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Rio Celeste Hiking, Sloth Sanctuary & Llanos de Cortes Waterfall Tour
4.5
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LIKELY TO SELL OUT*

Rio Celeste Hiking, Sloth Sanctuary & Llanos de Cortes Waterfall Tour

By Native's Way
Visit the Tenorio Volcano National Park to see a unique natural phenomenon at the site where two rivers merge and create vibrant turquoise waters. The tour also takes you to an off-the-beaten-path waterfall and a wildlife sanctuary where you can see sloths and other native wildlife. Plus, along the way your guide shares information about the region and helps you spot easy-to-miss wildlife.
from
S$183.10
per adult (price varies by group size)
from
S$183.10
per adult (price varies by group size)
Lowest price guaranteeReserve now & pay laterFree cancellation
Ages 0-99, max of 15 per group
Duration: 12h
Start time: Check availability
Mobile ticket
English, Spanish
Features animals
Highlights
  • See turquoise rivers, waterfalls, and wildlife on a small-group hiking tour
  • Cool off with a swim and enjoy a traditional lunch
  • Get exercise while exploring the steep jungle paths
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off make the trip hassle-free
  • National park fees
  • Lunch
  • Driver/guide
  • Professional bilingual guide
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Entry/Admission - Rio Celeste
  • Entry/Admission - Bijagua de Upala
  • Entry/Admission - Cataratas Llanos de Cortés
What's not included
  • Gratuities
Departure details
  • Traveller pickup is offered.
  • Self Drive Option: SELF DRIVE OPTION - Meet Guide at 10:15 am @ Tenorio National Park and follow your guide throughout the tour in your own vehicle. Pick up offered from: JW Marriott, Tamarindo, Langosta, Grande, Conchal, Flamingo, RIU Guanacaste/Palace, Catalinas, Playas del Coco, Playa Hermosa (Occidental, Villas Sol, Condovac), Playa Panama (Secrets Papagayo, Mangroove) Fours Seasons, Andaz, Planet Hollywood & Liberia. Please see extra fees below.
  • JW Marriott Guanacaste Resort & Spa, Hacienda Pinilla, Provincia de Guanacaste, Guanacaste, 50309, Costa Rica Self Drive 10:15 am @ Tenorio National Park Pinilla/JW Marriott: 6:00 AM Langosta/Tamarindo: 6:30 AM W/Westin Conchal: 6:45 AM Grande, Flamingo, Potrero: 6:30 AM RIU MAIN GATE 7:00 AM Coco: 7:20 AM Secrets, Villas Sol, Mangroove: 7:30 AM Liberia: 7:45 AM Andaz, 4 Seasons, Plt Hollywood: 7:00 AM
  • Tamarindo Beach Costa Rica, Guanacaste Province, Tamarindo, Costa Rica 6:30 AM
  • Playa Conchal, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica 6:45 AM
  • C6M5+74W, Flamingo Beach Road, Guanacaste Province, Playa Flamingo, Costa Rica 6:30 AM
  • Cam. Las Catalinas, Provincia de Guanacaste, Potrero, Costa Rica 6:15 AM - ($60 extra per booking, not per customer)
  • Playa Grande, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica 6:30 AM
  • Hotel Riu Guanacaste, Playa Matapalo, RIU Guanacaste Route, Guanacaste Province, Sardinal District, 60602, Costa Rica MAIN SECURITY GATE 6:45 AM
  • Del Coco Beach, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica 7:20 AM
  • Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica, Guanacaste Province, Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica Villas Sol, Condovac and other Hotels, Condos, and Private Houses in Hermosa - 7:30 am
  • Playa Panama, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica Secrets Papagayo, Mangroove and other Hotels, Condos, and Private Houses in Playa Panama - 5:30 am
  • Andaz Costa Rica Resort At Peninsula Papagayo - a Concept by Hyatt, Peninsula Papagayo, Guanacaste Province, Papagayo Peninsula, 50104, Costa Rica Andaz, Four Seasons, Planet Hollywood - 7:00 am ($50 transport fee per booking, not per person) - billed separately
