Rio La Venta Trip Report

I had the great pleasure of packrafting on La Venta, a river canyon in Chiapas, Mexico. I wanted to write this trip report because La Venta has gained popularity in the past few years, largely due to stunning scenery (read: it photographs really well for Instagram). According to many trip reports, La Venta is a friendly, warm-weather trip, complete with sandy beaches, stunning waterfalls, and clear pools between splashy, easily-portaged class 3 rapids. In other reports, boaters have shared their cautionary tales, especially through trip reports about a helicopter evacuation, a near-miss swim through Class 5 rapids. I didn’t encounter any reports that were similar to our experience: medium water, tricky-but-doable rapids, tough portages, many rounds of diarrhea and puking, and very real hazards that were, in the end, successfully mitigated.

 

Our group went with Global Grand Canyons (also known as Four Corners Guides, run by Rocky Contos). I had reservations about going with a guided group, I get a lot of satisfaction from researching and executing river trips by building skills. Paying someone to accompany me down a river was totally new. In all honesty I wasn’t sure how much I’d like giving up control of a river trip. In retrospect, having a guide was an excellent choice–there were so many new elements to this trip that it would have been overwhelming to figure out how to navigate an ecosystem so different from our own.

 

Our trip leader, Sarah B., had brought together a spectacularly fun group of people to do the trip: Kayla, Sam, Garrett, Alex, Tim. Everyone in our party was very familiar with packrafting gear and expeditions in Alaska (although new to river trips in Mexico!). We were joined by Cindy and our guide, Jonathan.

 

Jonathan knew which spiders and snakes were poisonous and how to avoid them, where the best camping was, how to access amazing caves and waterfalls en route, and had run La Venta just the week prior. Indeed, he was still on antibiotics from a parasite in the drinking water from the last trip. The guiding company also arranged food, shuttle logistics, and a hotel the day prior.

 

Water Levels:

Our trip ran from November 16 to 22, 2024, and we started with 260 CFE, as measured on the Puente La Flores river gauge. In general, that region transitions from the rainy season to the dry season in October. Dry season lasts from November through April, and, except for the occasional storm, water levels usually drop consistently during those months. La Venta is a popular trip in February and March due to low water levels and clear water. 

We found 260 CFE to be a medium water level, with passable rapids and very little boat dragging. The region had experienced some rains the week prior. Towards the end of our trip, on November 20-22nd, we had another rain storm which caused the river to rise roughly 6-12 inches. 

Numerous underground rivers feed into La Venta through porous limestone walls, making the river extremely flashy: with small amounts of rain, La Venta can rise feet in a matter of hours. When this happens, the river submerges beaches and low-lying campsites. However, my understanding is that the river also falls very rapidly after a rain event, often returning to its previous level within days. 

When faced with an uncertain weather forecast while on the river, your best option would be to seek a high camp and wait out the high water for a few days. High camps are limited, as the canyon walls are often very steep. I would recommend having a few buffer days at the end of your trip so that you’re not anxious about missing your flights in that scenario. I bought refundable tickets, gave my husband my login information for the airlines, and promised to send him a text via inreach if we were delayed. 

Rapids:

Most of the rapids were class 3 and 4 at our water levels. Many would have required scouting,  setting safety, and/or portaging if not for Jonathon and Garrett. Both men were in hard-shell kayaks, and would often eddy-hop the rapids and signal to the packrafters from below with paddles. 

There are numerous packraft-portageable rapids including Ponedora, Bloqueado, and Derrumbe. There is one class 5 and 6 rapid, Complicado, which is enclosed by canyon walls and un-portageable. We were able to make several class 3 ferries above class 5 or 6 features  and portage around the more hazardous features. This would have been extremely stressful, if not impossible, without a guide’s local knowledge and kayakers with class 5 abilities. 

Timing: 

We were on the river for seven days. This felt like a good amount of time, although with side hikes up waterfalls and canyons, our days were quite full. We usually left camp at 8:30 am and got to our next camp between 5 and 6 pm. It would have been very reasonable to plan for longer on the river, especially with so many variables to content with–you could easily 

Sickness and health concerns: 

Despite being obsessive about drinking and cooking  water purification with both a filter system and bleach or boiling, everyone, with the exception of Garrett, developed some sort of illness from the trip. Numerous bacteria and parasites are known to be present  in the river, probably due to jungle ecology and agriculture runoff. Three of the trip participants were medical professionals on the trip (an ER nurse, a nurse anesthetist, and an ultrasound technician) and they brought a variety of antidiarrheals, anti-nausea, and antibiotics. For a couple of people, myself included, the dysentery only lasted 12 hours. Others were sick for the majority of the trip. One person developed leptospirosis with severe complications weeks after the trip, which led to an extended hospitalization. Ben developed a rash on his feet from doing day trips in rivers around San Cristobal the week prior. 

There is not a requirement to pack out human waste from the canyon, other than in Arco de Tiempo. However, it would be a good idea to bring waste disposal bags. 

Other hazards: 

• Cliffs have loose, unstable rock. Camping under cliffs is not recommended. We saw one  instance of a house-sized boulder calving into the river, spraying rock shrapnel across the cabin. By pure luck (and a couple of swims) we were still upstream of the area. 

• Footing during portages is treacherous. We had one member experience a concussion while walking around during a lunch break. Wear helmets while traversing on rock. Grippy shoes make things easier.