Earlier this year, I went on a 10-day Ecuador road trip with my boyfriend, and along the way, we stopped in the incredible city of Baños. Nestled in the Andes and surrounded by lush jungle and waterfalls, Baños is a vibrant town known for its natural beauty and fun adventure activities.
We only had a couple of days there, but we knew we wanted to choose one fun, exhilarating activity, like canyoning, ziplining, and white water rafting. In the end, we went with white water rafting – something neither of us had ever done before and was a bit outside of our comfort zones!
The Pastaza River, which runs right near Baños, is a great spot for white water rafting. With rapids ranging from Class III to Class IV, the river offers a thrilling but beginner-friendly adventure surrounded by stunning jungle scenery.
This blog post includes everything you need to know about white water rafting in Baños, Ecuador, including what’s included, what to bring, how much it costs and a full itinerary of the day. If you want to know more about visiting Baños or traveling in the beautiful country of Ecuador, check out my other Ecuador blog posts!
- 5 Can’t-Miss Things to do in Baños, Ecuador
- Epic 10-day Ecuador Roadtrip Itinerary
- Honest Review of The Secret Garden Cotopaxi
- 8 Essential Ecuador Travel Tips
- 8 Unforgettable Things to do in Quito, Ecuador!
Who Did I Book the Tour With?
I booked our rafting tour here on GetYourGuide with a local tour company called Imagine Ecuador. They have an office right in Baños, which is where the tour begins.
Why use GetYourGuide?
Where ever I am in the world, I love using GetYourGuide to book my tours and excursions! Here’s a few reasons why it’s my favorite app for booking travel activities:
- You can book the day before without needing to plan weeks ahead
- It has reviews and ratings you can read through to make sure you’re booking the best tour
- You can easily pay online with a credit card
- The tours include an English-speaking guide
- Each tour has a clear cancellation policy, and you can easily cancel or modify within the app
What’s Included in the Tour?
- All necessary gear:
- Wetsuit
- Water shoes
- Helmet
- Paddle
- Raft
- Transportation to and from the river
- Lunch at a local restaurant
- Photos and videos of your adventure
The included photos and videos were one of the best parts of the experience and made it so we didn’t have to worry about bringing our phone with us to capture the experience. There was a guide in a small kayak who followed us down the river, equipped with a waterproof camera. He captured some great action shots while we were paddling, and asked us to pose a few times during calmer moments. The videos we just ok – for some reason they are all slowed down to super slow motion – but it’s still cool to have a way to relive the experience!
What’s not Included?
Almost everything is included except:
- Transport to/from the Imagine Ecuador office in Baños. If you’re staying in the center of Baños you’ll likely be able to walk to the office. If you’re staying a bit outside of the city like we did, you can take a taxi or uber to the center.
- Tips for the guides (bring some cash!)
What to Bring?
To make sure you’re comfortable and prepared, you should bring:
- A bathing suit or quick-dry clothes to wear under your wetsuit
- A change of dry clothes for afterward
- A towel
- A bottle of water
- A waterproof phone case (only if you really want to bring your phone on the river, but honestly you’re going to be too busy paddling to take photos)
- Cash for tips and any small expenses
The White Water Rafting Itinerary
The activity listing on GetYourGuide doesn’t include much of an itinerary, so I thought I’d list exactly how the day went, so you know what to expect.
9:00 AM – Meet at the Imagine Ecuador office, where you’ll get suited up with your wetsuit, water shoes, and helmet. You can either change into these now or wait till you get to the river.
9:30 AM – Hop in a private van for a scenic 1-hour drive to the river.
10:30 AM – Arrive at the rafting base and finish getting dressed with all your gear. We were split into two groups of about 6 people and they seemed to separate us based on age/ability. Our group was all young people while the other group was mostly older.
Before starting, the guide gives a safety talk, a thorough paddling demo and teaches us the important paddling commands. Then we do a short practice and “test” of what we learned to make sure we’re ready for the rapids.
11:00 AM – Time to head to the river! You’ll spend about an hour navigating the rapids and paddling through crazy twists and turns. We found that our guide was taking our group through the rougher rapids compared to the other group, but we didn’t mind! He said that he knew we could handle it and it made for an even more exhilarating experience. (If you want to avoid going through the roughest rapids, try talking to a guide before hand so they put you with the right group!)
The guide gave us plenty of opportunities to switch where we were sitting on the raft to get a different view and to use our other arm to paddle. We even got a chance to “ride the bull”, meaning we could sit on the front of the raft as it jumps over the waves. Here’s one of the guys in our group sitting on the front.
At one calm(ish) stretch of the river, our guide let us jump out and go for a short swim, which was a fun and refreshing break! Meanwhile, the guide on the kayak paddled alongside us snapping action shots and short videos.
12:00 PM – The rafting ends at a quiet spot on the riverbank, where the van will be waiting to pick you up. You’ll have a few minutes to change out of your wetsuit, dry off and change clothes (note – there is no private changing area).
12:30 PM – After a short drive, you’ll stop for lunch at a local Ecuadorian restaurant. You can choose from chicken, fish, or a vegetarian option.
2:00 PM – After another hour in the van, you’ll arrive back to the office in Baños!
How Much Does the Tour Cost?
The tour cost just $40 USD per person, which is an amazing price considering everything that’s included. Activities like this in the US would easily cost double or triple. Ecuador in general is very budget-friendly, especially for adventure activities.
Is White Water Rafting Dangerous or Scary?
Naturally, any activity involving unpredictable river rapids comes with some risk, and you should be comfortable being in the water and able to swim (though life jackets are worn at all times). There’s a chance that you could fall out of the raft and into the water, but everyone is told how to lift someone back into the raft asap in case that happens.
Although I was nervous at the start of the tour as someone who has never been white water rafting, I found the experience really fun and exhilarating. Our guide was incredible and very knowledge, so I felt safe being led by him. Before we reached a rough rapid, he would prepare us and tell us exactly what we had to do to get past it. Even the rapids that looked really tall and scary as we were approaching them ended up being fun to navigate! And with the additional kayak guide nearby at all times, it felt even more reassuring knowing there was extra support on the river.
This white water rafting tour was the highlight of our time in Baños, and one of our favorite things we did in all of Ecuador. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for an unforgettable, adrenaline-packed adventure. You can book the tour here on GetYourGuide:
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