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

Must do tour

Amazing experience all around. Knowledgeable tour guides, fun, amazing food! The weather was beautiful! I highly recommend that words can't convey the beautiful experience of it.

Really fun time that I...

Really fun time that I thoroughly enjoyed. A lot of walking but completely worth it. Got to see 2 waterfalls and plenty of animals at the sloth sanctuary.

Fantastic experience.

Excellent experience. Well organised. Requires reasonable fitness for the hike / one of the waterfalls visited with many steps down and back up. Sloth sanctuary was great. Guides knowledgeable and friendly throughout.

Rigorous hikes but worth it

This was an excellent excursion! We Saw two tremendous waterfalls, wildlife and plants. There are three park entrances and a delicious lunch. Follow the Instructions of what to bring and wear. The rainforest had heavy rain - a poncho is necessary. Hiking shoes are needed - terrain is muddy in part and with small rocks as we transversed a small brook, and hilly - there are many stairs on the paths. Also bring pool shoes or flip Flops for the part where you swim. We had excellent guides.

Amazing tour, full day of...

Amazing tour, full day of activities. Manuel did an amazing job guiding us and went above and beyond to create Costa Rican memories we will never forget. It was our last rainforest day so we were hoping to see wildlife we hadn’t seen yet, and Manuel delivered! Would definitely recommend the private tour. Kevin at the sloth sanctuary also did an excellent job. Pura vida !!

Great tour!

This was an amazing tour! Santos was a great tour guide and we had Jack as our driver! They picked us up from our airbnb and the tour included a breakfast stop, a waterfall that we could swim in, a hike to another waterfall, a buffet lunch, a nature filled tour, and a souvenir shop stop! We saw so many animals such as sloths, monkeys, snakes, frogs, iguanas, etc. 10/10 tour, everyone should go on this once!

A lot of money for a long car ride

8 hours in the car for 3hours outdoor experience. It was not worth it. The hike was a walk. The waterfall ok, but definitily not worth the ride and full with tourists. The nature walk in the end was the only nice thing.

Excellent experience packed into one day. Make sure you bring extra clothes and extra towels.

The first stop on our tour was the waterfall. And they gave us time to change into swimsuits and walk down on our own and swim independently. It wasn't too crowded and felt very comfortable. It is a bit of a walk down, but the steps back are challenging for anybody who is not super mobile. But people are patient and very kind with each other. We were able to change out of our wet swimsuits. And headed towards our hike. So the hike is more like a speed walk through the rainforest. Not exactly our kind of hike. The guide pushed us through very quickly and we weren't really able to take in the surroundings. Definitely recommend bringing rain gear as it is a rainforest and definitely rains a lot. We eventually got to Rio. Celeste waterfall. It is a lot and lot and lot of stairs. FYI. But truly magnificent. There was a landing at the top where people who didn't want to take the climb can wait. However, you wouldn't be able to see the waterfall from this area. You can go halfway and see the waterfall but not the whole thing. We went down and it truly is a magnificent site. We sped back from the waterfall to jump back onto the van. To head to the the sloth exhibit. Before we arrived we stopped and ate a fabulous lunch at a beautiful spot. Upon arriving at the sloth exhibit, we were served delicious coffee and a biscuit. Very hospitable. Very nice people who work there. The guides who presented the exhibit were different from our regular guide and we're excellent Right away we saw a sloth In a tree and the guides were able to allow us to see very up close pictures. We continued to see incredible wildlife as we wandered through. Then it started to pour and I mean really, really, really poor. It was a lot of fun. I cannot tell you what an awesome experience it is to be in a rainforest with that kind of rain looking at wildlife and fauna. Definitely bring a dry bag and leave on the bus for a change of clothes. Extra towel would be great. The driver was excellent and allowed us to leave our stuff on the bus most of the time so you can definitely bring extra items to change into. This tour really puts a lot into a small period of time. The only thing that I would have rather been able to do was take a little bit more time hiking and taking in the sights. And I also wish I would have known to bring a dry bag with a change of clothes... But this was an incredible experience and one we will never forget. Good

AMAZING!

