COSTA RICA KAYAK SCHOOL

Previously limited to a privileged few, the sport of whitewater kayaking is quickly gaining popularity as more instructors are certified around the world. Improved safety standars and modern kayak design make it possible for a wider range of people to learn the fundamentals of paddling and river navigation. To learn how to kayak requires sustained dedication, sacrifice and yes, even a bit of courage. The rewards are MONUMENTAL!

WHAT IS A KAYAK?

Most kayaks today are made of plastic, with a cockpit seating that provides multi-pointadjustments. To seal the cockpit the paddler wears a neoprene skirt that snaps around the lip making it virtually waterproof. This provides the kayaker with the option to completely go upside down and roll back up, without taking on water or abandon his boat. This said, the first thing you must learn to safely paddle a kayak down a river is the ‘eskimo roll’.

JOIN THE FRATERNITY!

Kayaking is great traveling sport as paddlers can take their skills anywhere. The whitewater community has always been known to be a supportive and friendly group of people, making it super easy to meet friends and join paddling groups. Due to the nature of the sport it’s not uncommon for exceptional friendships and life-long bonds forming amongst paddling friends.

IS IT DIFFICULT TO LEARN?

Is it hard to learn as with most outdoor adventure sports, like surfing or skiing, kayaking is not something you can master overnight. The more hours on the water generally equal better performance and a faster learning curve . The beginning of learning process focused strongly around developing a solid eskimo roll. That usually marks a before and after’ point. Most of our students are able to successfullyroll in flat water after 1 lesson and most students are able to safely paddle class II rapids after 3 or 4 lessons.

THE REWARD

Wheter your kayaking down a gentle mountain stream or it’s your maiden voyage down class IV, whitewater kayaking instills a feeling of thrill and self-accomplshment difficult to describe. Past students have claimed that kayaking not only gave them a fantastic opportunity to enjoy the outdoors but it also helped them individually by considerably improving their level self-confidence and spiritual awareness. For many boaters, kayaking has changed their lives completely.

THE CLASSROOM

The Pejibaye River is a clean, beautiful mountain stream that offers scenic class I-III rapids ideal for novice or intermediate students. The river has several calm stretches with soft currents just perfect for real setting roll practice and basic paddling technique instruction. The river is located south of Turrialba about 30 minutes by vehicle.

WHAT WE TEACH AND WHAT WE PREACH

CRKS instructors teach beginner and intermediate level whitewater kayaking skills. The two main areas of instruction are 1) Paddling technique and 2) river navigation skills. Some courses are customized and focus on specific requests like the eskimo roll or playboating tricks or self-rescue methods. Regardless of the lesson, CRKS’s chore philosophy places safety and personal’ enjoyment’ as top objetives. Bottom line, if you are not smiling we’re not doing our job. CRKS’s tourism oriented background has resulted in a high sense of customer care. We have a profound respect for people that decide to invest their money and recreation time with us, and we strive to show our appreciation always.