Tubing is the simplest water activity in the Ecuadorian Amazon and, for plenty of travellers, the one they end up talking about afterwards. You sit in an inflated inner tube, the current does the work and the rainforest slides past at walking pace. No paddling technique, no rapids to read, no previous experience.
Tena, in Napo province, is the town most people associate with it. Our version happens away from the town itself, on the Arajuno River in the Tena and Napo River area, at Napo Amazon EcoLodge – our lodge on the riverbank, reached by a 20-minute motorised canoe ride from the Arajuno River Bridge. This guide covers what the float is actually like, which of our programmes includes it, what is provided and what to put in your bag.
What tubing on the Arajuno actually is
An inner tube, a life jacket and a stretch of river. You go feet first, mostly floating, with your guide alongside, and the Arajuno carries you downstream between walls of tropical forest. It is a social activity rather than a sporting one: people drift together, talk, and get out where the guide says to get out. Life jackets are provided and included, along with all the motorised canoe transport that gets you to and from the water.
One thing is worth separating. Tubing is the calm float described above and it is part of our lodge programmes, while rafting is a different proposition: on our Arajuno River tours it is an extra charged separately, in the same bracket as the ayahuasca ceremony. If rafting is what you came for, say so when you book.
Which of our Amazon programmes includes tubing
We run three programmes at Napo Amazon EcoLodge from the same meeting point, and tubing sits differently in each one:
- Adventure in the Amazon, 4 days near Tena: the only programme with tubing written into the itinerary. Day three is the water day, followed by a three-hour forest hike. Rated moderate, from $354 per person.
- Explore the Amazon, 3 days on the Arajuno River: rated easy, from $243 per person, built around the Kichwa community afternoon and the chocolate workshop. Programmes starting on a Friday include tubing or a community activity.
- Discover the Amazon, 2 days at the lodge: rated easy, from $192 per person. The pool, the kayaks and tubing are part of what the lodge offers in your free time, and here too a Friday start includes tubing or a community activity.
In short: if floating the river is the reason you are coming, book the four-day trip. On the shorter programmes, treat tubing as a possibility rather than a promise.
What the water morning looks like
On the four-day programme, day three starts with the self-service breakfast at the lodge and then goes to the river: tubing, kayaking or paddling on the Arajuno, depending on conditions on the day. You come back to the lodge afterwards, with time to dry off before lunch.
The afternoon is the counterweight: a hike of around three hours on secondary forest trails, where the local guide explains medicinal plants, forest species and the ancestral uses of Amazonian flora. Then free time at the lodge, dinner and the night there.
How demanding is it?
The four-day trip is rated moderate and it is the most active of our Arajuno River tours: the water activity on day three, the three-hour hike that afternoon, plus early starts for birdwatching at the saladero clay lick and a pre-dawn walk to a natural lookout on the final morning. Everything runs at a relaxed pace with a local guide.
The two-day and three-day programmes are both rated easy. In none of them is the tubing the hard part. The early mornings are.
What is included
- Safety and rain gear: life jackets, rain ponchos and rubber boots in EU sizes 34 to 45. If your size falls outside that range, bring your own boots.
- All river transport: motorised canoe for every activity, including the 20 minutes between the Arajuno River Bridge and the lodge.
- A bilingual guide: English and Spanish.
- Full board: self-service or buffet style, cooked with local ingredients. Breakfast is at 8:00 a.m., and the water, coffee and tea dispensers in the dining areas are unlimited.
- Kayaks: free use during your stay, subject to availability and weather.
Not included: the journey from Quito to the Arajuno River Bridge, although we can arrange a door-to-door transfer at extra cost; the USD 10 per person entrance to the Kichwa community and the Pañayaku reserve, subject to change; alcoholic drinks and personal expenses; additional meals; gratuities; and extra activities such as rafting or the ayahuasca ceremony.
What to bring for the river
- A swimsuit. For the tubing, the kayaks and the lodge pool.
- Dry bags. For gear, clothes and documents, plus a small waterproof backpack.
- Sunscreen and mosquito repellent. On the water there is no canopy over your head.
- A hat or cap and sunglasses.
- Trainers or sandals you do not mind soaking.
- A towel and a reusable water bottle.
- A torch with spare batteries for the night walk, which every programme includes.
Leave the jeans at home: all three packing lists ask for comfortable trousers instead, and wet denim in the Amazon is a long, heavy mistake.
Planning the day around it
The meeting point for all three programmes is the Arajuno River Bridge at 12:00, and departures run any day of the week. That midday start matters, because getting yourself from Quito to the bridge is your responsibility unless you book the transfer with us. Plan the journey backwards from noon rather than forwards from your hotel.
Expect flexibility too. The order of activities can change for weather, operational or safety reasons, and the water activity in particular depends on how the river is behaving that morning. Amazon rivers rise and fall quickly after rain, so the guides decide on the day. Do not build the rest of your trip around one specific hour in the water.
Ready to float the Arajuno?
We are a local Ecuadorian operator and Napo Amazon EcoLodge is our own lodge, which is why the guides, the canoes, the boots and the tubing all come from the same team instead of a chain of intermediaries. Check dates and book on the Adventure in the Amazon page, compare it with the two-day and three-day programmes, browse the rest of our tours in Ecuador, or send us a WhatsApp at +593 98 094 2338 and we will tell you straight which one fits your dates.