Amazing tour! It was a LOONG DAY starting from Tamarindo, BUT so so worth it! We saw so much wildlife, the rainforest in all of it’s beauty, hiked to the most beautiful waterfall (the hike is a little bit of workout, but doable for all ages) and we were lucky to do it during a tropical rainstorm. We all got to check off a bucket list item. We saw sloths (of course a favorite!) and all the guides were extremely knowledgeable and friendly. Thank you to the tour guides, the driver and Costa Rica for sharing their beauty with us.

Excellent outing, especially if you like physical activity

This is an excellent outing! I attended with Mau, our tour guide and a great group. I really enjoyed this out. I must offer a disclaimer though, if you have any issues with walking or balancing yourself, this may not be an outing for you. You are definitely out in nature and we seen some great creatures! This sloth sanctuary was my favorite part of the excursion, although I truly enjoyed the entire day.

Excellent tour!

Wonderful tour with many activities that went through the way they were described in the website. Our driver Victor and our guide Daphne were great! They made sure we saw and experienced all possible beauties of Costa Rica on that tour. We enjoyed the tour and highly recommend this company!

Great tour except for the crowds

The tour was great, the guides were both awesome, but it was so crowded with people at the trails and waterfall that it was not as enjoyable as it could have been, and the wildlife was just not there - likely due to the crowd. We loved the sloth sanctuary the best - what an amazing place and the guide we had there was so amazing. Thank you!

Good option to spend a day

We did the Rio Celeste hiking and sloth sanctuary tour. The guides were nice and helpful. Hiking to Rio Celeste was a good experience but don’t think this hike needs a guide. At the sanctuary, we saw a few sloths and frogs that we didn’t see in other areas of Costa Rica, so it was worth the visit. Though, It felt like the sloths and frogs are captives in the sanctuary.

Something for Everyone!

What a great day from start to finish. Johnny, our driver, was fantastic! He picked us up at 6:30 AM full of the day’s best energy! He answered lots on questions about the things we were interested about. Met up with our guide Nicol in Coco Beach. Made it to the Llanos des Cortes Waterfall before the crowds! Perfect timing!! Headed off to the national park where we had a great experience. Saw Eyelash Pit Viper, Green Vine Snake and Helmet Headed Basilisk and the beautiful Rio Cortes waterfall. Then off to the Sloth Sanctuary where our guide Alexander treated us to three species of frogs, bats, butterflies, birds and a few sloths!! Great day!! Back at the hotel on time for dinner! Thanks Johnny!

Great Day!

We had a wonderful time! A great way to see new parts of Costa Rica in a day. The first stop is the swimming waterfall so I would wear a bathing suit on the bus (but there are changing rooms there).

Amazing day

We loved our tour! Our tour guide Alejandro was amazing. He was so knowledgeable and made the day so fun We would highly recommend this day trip

A Chance to Experience the Costa Rica Rain Forest.

I took this tour on December 16 with a group of about 12-14 other participants. The trip went completely as described on the tour’s website. The tour was very enjoyable. I was very satisfied with the tour. Santos was our guide. At the start, Santos introduced himself and our driver Frank. Santos reviewed the day’s itinerary. Santos provided a description of the three main ecosystems we would be travelling through, from the tropical dry forest to the rain forest. This was very informative. At the stops on the tour Santos guided us, provided information and identified things of interest about the trees and plants, spiders, and at least one snake. I enjoy bird watching. This tour is not a birding tour, but I was still able to see numerous bird species that I could only see in Central American rain forests or in South America. Below is a list of what I observed. Photo means photo attached. RF means the usual habit of this bird species is Central American rain forest or South America. It was a thrill for me to see RF birds. Below is a description of what we did and saw. We had a brief stop for breakfast before proceeding to our first stop, the Llanos de Cortez Waterfall. The waterfall was beautiful. We were there for an hour. The swim in the water was very refreshing. Observed: - Two iguanas who challenged each other before one withdrew. (photos). Next stop, Tenoria volcano national park and Rio Celeste waterfall. The hike is about 2 kilometres in and 2 more back. There are also a lot of stairs. Bring good hiking shoes or boats as the trail can get wet. There was mud and wet rocks in numerous stream crossings. They weren’t deep but they were slick. Observed: - Emerald Tanager (photo) (RF) - Red-throated Ant Tanager (no photo) (RF) - Common Chlorospingus (no photo) (RF) We stopped for lunch at the Mi Rancho Buffet Restaurante. The lunch provided was very satisfying. It was a large plate of tasty local food. It included salad, a rice dish, plantains, chicken and fruit juice. (Photos) While eating lunch, observed: - Blue and White Swallow (photos) (RF) The next stop was the sloth sanctuary and butterfly tour. It was very interesting. The sloths were adorable thrilled. Observed: - 4 sloths (which included a parent with an infant) (photos) (There is one photo where the young can be observed asleep on the parent’s stomach like a hammock.) - Poison dart frog (no photo) - Rufous Motmot. (photo) (RF) - Broad-billed Motmot. (photo) (RF) - Yellow-throated Toucan. (photo) (RF) - Olive-backed euphonia. (photos) (RF) - Green tree frog? (Photo) On the way home, we a brief rest stop at a souvenir store for coffee and souvenirs. I was dropped at my hotel about 12 hours later. I was very pleased with this tour. Santos and Frank were great. It was a wonderful way to experience the Costa Rica rain forest in one day. I got to see things I probably will never see anywhere else. Thank you. Enjoy the photos. Ed Pura vida

