All activities / Whitewater Kayaking / Rafting / Tena
Whitewater Kayaking / Rafting in TenaEC
A town in Ecuador's upper Amazon with dozens of warm jungle rivers within an hour or two: the winter home of the world's kayaking community.
Why here
Every northern winter the international paddling community migrates to Tena, because nowhere else combines warm water, equatorial rainforest, and this density of rivers: the Jatunyacu's big-volume Class III, the celebrated Jondachi creek run, the Hollin, Misahualli, Anzu, and the Quijos valley that hosted the 2005 World Rafting Championships, all within an hour or two of one town. Flows run year-round, so there is no true off-season, and the terrain ladders perfectly: a beginner rafts in the morning, an intermediate kayaker steps up all week without repeating a river, and the Class V crowd disappears into the jungle canyons.
Best months
November through February or March is the classic international season, with reliable medium flows and dialed logistics; the rivers run all year, with the highest water roughly March through September. Water and air stay warm; this is paddling in a t-shirt in December.
Getting there & around
Fly to Quito (UIO), then four to five hours by road to Tena; outfitters arrange all shuttles. Day trips book on arrival; all-inclusive kayak weeks book two to six months ahead for the November-February season.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced
Schools & guides (2)
Rios Ecuador
SchoolThe original Tena whitewater operator, established 1996, running rafting and a kayak school on the Jatunyacu, Jondachi, Misahualli, and Anzu with IRF-affiliated guides.
Small World Adventures
OutfitterThe first kayak-tour company in Ecuador, running all-inclusive week-long kayaking trips from its Quijos Valley lodge since 1993.