pura vida adventures

I made reservations in July and was not able to make it due to an injury. The owner worked with me and and said he couldn't get me a refund but provided an alternate date for me in August that I had to cancel as well. We were finally able to get a date in September that worked and the owner was mostly understanding the whole time. We took a two hour canyoneering trip with two easy rappels and some simple bouldering. They provided rental shoes, a sandwich and a bottle of water for $25. Overall it cost me $345 for two hours of actual canyoneering which equates to $172 an hour. The guide was good and the owner acted as a guide as well, so it was well planned and resourced. Overall, due to the cost and the speed and ease in which we completed the trip; it was not worth the price.

If you're looking to go canyoneering on the east coast, Joe puts together a great tour - laid back (while safe and professional), not touristy, just like-minded adventurers.

We were looking for a different kind of adventure while we were staying in the Asheville area. We found Pura Vida Adventure and it was exactly what we were looking for! We signed up for the Canyoneering tour which is a combination of hiking and rappelling. It was an awesome experience. It was our first time rappelling. Our guide Joe, was outstanding. He was incredibly experienced, knowledgable and very competent. He has advanced degrees in wilderness and outdoor programs and know the area exceptionally well. We felt very safe at all times. The area that we hiked and the waterfalls were beautiful. Pura Vida is a very professional outfitter and we will definitely come back for another tour.

My wife and our nephews went on the cougar canyon trip with Joe. He is an exceptional guide and teacher. It was an exciting day and great introduction to canyoneering. We also took our 8 year old daughter on a hike with Pura Vida naturalist Noelle. She was also a great guide and teacher. It was another exceptional day learning about native plants and animals. I highly recommend Pura Vida for great adventures. Brad Parrott

My husband and I could not have asked for a better time! Joe was a fantastic and knowledgable guide and when the trail became too rough for me to continue, he was patient and courteous and adjusted our route with ease. His goal was to make our experience as fun as possible and he surpassed any and every expectation possible. I can't say enough good things about this place. How many guides would be patient and kind when their bike rider just physically can't handle the altitude..(I'm from FL and have issues with altitude)? He was awesome and created an alternate route and was very knowledgable about the other falls we went to. In addition he was good natured and just an amazingly nice guy. Go here. I promise you won't regret it!!

We asked Pura Vida to show our family an intro to rock climbing (1/2 day tour). We had 6 children ranging from age 8 through 13 and one adult that participated. Joe and Noah set two ropes on an easy beginner wall. They did a great job of encouraging the children through the rough spots and made special adjustments for a child that was struggling. Safety was a priority and they made us feel very comfortable. I would definitely recommend this outfit if you want a special adventure while in Brevard.

Me and my fiance had an amazing trip repelling. I would definitely recommend for anyone. We will be back!

8 of us booked a day trip with Pura Vida Adventures for canyoneering. Most of us had never done anything like it and that was okay! Joe was our contact and he was very good about returning phone calls and emails as soon as he could. I never felt out of communication with him. We paid 50% deposit and the other 50% the day of the tour. The day of came and we drove out to a remote location and took a trail off the beaten path. It was a great and muddy hike! We then had the repel clinic in the middle of the woods and learned on a tree right off the trail. Joe and Noah took the time to make sure everyone was secure in their harness and felt comfortable with what we were doing. During the drive & hike Joe provided area information about the forests and history. I was very uncomfortable going over the waterfall and was panicking. Joe was super cool and talked me through it and did not rush me. I ended up doing it again and enjoyed it much more the second time. We will be going on other trips with this company and I recommend them to everyone.The hike up the side of the waterfall is not easy but that's what makes it fun. It's like climbing a ladder made of mud and roots. Thank you Joe and Noah!

Pura Vida Adventures showed my family a great time during our brewery tour in December 2013! We were picked up at our hotel in the official Pura Vida van and were introduced to Joe, founder of the company. Joe was very personable and made us feel like we were hanging out with an old friend. We knew that this was gonna be fun!Our first brewery tour began at Oskar Blues (http://oskarblues.com/). We were able to taste a few brews before the tour began. This brewery had the best tour - hands down. We were given a brief, palatable history of craft brewing, the ins and outs of different grains and hops, and about the extensive brewing process that OB uses to make their tasty beverages. Oskar Blues cans its own beer within the brewery which was absolutely fascinating to see!After another pint of Dale's Pale Ale, we traveled to Pisgah Tavern which is located inside The Hub, an awesome bike shop, in Pisgah Forest, NC. Note: this is not a brewery. We were instantly greeted by the locals and ended up forging new friendships within two short hours (if you didn't know, beer is really good at helping humans form bonds - haha).There weren't many beers on tap at this location BUT it was by far our most favorite stop of the evening because we got to hang out with so many neat people from all different walks of life. We also got to see the bike shop in action seeing as the bar area is tangent to the bike repair section of The Hub. http://www.thehubpisgah.com/pisgah-tavern/Our last stop was Brevard Brewing Company (http://www.brevard-brewing.com/) which is located in downtown Brevard. This brewery is definitely a smaller brewery but the American IPA is a testament to the fact that they sure know what they're doing! Joe gave us a private tour of the brewing room where we learned about the brewing process and the history of the brewery.Joe took care of us throughout the entire tour. Initially, he didn't hover around us in order to give us plenty of space to make the experience our own but once he figured out that we didn't mind him hanging about, he was definitely good company. Your tour fees also pay for a few rounds - Joe keeps track of this. All other rounds are on you. Any brewery merch is available for additional cost at each respective location.Lots of laughs, plenty of beer, and a safe ride back to our hotel. What more could you ask for?

