{"id":1997,"date":"2026-06-05T16:27:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T16:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/incajungletrip.com\/?page_id=1997"},"modified":"2026-06-05T16:28:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T16:28:25","slug":"rafting-the-urubamba","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/incajungletrip.com\/nl\/blog\/rafting-the-urubamba\/","title":{"rendered":"Raften op de Urubamba"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rafting the Urubamba: What to Expect on the Water<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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The Sacred River Has Class III Rapids. Come Prepared to Work.<\/strong><\/p>

The Urubamba River is many things to many people. To the Inca it was a sacred waterway, the terrestrial reflection of the Milky Way, the river that connected Cusco with the jungle lowlands and gave life to the agricultural terraces of the Sacred Valley. To the communities that live along its banks today it is a working river that irrigates fields, powers small hydroelectric plants, and defines the geography of the valley. To the travelers who raft it on the Inca Jungle route, it is two hours of paddling through a deep canyon with real rapids, genuine teamwork, and views that make the calmer sections between the white water feel like a different kind of gift entirely.<\/p>

This article tells you everything you need to know before you put the paddle in the water.<\/p>

THE SECTION WE RAFT<\/h3>

The rafting section used on the Inca Jungle route runs along the Urubamba River at an altitude of approximately 1,400 meters, well below the Sacred Valley where most visitors to Peru encounter the river from the window of a train or a bus. At this altitude the river has gathered significant volume from the tributaries that join it in the canyon and has built up the momentum and character that produces consistent Class III rapids.<\/p>

Class III is the international standard classification for rapids that are moderately difficult, have irregular waves, narrow passages, and require maneuvering, but are suitable for beginners with proper instruction and supervision. They are not gentle. They are not flat water with occasional ripples. They are real rapids that require the group to paddle together, respond to the guide’s commands, and maintain their position in the raft through sections where the water is moving fast and in multiple directions simultaneously. They are also manageable for anyone who listens carefully to the safety briefing and is willing to work as part of a team.<\/p>

THE SAFETY BRIEFING<\/h3>

The safety briefing before the rafting section is one of the most important 20 minutes of the entire Inca Jungle route and it deserves your complete attention. Your certified rafting guide will cover the basic paddle commands that the group will use throughout the session, the correct position in the raft during rapids, what to do if you fall out of the raft, how to read the river from inside it, and the role of each person in the raft during the different sections of water.<\/p>

None of this is complicated. The commands are simple. The positions are intuitive once demonstrated. The emergency procedures are clear and practiced in calm water before the first rapid. But the difference between a group that has absorbed the briefing and a group that was not paying attention becomes visible within the first five minutes on the water and remains visible throughout the session.<\/p>

THE EXPERIENCE ON THE WATER<\/h3>

The put-in point is a calm section of the river where the group enters the water and paddles briefly to establish the rhythm of working together before the first rapid. The guide positions themselves at the back of the raft where they can see the entire group, read the river ahead, and steer the raft using the paddle commands given to the group.<\/p>

The first rapids arrive within a few minutes and the session finds its rhythm quickly. The pattern across the two hours alternates between active rapid sections that require focused paddling and calmer stretches where the canyon walls rise on both sides, the vegetation overhangs the water, and the group tends to fall quiet in a way that does not happen anywhere else on the route. The contrast between the intense focus of the rapids and the meditative quality of the calm sections is one of the things that makes the rafting experience on this route more varied and more memorable than a continuous series of white water would be.<\/p>

The takeout point at the end of the rafting section is a calm beach on the riverbank where the group pulls the raft out of the water, returns equipment, and transitions to the hiking section that follows. At this point most groups are wet, energized, and significantly more unified than they were two hours earlier. Shared physical experience in moving water does something to a group dynamic that no amount of introductory conversation in a van can replicate.<\/p>

WHAT TO WEAR AND BRING<\/h3>

A wetsuit, helmet, and life jacket are provided. Wear a swimsuit or quick-dry shorts and a lightweight top underneath the wetsuit. Leave your phone in a dry bag provided by the guide. Wear secure shoes, either trail shoes or the hiking boots you are wearing for the trek, and be prepared for them to get wet. Do not wear sandals, flip flops, or any footwear that can come off in moving water.<\/p>

Sunscreen applied before the wetsuit goes on protects the face, neck, and any exposed skin during the calmer sections of the river where the sun exposure is significant.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rafting the Urubamba: What to Expect on the Water The Sacred River Has Class III Rapids. Come Prepared to Work. The Urubamba River is many things to many people. To the Inca it was a sacred waterway, the terrestrial reflection of the Milky Way, the river that connected Cusco with the jungle lowlands and gave […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1952,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1997","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/incajungletrip.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/incajungletrip.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/incajungletrip.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/incajungletrip.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/incajungletrip.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1997"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/incajungletrip.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000,"href":"http:\/\/incajungletrip.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1997\/revisions\/2000"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/incajungletrip.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/incajungletrip.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}