The Venado Caves is one of the coolest hidden gems for adventurers in Costa Rica. Imagine spelunking through a tropical limestone cavern system in Costa Rica!
The day starts off when you are picked up from your La Fortuna hotel. Transportation will be provided to the Venado Caves site in Venado. The drive takes about an hour and passes through rural off the beaten path villages that few are privileged to see.
When you arrive at the caves your guide will set you up with boots, helmet and flashlight. Then you will be on your way to discovering and exploring the fascinating cave system.
You can walk upright through most of the cave system, but there will be times where you will have to crawl a little or squeeze through tight passages. No need to worry as there is always another way around. As you pass through, you will be walking through a shallow stream, but this will not affect you as you will have your boots.
The cave is home to its own ecosystem with insects, frogs, fish, and four species of bats. It is estimated that the caves were formed over six million years ago, so there are fossils of marine life such as mollusks. In addition, there are beautiful rock formations including and the smoothed rock formations from old waterfalls.
Of course, a guide will accompany you the entire way. Your guide will show you points of interest, explain the natural history and answer any questions you may have.
After a couple hours exploring the cave you will be returned to your hotel. In total, including round trip transfers, this tour is expected to last around five hours, though this is subject to change. The tour includes transportation, guide, helmet, flashlight, snacks and entrance fee.
Clothes That Can Get Wet And Dirty
The Venado Caves is available from Arenal, Arenal Zone 2, and Arenal Zone 3
6 and up
Latitude: N 10° 33' 24.41"
Longitude: W 84° 45' 1.7"
06/29/2023
A little tough on a 71-year-old body, but it was wonderful
01/14/2023
This tour was wild! We didn't really know what it was going to be like before going, but we are glad we went. I wish we had a smaller group (there was a total of 10-12 in our group) because the constant stopping to take multiple photos got a little old. They aren't kidding when they say you'll get wet and muddy, we were crawling through water, mud, and squeezing in tiny passageways. Definitely not for those who are claustrophobic!
08/11/2021
This was an amazing tour. I wasn't quite sure what to expect as I've gone everywhere from paved cave tours to crawling around spelunking. This was the latter! There were many tight spots and areas of wading, and it was a blast. My tour guide didn't speak a lot of English, but he was fantastic and I greatly enjoyed the experience.
12/28/2020
Definitely need a change of clothes, wear water/quick dry gear as well. Loved the guide and the experience.
12/28/2019
Best cave tour. A real experience and I have been to many caves.
10/22/2019
This tour was amazing! I was a bit of a scaredy cat at first and refused to go down the "Birth Canal"; however, I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the tour and the education we received.
06/13/2019
A must! Would highly recommend you suggest this tour to others. We accidentally stumbled upon it on TripAdvisor and it was truly an experience we will never forget.
09/19/2018
That tour operator should be the highest on your list. Excellent! We used them again to arrange a tour on our Free morning before heading back to SJO
09/05/2018
Driver was amazing and so nice
06/04/2017
A little too adventurous for me! I ended up quite bruised all over!
11/22/2016
Exciting! Our guide was patient and knowledgeable!
06/28/2015
Carlos was an excellent guide. He exceeded our expectations of this tour. He was polite and well informed of the trip from pick up through drop off. Highly recommend him.
03/31/2015
Really loved our tour guide, he was very informative and fun. he really knows his stuff