Canyoning In Costa Rica At The Lost Canyon With Desafio Adventure Company

Article written by Nikki Solano

Nikki is the CEO of Pura Vida! eh? Inc. (Costa Rica Discounts), the creator and narrator of Spotify's Costa Rica Podcast with Nikki Solano, and the author of the guidebooks Moon Costa Rica (2019, 2021, 2023, and 2025 editions) and Moon Best of Costa Rica (2022 edition) from Moon Travel Guides. Together with her Costa Rican husband, Ricky, she operates the Costa Rica Travel Blog, created the online community DIY Costa Rica, built the Costa Rica Destination Tool, and designed the Costa Rica Trip Planning 101 E-Course. In addition, Nikki has written about or presented Costa Rica on Rick Steves' Monday Night Travel show and podcast/radio show, in Wanderlust Magazine, and for Essentialist. Want to show your appreciation for her free article below? Thank Nikki here. ❤️️

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Our sister site, Pura Vida! eh? Inc., has canyoning tour discounts. Con mucho gusto (you’re welcome) and pura vida!

Longing to go canyoning in Costa Rica at La Fortuna’s Lost Canyon

Costa Rica’s epicenter of adventure—La Fortuna—has developed into quite the spot for canyoning. When we first moved to the town in the mid-2000s, only two operators offered the experience: Desafio Adventure Company and Pure Trek. Today, although other canyoning experiences can be had in the vicinity, the original two canyoning tour providers remain the best choices given their longstanding positive reputations and safety records. Plus, their tours are undeniably fun.

In this article, we (quite literally) dive into the Lost Canyon, the name given to the canyon where canyoning tours led by Desafio Adventure Company take place. If you’re thinking of going canyoning in Costa Rica, familiarize yourself with our canyoning tour experience below to see if it aligns with the experience you want to have.

But first, a quick explanation to help shed confusion: This article discusses the activity known as “canyoneering” (more specifically, rappel canyoneering or waterfall canyoneering) but refers to it as “canyoning” because the latter term is what is commonly used in Costa Rica (i.e., you’ll see the activity sold in Costa Rica as “canyoning tours” not “canyoneering tours”).

Canyoning in Costa Rica at the Lost Canyon: The canyoning experience

Starting the canyoning tour: Transportation and parking

If you’re like many travelers, your canyoning tour experience will begin with a pick-up at your La Fortuna hotel (or vacation home rental, if it qualifies for Desafio Adventure Company‘s tour transportation service). If you have access to a rental car, though, you can drive yourselves to and from your accommodation and Desafio Adventure Company’s tour headquarters on the outskirts of downtown La Fortuna. (Doing so can save you time; you won’t have to ride Desafio Adventure Company‘s tour transportation service vehicle to other hotels while they perform hotel pick-ups for other tour participants. Instead, you can drive directly to the tour headquarters and wait for the tour transportation service vehicle to arrive with the other tour participants, which is when the canyoning tour officially begins.) To clarify, the headquarters is not the same location as Desafio Adventure Company‘s head office, which is in downtown La Fortuna. While the head office in downtown La Fortuna has staff that can answer tour-related questions and accept tour bookings, it functions primarily as an administrative office and equipment storage center. In contrast, the tour headquarters, which is about a five-minute drive south of the head office, is where Desafio Adventure Company‘s canyoning tour officially starts and ends. (The headquarters also serves as the start and end point of other tours operated by Desafio Adventure Company and is where some cooking classes and dance lessons take place.) Free parking is available in the headquarters’ large private lot. (If you’re destined for the downtown office, there are a few free parking spaces out front and free street parking nearby, but all of those spaces are public; do not leave valuables visible in the car if you choose to park there.)

