The Rio Celeste Waterfall is one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world! Imagine yourself in front of a turquoise blue waterfall surrounded by lush, emerald green jungle.
The tour starts off when you are picked up from your La Fortuna area hotel. The ride to the Rio Celeste takes about 2 to 2.5 hours and takes you through rural countryside that few tourists have the opportunity to see. You will pass through small villages, farm lands and forest.
When you reach the Tenorio National Park your guide will lead you on a hike through the jungle, always looking for wildlife. While this is not exactly a wildlife hike, you may have the opportunity to see animals such as white faced monkeys, sloths, agouti, peccaries, and many species of birds including hummingbirds, trogons, motmots and much more.
The hike will be on partially groomed trails that are often muddy. Eventually you will reach the waterfall trail which requires several hundred steep steps down to the observation platform. As you make your way down, the incredibly beautiful waterfall begins to come in to view.
Local legend has it that when God finished painting the sky he dipped his brush in the river. The more scientific version involves the volcanic minerals found in two rivers that merge creating the Rio Celeste and the Kool Aid blue color. Regardless, this truly is a magical place of unsurpassed beauty.
After observing the river and waterfall, there will be a little more hiking and remember that you will have to climb back up several hundred steep steps. This is not an easy hike, so participants should be in good physical condition and be prepared to get muddy.
After the hike you will drive back through the countryside and eventually be returned to your hotel. Including round trip transfers, the tour is expected to last a total of around 8 – 9 hours, though this is subject to change. This fun filled full day adventure includes transportation, bilingual naturalist guide, park entrance fee, and lunch.
This supplier maintains a zero-plastic policy, so no water bottles will be offered, only a refrigerated water dispenser for visitors to refill their own reusable bottles. You cannot swim beneath the waterfall or in the national park.
The Rio Celeste Hike - Canoa Aventura is available from Arenal, Arenal Zone 2, Arenal Zone 3, Chachagua Rainforest Hotel, and Nuevo Arenal
5 and up
Latitude: N 10° 39' 26.04"
Longitude: W 84° 58' 5.11"
09/16/2024
Hike was slightly more difficult than expected.
06/08/2023
The english of the guide was sufficient, but could have been better.
04/22/2023
What a beautiful place. Nothing like it anywhere else I have been. Lunch at the SODA was yummy.
04/11/2023
The guide and hike were great but very crowded.
02/27/2023
We had a beautiful day with no rain. I work out and am in fairly good shape, but was winded by some of those climbs! Gorgeous views and a picture that screams Costa Rica for every travel brochure.
11/29/2022
Great hiking & waterfall
10/31/2022
Incredible!
08/15/2022
The tour was amazing. Be ready to put on some comfortable and reliable shoes, the hike is a challenge but worth doing once you see the amazing waterfall and the blue lagoon. Very enjoyable hike.
07/13/2022
We were not aware we couldn't get in the water but we shouldve researched more. It was still a wonderful experience that was worth the hike.
01/16/2022
This hike was beautiful!
02/20/2021
The walk down to and back up from the waterfall is fairly strenuous. Anyway, the guide was superb and we all had fun!
12/27/2020
The national park had a restriction on the number of people and overall it made for a very enjoyable experience. The hike/stairs are not easy but very beautiful.
03/15/2020
Some translation issues but overall a wonderful experience. Luckily I travel with a translator:)
02/11/2020
The day was a little rainy, but the hike was awesome. It wasn't a very challenging hike overall, but our guide made it enjoyable for everyone. The waterfall is a must see.
02/05/2020
Nice Hike
01/21/2020
Our guide was great! He waited and made a lot of stops for me.
12/17/2019
There is no guidance how steep down and up the hill in the hike and there is no bathrooms in reasonable distance. It was very inconvenience in hiking due to steep up hill.
11/30/2019
This tour was amazing. Our tour guide, Pierre and driver Tonio went above and beyond to make our experience special. We stopped multiple times for animal sightings which we loved and we learned so much on the hike.
11/10/2019
Was a little disappointed that you couldn't get closer or swim or wade in the water and only one waterfall. Ride was a little long.
08/10/2019
This hike is 1.5 hours each way from the resort. Surely there are good hikes closer to the resort?
08/06/2019
Great experience, the tour guide was very nice and knowledgeable.
07/26/2019
I saw a great amount of varied wildlife during this tour and the beautiful Rio Celeste. My only compliant is that I was hoping for a longer hike.
05/03/2019
Awesome day. Lots of animals, good exercise and beautiful waters! Pretty buggy though, recommend bug spray!
02/14/2019
Same tour guide as the hanging bridges. She was fantastic again! Great lunch afterwards too!
02/04/2019
This excursion and hike was great! It is so Beautiful and our guide was fantastic. My niece had a bit of trouble with the hike and he actually stayed right with her and helped her throughout the entire hike.
01/06/2019
This was a nice little hike through a lot of mud and a lot of stairs to get down to the viewing area. I would not recommend this to people who don't like hiking/ walking through mud or those who don't like bugs! The water fall was absolutely amazing and the blue water was so BLUE! Our guide was very informative and brought us each a walking stick! We sure did make good friends with those sticks through all the mud! The trail can definitely get a little crowded too.
12/27/2018
This was the best waterfall ever. I think there could have been a warning about slush and to wear boots.
11/26/2018
Sadie was fabulous on a beautiful tour.
11/25/2018
The park trail was more crowded than we expected
09/24/2018
Our guide Joe was great! And he was soo insightful!
08/25/2017
This was my favorite part of the trip. Our guide was wonderful and we had a blast.
02/06/2017
It was cloudy so it wasn't as exactly expected, but we had an adventure and it was great. Seyris and William did an amazing job! Seyris was the best guide of the trip!
01/15/2017
little disappointed we took an early morning tour didn't realize we wouldn't see the beautiful color because the sun hadn't had time to mix it up. didn't get to swim in the hot springs that was advertised,
07/28/2016
A longer hike that may require a quick break before making it to the blue lagoon - we needed one! haha It truly is beautiful - the waterfall, lagoon, and area where the two rivers join are must-sees. Our guide Pedro and driver Antonio were FANTASTIC -- so fun, chatty and friendly, they made the experience for us.
06/09/2016
We had a wonderful local lunch. We ordered on our way to the Park, on return the order was ready. Nice stop! Owner even sang and played the Mirimba for us!
05/31/2016
Absolutely beautiful!!! Seyris was a great tour guide. The hike is long and a lot of stairs, but we knew that ahead of time and it was so worth it. Unforgettable beauty!
05/28/2016
There was a very young tourist in the group who kep getting ahead of us and rushing the whole experience, the guide did his best to keep up with all of us. Lunch was fair.
03/23/2016
It was a rainy day so that made for a lot of sliding around in the mud. It is actually quite a busy hike, with lots of people. The guide was super, very knowledgeable and friendly. We loved the beauty and the lunch after was very special. The food was really good, the drinks were awesome, and the local music was a very nice touch.
03/04/2016
Terrific Guide. Delicious lunch. Lucked out and had only 4 people for the tour.
01/14/2016
Yareni and Ronald were the best! I would do this hike again and again. Perfect and exactly what I expected.
02/26/2015
Everything was great!!
12/25/2014
This was worth the long ride from our hotel, very enjoyable hike, even is spite of (or maybe because of) the rain. Rain gear, good socks, and dry clothes to change into were essential, as we were absolutely soaked by heavy rain on this hike.
11/30/2014
Very muddy, difficult hike. We did the hike on a Sunday and it was very busy. Rio Celeste was very nice but I wouldn't do that hike again....we were sore for days afterwards.