Over the years, many of our fans, followers and clients have expressed interest in participating in our Mexico La Venta Expedition Course, typically in January. 2026 will be the last year we run this course. If you want to learn paddling and river-reading skills and how to do these things in a wild, remote (but warm and scenic) expedition setting, please let us know. Registration will close this year on October 25.
Teaching Packraft Courses in Mexico the Right Way
We originally decided to run courses on the Xanil and La Venta rivers because Chiapaneco, packraft aficionado and owner of the award-winning hostels, Posada del Abuelito, Rodrigo Alfonzo, asked us to take people on La Venta “the right way.”
In other words, he wanted us to run courses teaching people to value and caretake La Venta in ways that were not being done. We would teach people things like pooping in wag bags instead of on the beaches and how to purify water in an polluted river; we would train locals so they could eventually become guides themselves and/or run the river safely (read a blog by one of our trainees); and we would utilize permits from and work closely with El Ocote Biosphere Reserve, the Mexican federal agency that manages the river.
Rod’s Goal #1: Locals courses
To achieve these things, and also promote Rod’s dream of developing a more robust packrafting community generally, we started with teaching low-cost or free courses to locals, both Mexicans generally and locals from Aqua Azul, one of the areas where we bring paddlers. We also included employees from the Reserve. Rod’s goals aligned with two key components of one of our Vision Statements
Four Corners Guides commits to developing and maintaining strong community ties, whether in the Four Corners or abroad, by sourcing and promoting locally-grown food and beverages, by working with local, regional, women-owned or USA-made companies for other needed resources, by partnering with or training local guides, and by increasing diversity in packrafting.
Rod’s Goal #2: River Safety
Rod also wanted to change the Instagram-fueled perception of La Venta as an easy river anyone could do, even with zero experience. But this would take longer to achieve, and would include discussions with and training for the Reserve’s employees, local communities, outreach to foreigners and general education around the river. If the Reserve folks understood how dangerous La Venta was, they would likely come on board to implement policies to increase safety on the river.
Our main message: La Venta is a remote, dangerous river that should be done by people WITH expedition and paddling, river reading and swiftwater rescue skills. Read Sarah Glaser’s trip report and also listen to Luc Mehl’s podcast on Rod’s close call to better understand what I am talking about.
Rod realized the danger of the river after a good friend of broke his ankle in one of the most dangerous sections of La Venta, El Derrumbe. They had to rescue him. After that, he became increasingly worried about people doing the river with less than adequate safety measures in place. If too many people got hurt or, god forbid, if someone died, the Reserve could close off access entirely.
Rod hoped Four Corners Guides would help him educate both the Reserve folks and locals about the various safety requirements we adhere to when we run river trips in the USA
Rod’s Goal #3: Cleaning up the river
We’re still working on this one. The Reserve has not banned pooping on all beaches in La Venta yet, except at El Arco, the most popular section of the river in regards to tourism. But they don’t have access to wag bags like we do, so that’s understandable. However, Four Corners Guides commits to using wag bags on ALL our courses. Needless to say, you should watch out for those ubiquitous sticks in piles of rocks, and purify your water with both Aqua Mira drops and a filter.
On the other hand, the Reserve did limit camping to 20 people maximum, where before over 100-150 people could have be been down there camping (see photo). Another win! This will lead to less pooping and less impact generally.
Furthermore, Rod says, additional regulations are slowly coming. “There has been a lot of dialog and involvement from government, local authorities and Guides and things are moving in a positive direction.”
After initial skepticism, the local communities now perceive the changes as beneficial, Rod adds. Many guides earn the same, but have better relations and more understanding and communication with the government. “Nature is winning. Arco del Tiempo is looking better than ever!”
“We have also started working with local guides to train them in river safety and packrafting. See what CONANP posted on Facebook!” Rod explains, excited. “We are hoping to see CONANP become more involved in terms of benefiting the local guides with training. After all, the locals are the first responders when incidents in the Biosphere Reserve occur.”
In sum, lots of changes are happening and fast. Rod has clearly done the majority of the heavy lifting, but we are happy to report we have helped. As Rod told us for this blog post:
We have already seen the impact here on many levels. It's a pretty big deal to have a permit. And a number of people are now checking off all the boxes in terms of becoming a guide, including: getting the experience they need to actually packraft with Four Corners Guides, the access to ACA Instructor and Swiftwater Rescue training, and the Wilderness First Responder training. The experience shows. And BTW the locals course FCG ran in 2023 was the first ever Packrafting course in Mexico, and I became the first ever Packraft Instructor in Mexico thanks to your training!
Next Steps... Packraft Mexico
Furthermore, after just one year, Rod, Steve and I, along with some of the local paddlers in Chiapas, started discussing how and when to turn over operations to those locals. Since then, Rod has launched Packraft Mexico, which he envisions as a co-op of sorts benefitting all the guides who work there, many of whom we have trained. We will dive much further into his business model and the launch of this packrafting guide service in our fall podcast and in a The Packrafting Life blog post.
For now, Rod has asked us to guide one more year down on La Venta in 2026 because he doesn’t feel 100% ready to launch Packraft Mexico. I have been on the fence because we have actually lost money both years we have done this.
So, for this reason, I am writing this post/message/email. Our goal has always been to fulfill a request by a Mexican from Chiapas to help build their packrafting community, as I’ve explained. But we’ve also needed to bring in some income so we can continue to run our business. So this will be our final Four Corners Guides-run La Venta Expedition Course.
So, if you want in, ping us so we don’t cancel the course!
The Other Options
If you want other options, three other companies run distinctly different types of trips on La Venta. Jacob Moon is a pretty famous social media influencer, photographer and supporter of the American Packrafting Association who runs courses for Instagrammers during low water in March. He’s a good guy who has given boats and other gear to Rod for use in the local’s courses and for the Mexican packrafting community in general.
Rocky Contos runs trips throughout Mexico with his company Sierra Rios. He hires guides, some Mexican and some US-based, to run trips for all levels of experienced paddlers on La Venta generally during the rainy season when the water is higher, according to his website. I am not mentioning the third company because they have illegally harassed us with letters, social media trolling and threats. I cannot recommend going with them under any circumstances.
In some cases, the companies charge less. Other companies charge more. We are charging $2995 now. We no longer will provide food, which cuts our costs and so the costs for participants. But our primary goals with these trips are educational. We are an instructional guide service. So if you want to learn better paddling, expedition, river reading and safety skills, go with us. If you want to be guided down the river, choose another option.
Best wishes,
Lizzy Scully, FCG Owner