Rainforest

The entire trip we were rushed thru the guide never stopped to point out things like termite mounds, and many other flora. I was able to share some of my own personal knowledge as I toured the rainforest in Peru. It was just rush rush rush even during lunch hardly had time to eat Very disappointing

Full day but worth it

This is a full 12 hour day but worth it! Great guide and driver who stayed with the van so we didn't have to take all our gear with us which was nice. We were lucky to see a South in the national Park and then a few more at the sloth sanctuary. Guide was very knowledgeable and adapted to the groups pace for hiking. The hike wasn't as bad as I had anticipated but was glad I prepared for it. Those stairs down and back for the waterfall are a workout.

Rushed and devoid of any wildlife in overpopulated tourist areas.

We were picked up 30 minutes early but got stuck on the one lane road behind an accident and made it to the first stop an hour late. The first stop that is claimed to be a “sloth sanctuary” had one sloth so high up in a tree you could only see it with binoculars. We were rushed through the rest of the trail and only got 15 minutes to walk through one part. They stopped to point out a frog or two but we were not permitted to walk slowly and observe any of the nature. If there were other sloths or animals to observe we didn’t know it or get to see them. We were then hurried back into the bus to the next stop. Once there, it was the same. The pace was so fast (we are experienced hikers that hike 3-4 miles one way regularly so it wasn’t the difficulty of the trail) we could not keep up and if we stopped to look at something or take a picture Santos yelled at us to move on and we were told “this is not a private tour. You don’t get to go at your own pace”. We explained that we paid a lot for the tour and what is the point of a hike if you don’t get to look at anything. The waterfall was beautiful but by the time we got down there we had to turn right around and come back up and speed hike to the exit. It was a rushed, wasted day. Other than 2 little snakes and a racoon that was hiding in the woods, we saw ZERO animals or birds. The trails were crowded with lots of loud tourists and locals alike talking and yelling. If you like birding or nature watching, this is not the tour for you. Then we got back on the bus for an hour plus ride back and a last stop at another waterfall where you can swim. The area was completely devoid of any wildlife or birds! Not a single bird chirping. It was really odd. We asked the guide why no nature and we were told they only come out after 5 - that even the birds sleep during the day. All in all we felt very rushed and disappointed to not see a single thing. We wish we had taken a different tour. Don’t let the pictures and descriptions fool you. If you want a nature tour this is not it.

Beautiful experience in a Beautiful place!

An Awesome Excursion! Incredible wildlife and Stunning views! Drank some coffee fresh from the bean, saw that gorgeous waterfall and really was a great way to experience this beautiful country! Our guide and driver were excellent and a big Kudos to Miguel for all his extra legwork to make sure our honeymoon vacation was a trip of a lifetime!

Nice trip and great tour guide Diego. Food was not good and price too high

our guide Diego was amazing, the tour itself was nice and we enjoyed our time. A bit pricy especially since the lunch we had was the worst lunch we had in our 7 days stay in Costa Rica. Nor the taste neither the quality of food. Rice seemed pre heated also the chicken and not much choices for either protein or side dishes.

