I'm down there this December with Costa Rica Rios. I can give you a rundown of the rivers we run after that. Right now it's all terra incognita to me too.

Oh man this sounds like a blast!!!

Is the Story about snakes Sep?

Did you ever find out what type of snake it was?

Dave,

Check my site for Costa writeups and photos.  I would recommend flying to SJO because its way closer to the boating.  I just wrote a short novella on this subject for another friend... maybe this will be helpful for you:

"Costa Rica is an AMAZING place, and I'm sure you're going to love it.  There is a relatively new guide book for kayaking called "Chasing Jaquars".  A good investment for weeks of boating.   There are really 4 boating areas in Costa Rica:   The Turrialba area, the Puerto Viejo/ Sarapiqui area, and the costal areas (pacific and carib).  If you get a car, you're more likely to be boating every day.  If you don't, then its unrealistic to think you'll be able to boat every day.  Things in Costa Rica don't work like they do here, and what should take a few minutes often takes many hours.  This is especially true with access and shuttles.  Everything else is pretty modern and 1st world.

The Turrialba area is generally regarded as the true whitewater center for Costa.  Rivers Pacuare, Raventazon, Orosi, Pejibaye and others originate close to there.  Staying in town is cheap, and its a "kayak friendly" kinda place.  Expect to pay $10-20/day living expenses, and shuttles vary.  Most kayakers stay at the Hotel Interamericano (its become somewhat of a cultish place for kayakers) and the owner Patricia is a really good resource if she's not in a bad mood.  She can be a very useful ally if you need someone with local knowledge for anything.  If you want to bring your own boat, don't plan on taking it back with you, but there is a HUGE selection of boats there for rent/sale, so it might be wise to nsot take one if you don't care what you paddle.  Phil Coleman at Rainforest World rents kayaks for about $100/month which would be cheaper than bringing your own (planes are a pain in the ass with kayaks, as I'm sure you know).  The other advantage with him is that he usually will trade you out a creek for playboat if you want one or the other.  Its best to have both, depending on levels/ what you want to paddle.  I'm sure you'll run the Pacuare, which is really beautiful.  The Upper Canyon is superb.  The Top (higher up still) is good, but pretty easy.  The section where you have to take horses to get in isn't really worth it in my opinion.  The Raventazon river has a reputation for being really dirty and people will tell you you're going to get sick if you go into it.  This may be true, but I never had a problem.  I stayed away from it at first, but once I got on it a few times, I regretted staying away from it earlier.  Wear nose plugs on it (take some if you don't normally use them) and spit often.

The Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui is also close to some good stuff.  The stuff around there is either really easy, or full on creek boating.  Stay away from the hostel that has the stained glass windows and targets kayakers in that area... Casa Leona or something like that.  Some of my friends had ALL FIVE of their kayaks and gear stolen there in one night, then sold back to them by a guy for $500 the next day.  It was pretty unreal.  The normal parts of the Sarapiqui are fun if the water is really high.  I never did the gorge, but its supposed to be unreal.  Pozo Azul is the 28 footer you see everyone running.  Its fun park and huck.  The Rio Toro has a few AMAZING sections and I highly recommend it.  The lower section starts below a pig farm and smells like shit, but its pretty good.  The Upper section starts at the base of this dam in an INCREDIBLE gorge.  Even if you don't paddle it, its worth going to see the place.  If its raining there are a bunch of other rivers in this area.

The coasts a