Río Celeste Full-Day Tour: Is It Worth It?

Río Celeste (“sky-blue river” in English) is one of Costa Rica’s most beautiful places and definitely worth a visit if you’re in the La Fortuna area. While it’s possible to go on your own, it can be tricky to get to without a rental car, which I didn’t have.

Instead of having to figure out all the transportation details, I opted to go on a full-day tour from La Fortuna. Stick around to find out: is the Rio Celeste tour worth it?

My Experience

I booked a full-day tour of Río Celeste and Tenorio Volcano National Park, not really knowing what to expect. I had heard about Río Celeste and it was definitely on my mind when I got to La Fortuna, but it’s a 90-minute drive from where I was staying, and I hadn’t rented a car. A spur-of-the-moment decision led me to book the tour, especially after I did the math on how much it would cost to get there on my own, factoring in the admission fee to the national park, snacks, and meals.

The $85 price tag seemed a little hefty at first, but at the time, I wasn’t exactly sure how to get to Río Celeste via public transportation, and paying a taxi to take me would have been about $50 each way, so that was a big no for me.

Considering that the tour includes transportation, lunch, the entrance fee to the national park, and a naturalist guide, I thought it was worth the price, and so I booked it the day before. The van came around to pick me up early, around 6am, and I was greeted by my guide, Carlos.

The drive to Tenorio Volcano National Park, where Río Celeste lies, was about 90 minutes but took a bit longer because the guide spotted a sloth in a tree on the side of the road. How he was able to see it from so far away is a mystery to me still, but I was grateful for the stop, because I’m always down to see those little guys munching on leaves way up in the trees.

Once we got to the park, the foggy atmosphere was a bit daunting. I wondered aloud if we would be able to see Río Celeste’s bright blue color, and our guide reassured us that there was time to check it out before the rains came and made the water murky. I took a deep breath and prepared myself for disappointment.

As we hiked through the jungle, checking out the different plants and animals along the way, I was getting excited about our first stop: the Catarata Río Celeste waterfall. As we approached, I could hear the thunderous roar of the…