Just a few ABD Costa Rica questions

[gmc824]

My 18yo daughter and I will be leaving on the Costa Rica adventure in just over two weeks, and I have a couple questions for anyone that's been.

1. For the white water rafting, what is the most recommended footwear? Water shoes, sandals with heel strap, etc.? I have a pair of hiking shoes that are waterproof, but socks may still get wet and be uncomfortable the rest of the day.

2. How much cash did you bring, and was it USD or local currency? I know the guides can be tipped in cash, and I believe there are one or two meals on your own. For everything besides tips for guides, can most be taken care of by credit card?

3. For the zip-lining, I am 5'9'' and right at the listed weight limit. If anyone was close to the limit, do you know if they weigh you there, or is it more being able to fit in the equipment? I've lost about 30 lbs. leading up to this trip and still have a couple weeks to go, but I just want to be sure I can participate. This is one of the days my daughter and I are looking forward to the most.

Any additional information is greatly appreciated (time on the bus, your favorite parts of the adventure, etc.). Thanks in advance for any responses!!!

 

[DCPhotoGal]

I used Chacos with a toe big toe loop for white water rafting.
I don't remember the money... I don't think we needed much.
As for the weight, I don't remember being asked for a weight. I am guessing the weigh limit is an estimation to fit in the harness. I will warn, however, that the heavier you are the more you need to be careful about putting on the breaks at the bottom so you don't come into the wall too fast. My daughters were super light and didn't pick up as much speed as my husband and I did. There was one woman on our trip with bad hips and she wasn't able to ride because of the stress the landings would have put on them.

 

[TeeKo]

Water shoes. You want something fairly streamlined to shove into the raft foothold. I had my toes uncovered and it was pretty uncomfortable. I really prefer when I’ve worn water shoes to raft. They sold water shoes there for like $15 if you didn’t pack any. And they let you jump in the water. Hiking boots may get heavy!

We packed a few hundred dollars not including tip money. Using a credit card was no problem. There was only one time we were told cash only but it was like for ice cream or something little.

Consider Yoga pants for zip lining. I don’t remember if they weighed us but no one of any size seemed to be turned away or excluded. They seemed more concerned with the younger ones not weighing enough. They harnessed my son to another child in the group to increase their mass.

This trip is awesome. We went in March and loved it

 

[Jess_S]

This is not an ABD specific response, but you don't really need local currency in Costa Rica. Most every place takes US dollars, though your change will be in colons. Credit cards are also fairly widely accepted.

 

[carpenta]

I would suggest that you don't wear the hiking boots while you do the rafting trip. The crocodiles really get annoyed when they have to bite through those heavy boots. There are crocodiles in the rivers in Costa Rica and on our trip they just stared at us as we floated by.

 

[sayhello]

I would suggest that you don't wear the hiking boots while you do the rafting trip. The crocodiles really get annoyed when they have to bite through those heavy boots. There are crocodiles in the rivers in Costa Rica and on our trip they just stared at us as we floated by.

Sayhello

 

[DCPhotoGal]

I would suggest that you don't wear the hiking boots while you do the rafting trip. The crocodiles really get annoyed when they have to bite through those heavy boots. There are crocodiles in the rivers in Costa Rica and on our trip they just stared at us as we floated by.

Ha! Carpenta's not kidding about crocs in the water... when we went with ABD last April we were told there were baby crocs in the water that we rafted in. I was surprised to hear that the groups this year were able to jump in the water... must have switched rafting locations.

 

[TeeKo]

Ha! Carpenta's not kidding about crocs in the water... when we went with ABD last April we were told there were baby crocs in the water that we rafted in. I was surprised to hear that the groups this year were able to jump in the water... must have switched rafting locations.

We were rafting along with all our safety gear and come around the bend...to children, toddlers, swimming with their parents. It certainly diminished any sense of danger.
We were invited to jump in and there was no mention of any crocs.