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

river photo

Class: III+ to IV ; Flow: 200-450 cfs; Average Gradient: 6 m/km; Portages: possibly; Length: up to 20 km; Time: up to 3.5 hours

Season: June to October; rafts? no; Highlights: nice gorges and scenery; Crux move: keeping off the rocks

Put-In: Las Minitas bridge (955 m) or Puente Santiago (832 m); Take-Out: Puringla dam (758 m)

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

The Río Puringla is an extra-scenic creek with fairly easy access. The Puringla-Sazagua hydro project has cutailed its original length--and difficulty--however. The full run is only good on high-water days; the lower part is worth doing even at low water. River trash is also evident. 148 Western Honduras

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

Descent History: The first two descents had their issues. I barely survived (story on page 287) a solo partial descent through the box canyons in October 2008, with a flow of 400 cfs. Jeff Hastings and Neil Newton Taylor made it all the way to the end (Jeff had one swim), one month later, with 350 cfs.