Catarata de Aquiares

Tip

Bring a picnic, swimsuit and a dry change of clothes — there are no facilities.

Be careful

Rocks are slippery and the river rises fast after rain upstream: swim only when the water is clear and calm, and leave if it turns brown.

Getting there

Unsigned dirt track down to the river, steep and rocky — high-clearance or 4×4, or park on the road and walk the last stretch. Free, roadside parking only.

Places nearby

• Aquiares Coffee & Community ExperienceParks & Wildlife · from $38A large historic coffee estate near Turrialba that offers a two-hour coffee tour, a full-day estate program, horseback rides through the plantation and bird-watching walks.
• Bocadito de CieloFood & CoffeeMountaintop restaurant on the road to Turrialba with panoramic views and old photographs of Cartago on the walls, serving Costa Rican plates with a coffee and crafts store at the back.
• Sueños del IrazúFood & CoffeeTraditional restaurant on the way up to Irazú volcano with views of nature and a nearby river, known for hearty homemade soups, beef soup and fried fish.
• La Casona del Cafetal (restaurant on Lake Cachí)Food & CoffeeLakeside restaurant (part of a small hotel) on a coffee estate above Cachí reservoir, with a large covered terrace over the water and traditional Costa Rican cooking such as gallo pinto.
• La Marta Wildlife RefugeParks & Wildlife · from $10Private cloud-forest refuge with trails, a river, an old hydro-plant zone and guided day and night walks.
• Finca Cristina (coffee farm and store)Parks & Wildlife · from $25Family coffee farm above the Orosi valley with a 90-minute plantation tour and tasting three days a week, a farm store, and a conservation area known for birds and other wildlife.