Río Cuyamapa, Honduras (click here for the Honduras table of rivers)

river photo

Class: III- ; Flow: 400-1,000 cfs; Average Gradient: 2 m/km; Portages: no; Length: 8 or 27 km; Time: 3-4 hours

Season: June to October; rafts? yes; Highlights: imagining the upper sections with more water; Crux move: checking the gauge beforehand

Put-In: Puente La Regina (135 m) or El Cangrejal (93 m); Take-Out: Puente Cuyamapa (77 m)

Description: (click here for general notes about my descriptions)

The Río Cuyamapa is a river worth checking out if you are in the area, either to explore the upper parts (I have never caught the water), or to paddle the lowest 8 km, or to float the even more uneventful 19 km in between. The only rapids in the lower part are in the last 8 km starting at the El Cangrejal access, about three of them in the III- range. (Yes, the 19 km above that are flat, and in a wide, heavily cultivated valley). Below the Puente Cuyamapa, 1.5 km more of moving flat water brings you to the confluence of the just-as-flat Río Comayagua (see page 153).

A full description is in the Mayan Whitewater El Salvador, Honduras, & Nicaragua guidebook.

Descent History: Unknown. I ran this section in August 2018 with a 500 cfs flow.