved in the sandstone found around the Colorado Plateau. Outside the Colorado Plateau, in upper sections of flowing river canyons, there are numerous wet-canyon canyoneering opportunities.

Here in Costa Rica, we continue to explore new canyons. It’s not uncommon for members of the rafting community to become canyoneering enthusiasts and instead of going downriver, they start searching upriver to go canyoneering!

And recently the owners of Desafío, Suresh and Christine, encountered one of the coolest canyoneering excursions – the “Jumping Canyon.”

The Jumping Canyon can be chosen as a private, full-day excursion. This canyon is deep in the mountainside with think jungle all around.

To set out on the expedition, we require you have some rappelling and canyoneering experience. There is a fairly intense hike to get to the first waterfall – we will rappel about a 30-foot waterfall and follow along the river bed and descend approximately 10 other waterfalls by jumping from one deep pool to the next. This is an unforgettable journey into deep wilderness – push your limits of adventure! Just go ahead and… Jump!