Rafting
Ecuador has a range of options so that you can practice rafting.
In Santo Domingo
Toachi
This is Ecuador's most popular rafting river as it is only 3 hours from Quito center. Located and provides fun-filled runs year long. Depending on the water level you might run the upper section (high water) or lower section with the famous Sapo Gorge and ending in Valle Hermoso.
Blanco
Running parallel and just north of the Toachi is the pristine Upper Río Blanco. If run in medium to high water the Upper Blanco is a rafting delight. Non-stop, continuous rapids keep the crew awake and having fun for the entire length of the trip. The scenery and surroundings of this trip are lush and beautiful. The best time to run this river is during the period from January through May. At other times the water levels of this river can get so low that you might find yourself lifting and pushing the raft over rocks. The drawback to the Upper Blanco is that it makes for too long a day of driving to make it an enjoyable 1-day trip. The ideal way to enjoy this river is to do a 2-day trip from Los Bancos to Valle Hermoso where you camp on the river.
In Amazon
Quijos
The Quijos river and its surrounding tributaries are heaven for whitewater pursuits and are located within a 30 km radius from El Chaco and houses grades from the more technical grade V down to grade III as well as level V in the Papallacta area. The highlight and largest plunge of 145m may be traversed over the San Rafael Falls, the largest waterfall in the country. March to September is the rainy season and along with its high flows attracts the expert rafters while the dry season is the best time for first timers as well as commercial rafting.
Napo
Big waves and pure fun! In almost every sense, this is as perfect a rafting river as could be asked for. It has the perfect combination of exciting rapids, calm pools, and exuberant jungle scenery. Being one of the two major sources that form the Amazon river itself, it always has plenty of water to be rafted year around.
Misahualli
Usually addressed as the Misahuallí River Experience, this is the most challenging rafting trip presently offered in Ecuador. It has some big class IV rapids, set in a deep and majestic canyon with virgin jungles all around it. The trip involves tackling a challenging gorge filled with back to back class IV rapids, portaging the rafts around a spectacular 30 foot waterfall and subsequently running the single biggest rapid commonly rafted in all of Ecuador called "the Land of the Giants" . This river can only be rafted from mid-October through mid-March of normal years. During other times of the year this river is typically to high to be run. It is an outstanding 1-day trip for people in good physical shape.
Pastaza
There are some accessible grade IV high level routes in a canyon running from Shell and the Puyo-Macas road bridge, in addition the Patate river running from Baños, a highland tributary has also been frequented regularly. Finally Topo, grade V has been advised by many senior rafters as the place to best experience the steepest creek descent in Ecuador.