Good mix of waterfalls and hiking

This was the first excursion we took on our trip to Costa Rica and was probably one of our favorites. We loved that it combined two gorgeous waterfalls as well as a nature walk and AMAZING food. We had a blast swimming in Llanos de Cortes. It was warm despite the abnormal rainy weather in December. Unfortunately Rio Celeste was not it's iconic blue color, but that could not be helped as this December in Costa Rica has seen a significant more amount of rain than normal. We still had an incredible time and our tour guides were very kind and informative. We stopped at a place for a quick breakfast and bathroom break and I recommend ordering some food to go. Traditional Costa Rica dishes are the best. We dressed with our swim suites under a pair of shorts and tank top, I brought a waterproof bucket hat and a poncho which I was very happy I brought along. I dressed in hiking shoes and brought along a pair of water shoes just in case but didn't need them. There are places to get into your swim suite at Llanos de Cortes so no need to worry if you are not already in your swim suite. A few other things to note, we stopped by a large souvenir shop which was fun and we were also given clear pick up instructions. Overall very happy with this experience and would do it again!

Wonderful experience, start to finish

We opted for the private tour. Kevin Pina & Frank were wonderful! Frank is an expert driver on sometimes tricky Costa Rican roads. And Kevin is very knowledgeable about the culture, geography, animals and so much more. We were so impressed with Wilton at the sloth tour! We saw 3 sloths, one with a baby. It was a wonderful day!

Amazing experience 🥰🥰🥰

Wowww thank you thank you to Mamba (Jorge) and Daphanie. When you have knowledgeable tour guides and an amazong driver we got to see everything and they captured every moment for us. Cortes waterfall was amazing and refreshing and hike to Rio Celeste was ours most memorable. Loved everything about this tour even walking in mud and enjoying the rainforest 🥰. Lunch was also amazing! Worth every penny!!

Sloths, snakes, and swimming

Stellar day! It was a long day, 12 hours as advertised and included a decent amount of walking/hiking including stairs/hills. I recommend you bring hiking shoes/shoes you don’t care about getting muddy. Our guide, Diego, and driver, Johnny, were amazing and took care of us every step of the way. Diego knew all about the plants/birds/snakes/wildlife and any questions we had he either answered on the spot or did the research and came back to us with an answer about a random tree we had inquired about. We saw two sloths as well as a couple of rare and interesting frogs and so much more. I went with my husband and we had a fantastic time, definitely recommend!

Lots of beautiful nature

A really amazing day trip with many many highlights. The dip in the waterfall was amazing, the hike was nice and chill. Our guide Diego managed to spot several animals and was very knowledgeable on the flora and fauna in the area. Afterwards we dropped by a sanctuary and saw many beautiful animals. Both Diego and Johnny were very friendly and professional and made the trip a blast. Highly recommended.

A good time with bad weather

Diego and Jack-Danny were great hosts. Helpful, knowledgeable and spoke good english. Diego is a hobby photographer, so he took photos of the animals was saw with his camera that were better than any of our cameras and shared them after the tour. Even with the bad weather, we made the most of it, and he made good decisions about how to adapt things for our benefit. Thank you again amigo!

So many stairs! But worth it.

This was a great day. Diego and Jackdani were excellent caretakers of our group. Diego was full of knowledge about Costa Rica with a great eye for seeing animals. He was also flexible due to weather conditions so we were still able to hit all the activities. There are lots of stairs to see the two waterfalls if anyone is wondering. My phone clocked 39 flights of stairs taken. It was a great day!

A fantastic way to experience Costa Rican rainforest.

Wow! What an experience. It was a full day with amazing natural experiences. The waterfalls were so beautiful and being able to experience the nature in its element is so surreal. Our guide, Carlos Mendez was highly skilled and informative. A local guide who is passionate about his work and the natural beauty in his country. Forewarned for those thinking about this trip, the trip down to the waterfall at Tenorio National Park, the staircase down to the falls and especially the return climb back is strenuous. I would not recommend it for children under ten nor any adult with any impairment or health concern. Otherwise it is worth the hike down. The sloth sanctuary was a bit anticlimactic, the guides are good and look for opportunities to view nature but the sloths that we "viewed" are so high in the treetop and are not truly observable from the ground. Be prepared for pouring rain while on the volcano and slippery, muddy conditions but it is all part of the natural experience. Take the trip, you won't be disappointed.