Joe is a great guy, funny and personable! He'll show you a great time around the area, his brewery tours and waterfall repelling are especially awesome! I strongly recommend going through purevitaadventures when visiting the area!

My husband and I visited Pura Vida Adventures while honeymooning last March. We had a AMAZING time! Jo was our tour guide and totally rocked! I'm afraid of heights and he was able to accommodate my concerns while encouraging me to push my own limits. We will definitely be back and look forward to many more awesome experiences with Pura Vida Adventures!

This was an excellent trip that my husband and I organized for early November. We had an absolute blast and would highly recommend this to all individuals that are looking for an outdoor adventure and challenging hike. It was awesome!

For girls weekend, we opted to go mountain biking as our outdoor adventure. Neither of us had done any mountain biking before, let alone 4 hours of it! Dan was a great and patient guide. He definitely went at our pace (slow) and skill level (low!). He started us out on easier trails and moved us to progressively tougher trails as our confidence grew. We ended up climbing and descending a crazy, winding, rock, root, and tree filled trail that I would have NEVER thought we would be able to do. It was exhilarating! Glad we did it.

What a disappointment we had with Pura Vida. I'm not one to usually make comments like this, but I don't think it's an overstatement to say that I feel like I've been taken by this company, even though they did do much of what they said they would, and did much of it well. Here's what it boils down to: The canyoneering trip the five of us we went on was an abominable embarrassment when you compare it to what we paid for and what we were promised.Let me first say that it wasn't all bad. We were on our first ever trip to Western North Carolina, and we were impressed by the Pura Vida website and figured we would give the company a try. We spent one day mountain biking with the company, and they took us on some good beginner trails in the allotted amount of time that we had paid for. That was good, and we were ready for more - we had signed up for a canyoneering trip later in the week, and we were all excited for the possibilities. We paid $225 per person for the Tombstone Blues Canyon and Waterfall Rappelling Program, and for that price, we were expecting the trip to be just as spectacular as the website promised: A 6-9 hour program full of climbing, rappelling, bouldering. A "full-on adventure," as Pura Vida put it.It was anything but. It took us about an hour to drive out to the site, which was totally fine with us. Things seemed OK. They continued to appear just fine, even after we got out of the car and our guide told us that he thought it was going to rain. We trusted him, even though there was no specific rain threat imminent at that moment. We were just excited to go on this canyoneering trip, and we had been told there were going to be at least two rappels down waterfalls.But here's what we did: We spent about 30-45 minutes wading through and over rocks in a small river before getting back on trail and doing some bushwhacking to get to the rappelling site. By the time we got to the waterfall where we were supposed to rappel, we had been hiking for an hour and fifteen minutes. We had stopped often along the way.We each took the short rappel, and when we got to the bottom, we were ready for more. But that's when we had our rude awakening. "Weather's threatening," our guide said, looking at the nonexistent storm clouds that he apparently felt coming. "We have to go back."Now, we had been on trail for fewer than two hours of a 6-9 hour trip, and he wanted us to go back? It seemed odd, and frustrating. We were ready for an awesome, full-day adventure. But so be it. We were supposed to go back to our car a longer way, but our guide took us the short way, a route on which we met up with a number of people hiking from their cars, even though we had hoped to go back the longer scenic route. But he took us back the longer way because of the weather threat and, he said, in order to avoid crowds.By the time we got back to the Pura Vida office we had spent a total of 2.5 hours on trail and 2 in the car. For a 6-9 hour trip, that's awful.Let me review the facts. There was certainly thunder later in the day, and I definitely understand a guide's responsibility to protect his clients from a storm's potential threat. In fact, we appreciate that. But Pura Vida's website specifically says this: "In case of severe weather, where the guide sees a safety risk for participants, the trip may be cancelled or shortened and the appropriate refund will be provided."We asked for our refund. I mean, that's fair, right? It says it right there on the website. But when we asked, this is the email response we got: "After talking with our guides we realized that the program we provided to you was our Tombstone Blues Canyoneering Trip which had an agreed upon price of $225 a person. We are not able to provide any refund on this program as we provided you the program you requested."Without that response, this review would have never have been written. But I feel that I'm obligated now to communicate this to the world to make sure Pura Vida doesn't do this to anyone else.In what world does that trip not get a refund? What we had hoped would be the centerpiece of our trip - a canyoneering experience we were more than willing to pay for if it had lived up to expectations - turned out to be our biggest letdown. Pura Vida, for exhibiting particularly awful customer service and disregard for fairness (indeed, disregard for the refund policy advertised on your website), you earned this review. To everyone out there: Buyer beware when it comes to this company.

If you want a truly unique experience then Pura Vida Adventures is for you. I spent three days with Joe and his team mountain biking and canyoneering. When you take an adventure with Pura Vida, Joe not only ensures that you have an awesome adventure but also goes out of his way to provide you with valuable training and skills to use in the future while maintaining the highest standard of safety. Every trip I took with Pura Vida was a small intimate group allowing for the most enjoyable experience for all and eliminating the feeling of being part of the “tourist herd” that you get with other outfitters. Let Joe customize an adventure to meet your interest, experience, and fitness level and you will not be disappointed! Highly Recommended!!!