  • Dreams Las Mareas Costa Rica, Playa el Jobo La Cruz de Guanacaste El Jobo, Guanacaste Province, 51001, Costa Rica $200 transport fee per booking, not per person to be paid directly
  • Guanacaste Province, Liberia, Costa Rica
  • Parque Nacional Volcán Tenorio, M249+MC2, Guanacaste Province, Guatuso, Costa Rica
  • Tamarindo, Costa Rica, Guanacaste Province, Tamarindo, 5009, Costa Rica
  • Secrets Papagayo Costa Rica, 3 Km North West from Panama Beach Main Entrance, Playa Arenilla, Papagayo Gulf Guanacaste Carrillo, Guanacaste Province, 50503, Costa Rica
  • Guanacaste Province, Tamarindo, Costa Rica
  • Guanacaste Province, Sardinal District, Costa Rica
  • Catarata Llanos del Cortés y Poza Escondida, De posada llanos del cortés 3 kilometro camino al pueblo de llanos llegan a la Esquina de la plaza de futbol a mano derecha 2.5 kilometros Guanacaste Bagaces llanos del cortes, Provincia de Guanacaste, Bagaces, Costa Rica
  • Hotel pickup is offered. View the hotel list on our checkout page to see if yours is included among the pickup points.
Return details
  • Returns to original departure point
  • Not wheelchair accessible
If you have questions about accessibility, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 17279P13
  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
  • No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
  • Not recommended for travellers with back problems
  • Travellers should have a moderate physical fitness level
  • This experience requires a minimum number of travellers. If it’s cancelled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travellers
  • For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.
What you can expect during your visit
  • Regularly sanitised high-traffic areas
  • Guides required to regularly wash hands
  • Transportation vehicles regularly sanitised
  • Face masks required for guides in public areas
Community
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  • Safety precautions are provided by the property and are not checked by Tripadvisor for accuracy.
How much is Rio Celeste Hiking, Sloth Sanctuary & Llanos de Cortes Waterfall Tour?
Rio Celeste Hiking, Sloth Sanctuary & Llanos de Cortes Waterfall Tour price starts from S$177.96. Discover and book Rio Celeste Hiking, Sloth Sanctuary & Llanos de Cortes Waterfall Tour on Tripadvisor
What is the Rio Celeste Hiking, Sloth Sanctuary & Llanos de Cortes Waterfall Tour cancellation policy?
Rio Celeste Hiking, Sloth Sanctuary & Llanos de Cortes Waterfall Tour cancellation policy: For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience. Discover and book Rio Celeste Hiking, Sloth Sanctuary & Llanos de Cortes Waterfall Tour on Tripadvisor
Which company provides Rio Celeste Hiking, Sloth Sanctuary & Llanos de Cortes Waterfall Tour?
Rio Celeste Hiking, Sloth Sanctuary & Llanos de Cortes Waterfall Tour is hosted by Native's Way. Read reviews, discover additonal experiences or contact Native's Way on Tripadvisor. Discover and book Rio Celeste Hiking, Sloth Sanctuary & Llanos de Cortes Waterfall Tour on Tripadvisor
If you have questions about this tour or need help making your booking, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 17279P13
Itinerary
  • You’ll have 19 starting options
    Or, you can also get picked up
    See departure details
  • 1
    Rio Celeste
    Stop: 2 hours - Admission included
    See details
  • 2
    Finca Verde Lodge
    Stop: 2 hours - Admission included
    See details
  • 3
    Cataratas Llanos de Cortes
    Stop: 60 minutes - Admission included
    See details
  • 4
    Native's Way
    Stop: 3 hours
    See details
    Pass by
    Tamarindo Beach
    Playa Matapalo
    Playa Langosta
    Playa Conchal
    Tamarindo
    Playa Hermosa
    Playas del Coco
    Playa Panama
    Playa Flamingo
  • You'll return to the starting point
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About the operator