Fun filled day in the rainforest!

We loved this full day adventure! We opted for the self drive tour and followed our guide Nicole for the day. It was a little too cold to swim at the first waterfall but it was beautiful. Then we drove about an hour to the next stop where we went on about a two hour round trip hike to the next waterfall. Nicole was very good at spotting animals and teaching us about the rainforest. There are vipers in the rainforest so it was important for her to keep an eye out for them and the keep the kids on the trail. After that we had a delicious and authentic Costa Rican lunch. Then we ended with our favorite part of the day getting to spot the sloths and other wildlife. Alex was our guide for searching for sloths and he was very knowledgeable and fun. It was long day but our kiddos made it through and loved the adventure!

Amazing tour!! I would...

Amazing tour!! I would definitely do this again in the future. Joni and Santos were very knowledgeable and funny. Food was amazing as well.

Rainforest

Wow ! Had a fabulous day. Diego the tour guide and Frank the driver were amazing. Diego was a great guide, very knowledgeable, showing us the sloths in the rainforest, explaining about the trees they prefer to climb , even taking pictures on your phone for you. Nothing seemed too much trouble. I would highly recommend this tour!

Best Tour Ever!

My husband and I had the most spectacular tour with our guide Alfie and our driver Alberto who were both very kind and incredibly knowledgeable. The pick up was very punctual and the whole day was right on schedule. They stopped on the way for an optional breakfast (not included) to get fueled up before heading for a swim in waterfall. Then, they drove us to the rain forest and we took a walk through the forest to the Rio Celeste waterfall. You have lunch at a traditional restaurant near the park included with the tour, and we had such a fresh, local meal and great service. The last stop was the sloth/frog sanctuary. Our nature guide Fernando was the most passionate guide we could have hoped for. Everything happened in real time, so when there was a sloth sighting, we dropped everything to run. He took videos and photos to capture this amazing experience. We were lucky enough to see 4 sloths including the rare nocturnal two-toed sloth during the day. We all slept on the bus on the way home after having such an exciting day! Highly recommended!

An Amazing Experience!

I wish I could give Alfie and Alberto 10 stars. Alfie is so knowledgeable about Costa Rica and Alberto got us everywhere safely! The tour was absolutely amazing. Both waterfalls were beautiful, lunch was authentic and so delicious and we were able to see so much wildlife at the sloth sanctuary. The guides at the sanctuary were very knowledgeable about the various animals and so enthusiastic!

Breathtaking views and memorable experience!

What a memorable tour! I highly recommend requesting Alfie as a tour guide - he shared so much of his knowledge and enhanced the experience! The views were breathtaking and we got to see sloths!

Beautiful day at Rio Celeste and sloth sanctuary.

We had an incredible day with our driver/guide Julio Ceasar. He was extremely knowledgeable and excited to show us and teach us about the flora and fauna of Costa Rica. At the sloth sanctuary we had a guide named Weltan who helped us see all kinds of wildlife - the two toed and three toed sloths, frogs, birds, snakes, lizards, and beautiful butterflies. The hike to the Rio Celeste waterfall was fantastic. It was a well groomed trail and while there were a lot of steps to get down to the waterfall, it was probably one of the most magnificent things we’ve ever seen. We were not rushed at all and had plenty of time to take photos and just enjoy the scenery. On the way back from the hike we even saw a Tapir. It was about 15 feet off the path in the woods. A very rare sighting according to Julio Ceasar. We were lucky he spotted it. The typical Costa Rican lunch was delicious!! Highly recommend this tour!!

Nice trip

The waterfalls were super pretty and our guide Nicol was great! We got some great photos of sloths and frogs and it was a nice trip.

Beautiful waterfalls, abundant wildlife, fantastic tour!

