CHAPTERS
What You Will Find In This Post
The Cloud Forest is one of Costa Rica’s best kept secret. It has tons of great hikes, some of the most beautiful waterfalls of the country… and few tourists! This is exactely the type of place that we love. The forest is at a slightly higher altitude, compared to the other sea-level tropical forests, so it’s bit cooler, it can rain more but in March we had just a little bit of rain for about 1 hour 1 day so it’s okay. In december though, the weather might be more challenging… we had some friends visiting the area in December and they were not so lucky…
HOTEL
Where To Stay?
El Silencio Lodge & SPA
El Silencio Lodge & SPA is probably the best hotel in the the Cloud Forest! It is ideally located in Bajo del Toro which is an excellent starting for the most beautiful hikes of this area.
It is a Luxury boutique hotel with individual casitas surrounded by the cloud forest. It has a cosy feeling with brown leather sofa, fireplace… It is luxurious but not fancy, the perfect style for a mountain retreat!
Room tips: ask for the rooms with Jacuzzi outside. They are often 2-bedrooms villa so can sleep 4 and after the hikes the hot water of the jacuzzi will be most welcomed! They are a bit more away from the main building and restaurant, though. The deluxe rooms are great as well, beautifully appointed and with views on the forest. (not sure if all of them has one, so make sure to ask upon booking!)
Left is the two-bedroom villa with outdoor hot tub at El Silencio Lodge. Right is an aerial view of El Silencio Lodge.
Getting Here: The hotel is located about 1h30 min from San Jose airport (SJO) by car, you will drive in the mountains and beware of the clouds! We drove there at night (the hotel picked us up in San Jose) and sometime we couldn’t even see the road because of the heavy fog! Fortunately the driver knew its way around!
The food is great, being a member of the Relais & Chateau always means that the food will be top notch! …And did I mention the awesome mojitos ? We had some every nights on our private deck.. a real delight! Â The quality price ratio of this hotel is probably one of the best in Costa Rica.
Tips: Be prepared that the climate of the cloud forest is slightly cooler than other area of Costa Rica. Take a jacket for those cold nights and a rain coat… just in case!
Left is El Silencio lodge restaurant terrace, right is jacuzzi of thetwo-debroom villa, then inside of the villa and last picture shows deluxe rooms.
WHAT TO DO
What To Do In The Cloud Forest?
For us, the Cloud Forest is one of the MUST-DO in Costa Rica, some of the best things to do there are the Catarata del Toro, the Blue Falls (Las Gemelas), Rio Agrio and its beautiful Poza Azul… We would recommend to spend at least 3 nights in the area.
1. Catarata Del Toro
Be sure to add Catarata Del Toro waterfall on you must-do list when travelling to Costa Rica as it is truly beautiful. The 82 meters high Del Toro waterfall seats inside an ancient volcanic crater. You start the walk by hiking down to the waterfall, you can get good view points along the way as the path is facing the waterfall. The walk down was ok but I hurt my knee due to the many steps down, the walk up requires a bit more stamina ☺. The place is pretty far off the most visited areas in Costa Rica and we were only a few people doing the walk that day so… another good point!
Click for Useful Information For Your Trip To Catarata Del Toro
Driving Time From El Silencio Lodge & SPA:Â 20 min
Road Condition: ok
Walking Time: 1h to 1h30
Starting Point: look for Catarata Del Toro, Alajuela Province, Bajos Del Toro in google maps, this should take you to the small building where you can pay, have a drink and eat something.Â
Bring With You: Sunscreen, insect repellent, appropriate shoes and clothes (can be rainy), walking sticks to relieve your knees if you have that kind of issue
Difficulty: Strenuous as it involves hiking up and down about 350-400 uneven and sometimes big steps
Entrance Fees: $14
Opening Hours: Monday to Saturday from 07.00-17.00, Sunday closed. (no reservation needed)
Best Time To Visit:Â We went there in the afternoonÂ
Tips: If you need more info on this you can check out their website here. It is a privately owned ecological reserve. On the same site there is also the Las Gemelas/blue falls hike (next up).
Catarata Del Toro from one of the stop on the way down… Look how people at the bottom look super tiny!
Catarata Del Toro aerial views and stairs to get there
Be prepared for the walk, take appropriate gear (rain jacket and walking sticks) and the 350-400 steps will be ok. You can stop and rest along the way as the owners have installed small benches. At the end of the walk you are basically at the bottom of the waterfall, and believe me it is really impressive both in height and strength!
You can walk around and look at the mini cayon on the right side of the waterfall it is pretty nice a well. The waterfall is really strong so when your are at the bottom you may get wet!
Tips: If you do not want to walk all the way down, you can already get a pretty good viewpoint after only a few min walk! The first 500 meters of the trail is flat and has three fantastic lookouts: ‘El Toro’, ‘El Palomar’ and ‘La Vistada’. Then you can head back and wait for your friend drinking a nice Costa Rican coffee while enjoying the many hummingbirds that are flying around the property!
Catarata Del Toro from the top of the stairs… already a pretty awesome view! You’ll see the hummingbirds everywhere!
2. Blue Falls Full Hike (Includes Las Gemelas)
The blue falls tour is really magical, it is a hike in the middle of the jungle. You have to make your way between trees, rivers rocks and roots (sometime you even need a rope!) … but what an adventure! You will see the many blue waterfalls of the area if you do the full tour.