Don’t take it from us – here’s what people have to say about this operator.

By: Native's Way
1,863
G4675WXbillh
G4675WXbillh
00
Great Day !
Super fun. We really enjoyed the water rapids! You will have a great day and see lots of exciting things
melissafG691HT
melissafG691HT
00
Exceptional!
We were lucky to have Ivan as our tour guide, he was knowledgeable, friendly, funny - an amazing guide. He made su…
887jennao
887jennao
00
Unforgettable
Ivan was a great tour guide! We saw two crocodiles, tons of birds, and even some monkeys. I loved my experience and…
julie p
julie p
00
Breathtaking adventure
Amazing adventure and experience Be ready to have breathtaking emotions, out of the beauty of it. Our guide Warre…
DavefromAZCO
DavefromAZCO
00
Just OK
We went on the three hour ATV/snorkel trip. The good: The Honda ATVs were clean and in good condition. Our group…
SanAntonioGirl2013
SanAntonioGirl2013
00
A lovely trip
We were staying in Playa Grande for a week and four (adults) of us took this tour. We loved being picked up by Juan…
892clp
892clp
00
Fabulous adventure
Beautiful evening on the beach. Our tour guide, Ivan Tiger, made the outing a wonderful night time adventure. We sa…
LisaMac68
LisaMac68
00
Amazing opportunity to see Nicaragua’s natural beauty
There’s a lot packed into the trip and well worth the long journey (we were near the Nicaraguan border so not too b…
Doug d
Doug d
00
A Long , but very interesting day trip
Great trip to active volcano with stops for breakfast, Lake Nicaragua viewing/boating, Granada touring/shopping and…
relv2018
relv2018
00
Birthday Celebration On-Board.
I booked this tour through Nexus Tours. Let me say first that Nexus was incredibly accommodating and worked with us…
JOCELAM
JOCELAM
00
Excellent!
Excellent day! Friendly & accomodating staff! Clean catamaran! Good food, great drinks! Very enjoyable day! Sn…
arthurkX5916XZ
arthurkX5916XZ
00
1/2 excellent
The zip lining was outstanding. The tour operator unilaterally canceled the ATV portion without explanation and wit…
coachmele
coachmele
00
A day of Costa Rica adventure
Great combinations of activities. My favorite was the tubing. The river offered many rapids which kept your adrenal…
samanthacB9991TL
samanthacB9991TL
00
Amazing Experience
What a wonderful tour with Gaspar! He is incredibly knowledgeable and upbeat. The entire trip went smoothly from pi…
Thalia S
Thalia S
00
Wonderful with a caring tour guide
The tour was wonderful and everything we expected. Unfortunately we had some challenges through no fault of Viator …
Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
252 reviews
Excellent
206
Very good
20
Average
13
Poor
11
Terrible
2
Monica
Los Angeles, CA2 contributions
A must see!
We did the Rio Celeste tour and it was absolutely amazing. Words and pictures really don’t do it justice. Gustavo was our tour guide and he was the best. You can feel his His love, passion and pride for his county in the way he explains and gives information.