Amazing day seeing Costa Rica and all its beauty. We were at first a bit hesitant to commit an entire 12 hour day to an excursion, with a decent amount of driving, but we are so glad we did. The tour guides picked us up right on time, and they break up the drive with a stop to get breakfast, coffee, and souvenirs about 90 minutes in. From there we headed to the waterfall where we got to get in the water and spend about 30-45 minutes. Many people did not get in the water for some reason (didn't bring their suit or felt it was too cold) but my wife and I got in and thought the water temp was fine. At one point we were 2 of 4 people swimming and it basically felt like we had the entire waterfall lagoon to ourselves. The pictures turned out great! From there we drove another 90 minutes to the rainforest where we did a light hike to a blue lagoon waterfall (no swimming here), saw monkeys playing in the trees, and other wildlife. It was really neat and our guide Diego was very knowledgeable. We stopped at a roadside Restaurant for lunch where the food was delicious, and then to the sloth sanctuary where we saw frogs, bats, sloths, birds, and so many species of plants. We were back at our hotel by 6:20p in time for a late dinner reservation. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone that wants to see what Costa Rica is all about, outside of the resorts. Diego (guide) and Alberto (driver) from Native's Way did a fantastic job and Diego even took pictures with his personal, professional, camera and Air Dropped them to each of us on the bus so we had quality pictures to take back of the animals we saw throughout the day. A+ experience! Don't let the drive, or the hike, intimidate you. Go explore!

Meh

The trip was worth the $price considering all that went into it, and Diego (guide) & Jairo (driver) were great. But I bet we spent more time in the car than exploring / playing. The trip amounts to two short & easy waterfall hikes (both beautiful & popular busy), lunch and a 1-hr animal preserve tour where almost all the animals you came to see are hundreds of yards away and seen thru a telescope. Disappointing.

Amazing views

The waterfalls were beautiful. Especially after all the rain they had in the 2 weeks prior. The guides were very knowledgeable and the restaurant we stopped for lunch was amazing.

Beautiful

What a beautiful and peaceful place to see and the tour guide was amazing too! I want to go back again!!!!

Native's Way is a great company.

We booked 4 tours with Native's Way on their website. Three were postponed for a week because of heavy rain and one was cancelled. Through all that, Native's Way maintained excellent communication and gave me a fast refund for the cancelled tour. Their drivers were on time and the tour guides were knowledgeable, entertaining, and friendly. Prices from this company were lower than their competitors' prices. Highly recommended.

We saw lots of wildlife

Excellent. Ronny, our guide was very knowledgeable. He spotted vipers, sloths, toucans and frogs along our tour. The coffee and cocoa tour was very informative. Lunch was delicious.

Sloths!!! Toucans!! SNAKES AND FROGS!!!

Unbelievable great experience. I couldn’t ask for better guides. Very knowledgeable of the areas. HOW DID U SPOT THOSE ANIMALS!! Toucans, sloths, 🦥 snakes and many others. What an eye. Definitely would repeat.

Fun adventure

Was great weather didn’t corporate but was so fun! We got to see some animals and one of the waterfalls

Waterfall, Sloths, and Coffee

@ErikGarcia set up this tour for us. We had a great time on our tour with our guide, Jeffrey. The day began on time and with a giant smile. The hike to the Rio Celeste waterfall was beautiful! We saw several snakes but it was raining so not much more. The waterfall was huge and the water was the deepest of azul blue. We then went to see sloths of which we saw 4! One was a baby and close enough to the ground to get great pictures. Our guide, Kattia also showed us one of their tree frogs along with a huge spider. Next up was the coffee and cocoa tour where Eric walked us through the evolution of the coffee bean from planting to your cup. We finished up with a traditional Costa Rican lunch before heading back. It was a long, but great day seeing some of what Costa Rica has to offer. I highly recommend Erik on the beach in the Google shirt at the Westin Reserva Conchal.

Go for it!!!

Daphne and Diego were so awesome!! Very professional tour- TOTALLY amazing and would definitely recommend:) pura vida

Perfect wildlife tour!

Great trip! We were able to see two beautiful waterfalls! Lunch was delicious too. We were able to see toucan birds, sloths, eyelash vipers and many other wildlife species! Kevin Pina was very knowledgeable and helpful! Jose, our driver was great as well!

Great excursion

Kevin and driver Jose were awesome. Kevin is very knowledgeable about the Costa Rican environment and is easy to be around. Rio Celeste waterfall is beautiful, worth the steps back up. We saw multiple species of wildlife. Overall great excursion.