Getting Wet and Wild, Whitewater Rafting in Baños, Ecuador

written by local expert Anna Faustino

Anna is a co-founder of Adventure in You and has been traveling the world for the last 9 years. She has spent time living in Thailand, Mexico, Indonesia, and Spain and is our local expert in these areas. Her expertise on travel, gear, and building businesses have been featured on Foundr, Business Insider, Yahoo Travel, and more.

Along with canyoning, whitewater rafting in Baños is one of the must do activities. People flock here to get wet down the River Pastaza. Over the last couple of years, Tom and I have done our fair share of whitewater rafting. We’ve rafted in the USA, around the UK, and in Indonesia but nothing prepared us for the rapids in Baños, Ecuador.

Whitewater Rafting with GeoTours

After our day of Canyoning with GeoTours, we knew we had to go with them again. In fact, we signed ourselves up for four more days of extreme adventures with them. We were so impressed by the level of service that we received and felt completely safe and secure during the entire time. When we got to the starting point of the rafting, we saw so many other tour companies, but GeoTours was the only one which had an emergency kayaker. The emergency kayaker was there to take photos of us (which GeoTours gives to customers for free!) and to rescue anyone who gets thrown overboard. So not only did we feel extra safe, we also ended up with really awesome photos and videos from the trip (as you will see)  A group of people white water rafting

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Our Experience White Water Rafting in Baños

Like the previous day, we started off in the GeoTours office where we got issued wetsuits, helmets, and shoes. Soon, we found ourselves on the bus heading towards the rafting point. We had two GeoTour guides with us, one to steer and command each boat. As soon as we got to the starting point of the river, we were given the chance to change into our gear before we got a safety briefing. Unlike other safety briefings that we had received, this was by far one of the most comprehensive. Our guide William gave us different options on what to do if we ever went overboard. He taught us how to rescue our fellow rafters if needed, and overall just explained everything really well. Like I said, every rafting expedition of GeoTours has an emergency kayaker so we were also taught rescue positions for that if needed. Soon, we were on board ready to begin our adventure.

Read: What the Hell Does Adventure Mean? A group of people white water rafting

The River Pastaza

The River Pastaza was powerful and strong, giving us a range of class III and IV rapids.  There were a few minutes where we cruised along peacefully, but overall, the rapids provided a great deal of adrenaline. Our guide William was awesome! He pumped our team up, gave excellent commands, and steered us through fun rapids the whole time. Together with a mother and daughter duo, we paddled through fun but intense rapids which we were more than happy about. Tom and I were having the time of our lives paddling through monster waves.  To be perfectly honest, there were some huge waves where we genuinely thought our raft was going to flip over! It was awesome!!!

There were moments where the emergency kayaker would position himself in different parts of the river in order to take videos of us  and the other raft that we were with, as we went through these huge rapids! There were even portions of the river where we surfed the rapids with our raft. Although the whole experience was very adrenaline fueled, during those calm moments, we couldn’t help but marvel at our surroundings. Imagine rafting through this lush green canyon as the sun blazed on down. It was incredible! You could also see the stark contrast in scenery as we slowly paddled our way towards the Amazonian side of the forest.

Related: Best White Water Rafting in Southeast Asia A group of people white water rafting

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What You Need to Bring for this day of Whitewater Rafting

  • Swimsuit
  • Towel
  • Change of clothes
  • Sunscreen

Apart from those things, GeoTours provides everything else including all the safety equipment and lunch. Again, the lunch, which was given, was delicious providing us with an option between beef, fish, chicken, or vegetarian.  A group of people white water rafting

The Cost of Whitewater Rafting with GeoTours

For the updated pricelist of the rafting cost, head on to GeoTours website/office in Baños. Please be weary that although some agencies would offer it for a couple of dollars cheaper, I strongly recommend going with GeoTours based on the fact that they have better safety precautions set in place. Between the emergency kayaker and the well-experienced guides, we would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone.

Website | Contact GeoTours

Overall Experience Whitewater Rafting in Baños

Overall, we loved our time rafting in Baños. It definitely has been our favorite white water rafting experience to date. The challenge of the rapids, along with the fun and enthusiastic guide, we had a blast! We often found ourselves grinning from ear to ear as we finished each challenging rapid and obstacle! If you are in Baños and are having doubts whether you should try it, do yourself a favor and book a whitewater rafting experience now!

Read: Things to Do in Baños

Please note that despite receiving complimentary services from GeoTours, all opinions are ours and remain completely unbiased.
A group of people white water rafting


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