I would 100% recommend taking a light raincoat because it will rain in spurts. We were able to buy plastic ponchos from a local for $3 it did the job.
Written 11 January 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Saf
8 contributions
Sloths and Waterfalls
Jan 2023 • Solo
Santos was the guide and he was great and so knowledgeable and very willing to take pictures which helps a solo traveler like me. If you love nature and learning about the life in the forests and jungles, this is your tour. The first waterfall felt amazing. We got there early enough before my visitors came. We lucked out seeing a turquoise Rio Celeste and learned so much at Jungle Life from Isma and saw some pretty cool and rare animals. Even along the way if Santos spotted an animal, we pulled over and he got great shots. Lunch from La Casona was to die for. If you’re also a nature/animal lover like me, this is for you. Bring jackets because the climate is way cooler in the rainforest.
Written 9 January 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Olivia F
Toronto, Canada6 contributions
A memorable experience in Costa Rica!
Dec 2022
My friends and I really enjoyed this tour! Transportation was professional and comfortable. Our guides was Kevin and he was amazing - very friendly and knowledgable. The drivers and other guides we interacted with along the way were equally as good. The lunch surpassed my expectations - normally, when a tour includes lunch I expect the bare minimum, but the meal was truly delicious and the restaurant was beautiful. Highly recommend to anyone - friends, family, couples.
Written 21 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Kaitlyn T
1 contribution
Not worth the money
Nov 2022 • Couples
I’ll start this off by saying the national parks are awesome, the Rio Celeste park has a bunch of different hikes! You can’t swim at that water fall :(, but all of that being said; you can do this entire adventure much cheaper if you don’t get a guide. The only thing included that they provide (which you paid for) is the lunch. Even that got messed up. The price to get into the parks is substantially cheaper if you go on your own, the trails are very maintained and super easy to navigate. The park entrance fees are no more than 15$ and the guide drags one hike out to be an hour and a half when you could do all the hikes on your own in the same amount of time. Maybe it was just our guide that made it obvious that it is a scam but highly recommend visiting all the parks on your own! Do your research :)
Written 29 November 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Tim Sullivan
Toronto, Canada2 contributions
A full day but worth it!
Feb 2022
Be prepared for a full day of driving. We were picked up at the Riu Palace and then picked up other guests along the way before making our way. We stopped for breakfast. We would recommend that people eat a good breakfast because for us anyway lunch was closer to 4 PM. We enjoyed the day very much and the lunch was terrific! Our guide was great and we enjoyed swimming at the waterfall and in the river. Water shoes and a rain jacket would be handy. Even when you think there's no way it will rain!
Written 1 March 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Mariana S
3 contributions
Management ignored me & I part of the tour was closed
Jun 2022 • Friends
Was very excited for this Rio Celeste excursion, however disappointed for a couple of things that did not turn out the way they were supposed to. The tour guides and bus drivers were absolutely amazing though! Nothing negative about them.
The Llanos de Cortes Waterfall tour ended up being closed the day I went so 1/3 of the activities I was supposed to go on (& paid for) did not happen. The trip was also stated to be a 12 hour trip which ended up being 14 hours because of how many bus stops and changes there were. I calculated we waited an hour at one stop just because the other buses were behind and we had to wait for people to transfer.
I contacted the business manager through their WhatsApp explaining my concerns about how the trip went and about the fact that 1/3 of the activity I paid for I did not get to go on. He read my message and did not respond. Not well managed.
Written 2 June 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Natives Way Costa Rica
Hola Mariana! We do apologize for Llanos de Cortes Waterfall being closed due to flooding and wait times at stops. We never intended for you to feel ignored and have no problem issuing refunds when we didn't deliver what was promised. It is standard for us to offer a partial refund on the rare occasion Llanos de Cortes is closed. Your tour was on June 1. Management does not directly attend to our Whatsapp and on June 2 your case was sent to management for review. We have just now reviewed what happened and have already issued a partial refund. We hope you accept our apologies and we will try to speed up our process of getting complaints to management for review. We are happy you enjoyed the rest of the day :) Gracias y Pura Vida!
Written 3 June 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Joseph A
2 contributions
Rio Celests Hiking,Sloth Sanctuary and Llanos de Cortes Waterfall
Jan 2020
This 1/2 day excursion was a wonderful experience. The waaterfalls were simply amazing...water cold but view was breathtaking. The animal sanctuary was exceptional with the number of indegious animals that were there along with birds, insects, and all different varities of colorful plants and flowers. Our guide was unbelievably informative and answered all of our questions while also showing us up close to tree frogs, butterflys and tree monkeys. He took pictures for us thru his telescope and I would highly recommend this excursion. Bring comfortable shoes, a camera and get ready to eat a wonderful lunch home cooked right there at the outside cafe they took us to.
Written 24 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Gil S
32 contributions
Native’s Way Costa Rica Tour
I believe we got the oldest vehicle in their fleet to take us in the journey. The vehicle was hot dirty and I’ll
prepared with no gas as we had to stop to get fuel along the way. The guides didn’t prepare and get ice for the coolers so the water was hot in 98° weather (even though we stopped at a convenience store along the way). They were more concerned in eating their breakfast it seemed at a tourist trap they stopped at. Our guide had to kneel and turn to us to speak to us about the tour. He wasn’t very informative and mostly rambled with no cohesive program. Norberto didn’t even educate us in the beautiful turquoise color of the waterfall we visited. Lunch was good but the journey was not worth the $135 cost. You could probably find a better company or we just had bad luck with our guide and driver.
Written 20 April 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Megan F
10 contributions
Excellent Tour!
Jan 2023 • Couples
Our guide Hector was fantastic. He was so knowledgeable, friendly and accommodating to our group. We really enjoyed this tour and felt like this gave us a great overview of Costa Rica. Our driver Josolitta was also so nice, safe and kind. I would highly recommend this tour to everyone. The Rio Celeste was very cool and beautiful to see as well as the wildlife in the rainforest. The hike was not difficult but coming up the 300+ stairs was a little bit of a challenge. You don’t have to go all the way down if you are worried about coming back up. Closed toed shoes were a better idea for all the rocks. The jungle world was very cool and well done. Lunch was in a very cool spot and very good. We enjoyed the waterfall stop to cool off.

A rain jacket, change of clothes, closed toe shoes, snacks, and Dramamine were very important for our group of 8.

Thank you very much!
Written 15 January 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Claire H
8 contributions
A Great Day
Jan 2020
Perfect in every way! The tour has a little of everything, a short walk through the woods, a little wildlife, swimming by a waterfall and viewing another. When it came to strenuous activities such as the lengthy staircase to the bottom of the falls, it was optional. The guide always encouraged us to do whatever felt comfortable.
Written 8 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.

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2023 Rio Celeste Hiking, Sloth Sanctuary & Llanos de Cortes Waterfall Tour