Ninety seconds on Río Petrohué
Book a half-day raft trip and you run Class III to IV rapids on clear green water, with a guide steering each raft.
The rapids come as a series rather than one big drop. The river forces itself through narrow channels of old lava from Osorno, so you work through one chute, catch your breath, then line up for the next.
Between chutes the water usually runs clear with a green tint. That colour is not guaranteed: when mudflows come down off the volcano, the river can run loaded with sand and silt.
The river carries most water in the rainy season, when Lago Todos los Santos can rise by up to 3 metres and the extra volume pours through the same lava channels. The rapids you raft then are fuller and pushier than in a dry spell.
Look up as well as ahead between rapids. Osorno's cone fills the view, with Puntiagudo further off.
Two stages make up the trip: a briefing on the bank, then the river. Operators differ on where they collect you, in Puerto Varas or at their base in Ensenada, so confirm the pick-up point when you book.
At the base you change into the kit the operator hands out: a neoprene or dry suit, booties, a helmet and a life jacket. Certified guides then go through the safety rules before you get in the raft.
On the river a guide steers each raft through the rapids, for a run whose length depends on the operator. Some trips end with a snack, and the whole outing fills a morning or an afternoon. The falls lookout at Saltos de Petrohué is a separate stop on the same road.
Rafting here means going with an operator. If you need the briefing in English, ask for bilingual guides. Ask too which minimum age applies on your date, because it changes with the season and the operator.
Wear a swimsuit under the suit and bring a towel and a dry change of clothes for the ride back. Pack a waterproof layer for the bank, because the weather here changes in every season.
In December and January biting horseflies, the tábanos and colihuachos, are at their worst, so cover up while you wait on the bank. Carry Chilean pesos in cash: the kiosks and rural shops along the road do not take cards.
Explore the rest of Puerto Varas
Two volcanoes fill the view across Lago Llanquihue from its southern shore, Osorno to the northeast and Calbuco to the east. German…
Turquoise chutes where the Petrohué river, just below its outlet from Lago Todos los Santos, breaks across a flow of lava from Osorno, with…
A near-symmetrical cone of 2,652 metres on the southeastern shore of Lago Llanquihue, glaciated on its upper slopes and last in eruption in…