Preparing for the canyoning tour: The Canyon Café and the Lost Canyon

From Desafio Adventure Company‘s tour headquarters, you’ll be driven to the Canyon Café, Desafio Adventure Company‘s tour gathering spot, which doubles as a restaurant (more on that establishment below). The short journey partly conducted in a 4×4 truck nicknamed a ‘jungle limo’ is a fun ride through Costa Rica’s lovely, peaceful San Carlos region. At the café, guides will fit you with a harness, a helmet, and gloves, and you can secure any belongings you brought with you in on-site lockers, which are free to use. Afterward, you’ll be taken to the tour put-in at the Lost Canyon (i.e., the spot where the adventure begins, specifically with a hike to the canyon’s first descent.) Onel, one of Desafio Adventure Company‘s tour guides, showed us the ropes, literally and figuratively. He taught us what to do, he showed us what not to do, and most importantly, he put our first-time-canyoning-participants’ minds at ease when he confirmed that the most dangerous part of the tour experience isn’t the act of canyoning but rather the act of walking between rappels because rocks can become slippery when wet.

Enjoying the canyoning tour: The adrenaline!

When it came time to complete the tour’s first descent, I was pleasantly surprised. The act of canyoning was a lot easier than I had expected it to be because it took much less coordination than I had thought it would. During Desafio Adventure Company‘s canyoning tour, sometimes we walked slowly down the Lost Canyon’s walls and other times we bounced our way down them. Sometimes, during the most thrilling of times, we grasped the ever-important “red line” with both hands and gave into a free fall, causing us to soar between the canyon’s narrow walls much like an osprey stalking its prey.

Desafio Adventure Company‘s canyoning tour comprises four canyon descents. The fourth and final descent is the most adrenaline-inducing. At the top of it, the views of both stunning rainforest in front and the deep canyon below are jaw-dropping and will no doubt get your heart pumping. So will leaning over the rappel’s tower to eye a waterfall, turning around to step off the tower’s ledge backwards, and lowering yourself down the escarpment into the canyon. But most exhilarating was this descent’s free fall, which provided the most intense surge of adrenaline that we have ever felt.

Canyoning in Costa Rica at the Lost Canyon: A buffet lunch for an accomplished bunch

The active canyoning portion of Desafio Adventure Company’s canyoning tour finishes with a tiring, 15-minute uphill hike, which spits you out back at the Canyon Café (a sassy sign reading “you made it!” marks your arrival). There, a glorious buffet meal is served, and I must say that it hit the spot. You’ll work up quite an appetite after making four canyon descents, jumping into a small pool, braving the rush of a small river’s water, and cautiously maneuvering the aforementioned slippery river rocks, so I bet you’ll find the food delicious and exactly what is needed to rebound energy-wise from the activity too. On the day of our tour, the buffet was comprised of chicken (optional for vegetarian or vegan diners), rice, beans, green salad, mixed heart of palm salad, fried yuca, fruit, and fresh fruit juice. Ronny, our tour group’s photographer, displayed his snaps and videos from the day’s tour on television screens for all to see; digital photos and videos are available to purchase through Desafio Adventure Company if you want them.

Canyoning in Costa Rica at the Lost Canyon: Great company

Great customer service is like business gold in Costa Rica’s competitive tourism industry, and Desafio Adventure Company is mining it in the Lost Canyon.

Everyone we came in contact with during the canyoning tour—from the tour guides (Onel, Luis, Josue, and Victor), who felt like our own personal cheerleaders, to Cesar, who greeted us, Kathe, who provided the tour explanation, Don Jorge, who drove us to the Canyon Café, and everyone else who threw us a smile throughout the day—was noticeably pleasant and welcoming. While I have long known that Costa Ricans are kind and friendly people (I did marry one, after all 😉), it isn’t every day that you encounter a company with a large staff and not one person disappoints. I suppose you could say that on the day of our canyoning tour in Costa Rica, a day of great challenge (“desafio” in Spanish) and adventure, we were truly in great company.

Canyoning in Costa Rica at the Lost Canyon: Maps

Desafio Adventure Company headquarters map

Desafio Adventure Company head office map

Pura vida!

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