The 4 Waterfall Hikes in Costa Rica That Earn Their Price

1.Hiking Tour of La Leona Waterfall with Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 106 reviews · 8 hours (approx.) · from $79Our pick

You’ll hike upriver through Rincon de la Vieja’s shaded canyons, crossing pools and rocks before swimming to La Leona Waterfall. Guides such as Jason, Dylan, Steven, and Noel help with the technical sections. Pickup, transport, lunch, drinks, park fees, and lifejackets are included.

“Fantastic tour with our guide Steven, beautiful pools, caves and spectacular sites. The meal provided was delicious, we will definitely do the tour again in the wet season!”

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2.La Leona Waterfall Hike and River Tubing

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 90 reviews · 4 to 5 hours (approx.) · from $90

Near Curubandé, hike through forest and river channels to La Leona Waterfall, using ladders and a rope to reach its cave and swimming hole. Then tube a canyon river for about 90 minutes. Guides such as Rony, Brandy, Victor, and Diego focus on safety and pacing.

“Loved this experience. The canyon walk is easy but beautiful scenary and fun to swim in the waterfall at the end. We had a guide for just the two of us and he was great at pointing out wildlife en route and very friendly. Tubing was great too. Again, just the two of us, this time with a guide each- can see why they are needed to stop the tubes going under! Really fun, guides kept us very safe! Particularly loved the dog that ran along the bank for the whole thing!”

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3.Full Day Tour with Safari Float, Waterfall and Volcano Hike

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 89 reviews · 9 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $210

Start at 7:30 a.m. with a gentle Peñas Blancas River float, wildlife spotting, and tropical fruit. Then swim at La Fortuna Waterfall, eat a home-cooked Costa Rican lunch, and hike old Arenal lava trails. Guides such as Tony, Pepe, Oscar, and Francisco are praised for sharp eyes and warm teaching.

“It's not five stars just because they have pick-ups and drop offs of customers between activities. Activities and lunch were great. The best way to see wildlife is on boat tour and that was our experience after having done many different activities over a week in CR. Just the travel between activities and picking up customers felt like waste of time.”

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4.La Leona waterfall adventure hike half day

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 79 reviews · 3 hours (approx.) · from $50Best value

Ride five minutes by 4WD from Curubandé, then hike about 1.3 miles each way through streams, rocks, caves, and rope sections to La Leona Waterfall. Guides such as Pablo, José, Ramses, and Carlos adjust the route to your fitness, provide a dry bag and life vest, and leave time for swimming and photos.

“We had such a great hike to Leona Falls. It was a challenging hike but so worth it at the end. Probably one of the best hikes I have been on. The waterfall was amazing. Our guide, Steven did a very good job to make sure that we were safe going through the caves and climbing up the trails.”

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