After a few days of our Costa Rica vacations trip in Guanacaste, I’ve been to some volcanoes and National Parks, as well as the Monteverde Biological Reserve in North Puntarenas. It’s been an amazing vacation so far, with so many beautiful places, going from the dry forest to the cloud forests in less than three hours, or hiking to the top of a volcanic peak with hot springs, old lava flows, and half a dozen of volcanic craters around it. Costa Rica volcano tours rock!

Inside the Tenorio Volcano National Park, there’s another wonderful place, the Rio Celeste (Celeste River). Being in La Fortuna, most of the tours depart from here early in the morning, but your Costa Rica travel agency could help you find a tour departing from San José or Liberia also.

My tour started at 6 am, when we had a traditional breakfast, and then hit the road to the National Park, where a 4.5 mile walk was ahead of us. Since most of the walk is done inside secondary rainforests, the tour is advised only for people with a good physical condition. It can take up to 4 hours to get to the river and waterfall.

Is it worth the effort? Believe me, it is. Celeste River  is named after the color of its waters, kind of turquoise and light blue, due to the mix of two rivers with different chemical compositions that turn the water into a wonderful tone that seems to mirror the sky.

It is a magical place, with a great waterfall, hot springs, creeks and a rich wildlife. It’s possible to take a bath at the refreshing waterfall, when the tour guide indicates so. Be careful with the thermal waters though, they are very hot due to the fact that they are born in the Costa Rica volcanoes, so enter the waters only when your guide says so. The place where the two rivers intersect is heavy in chemical substances such as sulfur, so bathing in there is not an option.

We had lunch around 3:30 pm and then headed back to our Costa Rica hotels. Celeste River is a great adventure experience, and I definitely recommend checking it out whenever you are here in a Costa Rica vacations travel.