Hey Jer,
I have paddled in Costa Rica and taken three road trips to the South east. My last trip to the South was the best (paddling) and the worst (too much overall driving).
A package trip is like an "all inclusive." It has certainty. Somebody else worries about all the logistics. But it's not customized for your goals and desires. You are singing someone else's tune. Here is the itinerary and you follow the itinerary. In Costa Rica my feeling was that safety was first and foremost, which is fine. But it took a bit of the edge off. I only felt challenged on one river day in 6. If you want to do your own thing and call your own shots, you might feel constrained with a tour company. It's also more costly to pay airfare, plus package trip. On the other hand there aren't really words to express the emotions that can arise when you are approaching a rapid for the first time that has taken its share of boaters over the years and has become somewhat storied (Five Falls on the Chattooga). There is no guide. Just you and your crew. None of you have been on the river. No one is there to describe the line or help you if you get into trouble. You truly are "on your own." You figure it out as you go along.
I think I found the perfect combo last spring. Two days of advanced creeking with a pro, and the rest of the week free to explore where I wanted. So I knew where I was paddling for two days. The rest was to be decided as we went.
If you are driving to the S/E and you want to combine awesome river options with some awesome instruction, then you can't do better than meeting up with Leland Davis (he started the Green River Race, is a great paddler, guide book author and storyteller) who runs creeking clinics with his partner Andria on the Watauga (boulder garden, boofing heaven, plus Hydro and Stateline Falls to get your adrenaline really pumping) river in North Carolina. The clinic was like paddling with a buddy. He explains the rapid, he sets up safety as necessary on the Class IV+, but you make your own call about what you run. First day I ran Stateline. Second day I was exhausted and shouldered my boat. Each day was six solid hours on the river. After a long winter out of my boat, it was a great way to tune up and set us for the rest of our week of river exploration. Our confidence boat scouting our way down stuff went up a notch. If you can get on one, I highly recommend!
Henderson North Carolina is a college town nearby the Watauga and has a great vibe and lots of places to stay/eat. Even if you are solo, you might be able to jump into a clinic he's already got on the go and looking to add one or two more paddlers.
Here is the link to contact Leland Davis:
http://www.brushymountainpublishing.com/rivergypsies/index.htmlThe worst part of the trip was chasing rain and water levels. It meant way more hours in the car then I wanted on a paddling holiday. After the clinic was finished we were booked a cabin in Tennessee on the edge of the Smoky Mountain National Park. We only paddled one day on the Little in the Park - every other day was in the car driving a lot of hours. But that's weather.