We did a private tour there but the company that manages the area offers 2 different types of tours, the light one that takes you to Las Gemelas and the full tour which takes you to all the different waterfalls. The area is truly one of Costa Rica’s hidden gems.Â
 It is a privately owned natural reserve. The owners are constantly upgrading the trail to make it more accessible to visitor so please be sure to check out their website and book the tour in advance as reservation IS needed for this one!
Click for Useful Information For Your Trip To The Blue Falls
Driving Time From El Silencio Lodge & SPA:Â 20 minÂ
Road Condition: ok
Walking Time: Around 4-5 hours roundtrip to Las Gemelas and up to 6 hours if you want to do the full tour of all the blue waterfalls
Starting Point: look for Catarata Del Toro, Alajuela Province, Bajos Del Toro in google maps, this should take you to the small building where you can pay, have a drink and eat something. They will take you to the starting point of the hike for the guided tour.
Bring With You: Sunscreen, insect repellent, appropriate shoes and clothes: you will walk on uneven path, mud, walk in the water, walking sticks, swimsuits.Â
Difficulty: Medium to hard
Entrance Fees: $15 to $50 depending on light or full tour.
Opening Hours: Monday to Saturday from 07.00-17.00, Sunday closed. (reservation needed)
Best Time To Visit: we went there in the morning and spent our whole day there.
Tips: If you need more info on this you can check out their website here. It is a privately owned ecological reserve. On the same site there is also the Catarata del Toro.
One of Las Gemelas waterfalls
This is defintely one of the best hike we did, Â it is tough, but so wild! At the end of the day my fingers where all swollen, my knee was hurting (after del toro) but I really wanted to get this one done. They recently improved the path to be able to see more waterfalls but what we did was already great and it was so good to be able to refresh ourselves in the water with literally no-one besides us!
Different views of the las Gemelas waterfalls and the blue river
Looking from above (on the picture below) you can see why the falls are called Las Gemelas: there is the main waterfall and on the left you can see the other one, the tiny sister!
On top is an aerial view of the las Gemelas waterfalls (both), right is the second Las gemelas waterfall, the smaller one.
Here is the description of the full blue falls tour from their website:
Park your car at Catarata Del Toro and use the restrooms and get your ticket. We will start walking over the public road and we will cross a beautiful farm. Also, we will cross a river by a bridge, until we end up in the blue river. Approximately thirty minutes till this point and then:
1 – We start hiking up a little hill and then straight down to the beautiful waterfall ‘Tepezcuintle.’
2 – We use the same way back, and then we will descend into the blue river and towards the Las Gemelas.
3 – We go the same route back where we can take a quick look from above at the blue rapids.
4 – Entering the blue river, for the third time, again at a lower point into a nice blue pool.
5 – Time to cool down, and let’s swim blue and as long as you wish.
6 – From here, we will take a not so easy route, and we will bring you to waterfall # 4, 5, 6, and 7.
7 – And down to a vast blue lake.
8 – And finally, a section where we can spot another three waterfalls and some lovely surroundings.
9 – From here, we are heading back.
Tips: they provide walking sticks (you should probably take those!)
On the left is one of the bridges on the way, right is the beginning of the hike in the field, then the forest and the river bridge
3. Rio Agrio + Poza Azul
The waterfall (Rio Agrio) is really nice, not super high (around 50m) but its power is really impressive. The walk (2km roundtrip) is pleasant as you walk through a cattle field then the forest, pass bridges across the river… you will take the same way back (not a loop). It took us more than 1h30 min as we did many stops, to take pictures and enjoy the area. This was our first hike in Costa Rica and it is a good way to warm yourself up and go crescendo! You can defintely couple that with the magnificient Poza Azul on the same day.
Rio Agrio and Poza Azul are located in the same area and managed by the same owners.
The start of the walk is the restaurant but for more precise location check out their facebook page.They also have a website but it is all in spanish (or…I could not find the english button).  You can start a chat with them via the website or Messenger.
Click for Useful Information For Your Trip To Rio Agrio
Driving Time From El Silencio Lodge & SPA: 10 minÂ
Road Condition: Good
Starting Point: The parking of the restaurant (parking is free)
Walking Time: 1h30Â
Bring With You: Sunscreen, insect repellent, appropriate shoes and clothes as the trail can be quite muddy.
Difficulty: EasyÂ
Entrance Fees: visit their facebook page. You can pay at directly at the restaurant – You can do a combo with Poza Azul (No reservation needed)
Best Time To Visit: we went there in the morning and had good conditions for both lighting and walking
Left is one of the bridge to Rio Agrio, right is Rio Agrio waterfall from the ground and from above
The way to get to the waterfall is as beautiful as the waterfall itself! You should definetly check out the vlog of this guy (in spanish) who I think lives in Costa Rica and make you discover some cool places “Incredible Lugar” as he says! His editing of the videos is just amazing (even if you don’t master spanish, it’s good to watch). Here is his video on Rio Agrio and Poza Azul (this is how we found the place… so thanks man!)
Two other bridges on the way to the waterfall.
After this you get back to the start of the trail and the owner take you to the start of the walk to get to Poza Azul (a 2min car ride). This is really a beautiful area, only known to the locals and I understand why they would want to keep that secret place to themselves 🙂
Click for Useful Information For Your Trip To Poza Azul
Driving Time: 2 min from the Rio Agrio starting point
Road Condition: Good
Walking Time: 40 min
Bring With You: Sunscreen, insect repellent, appropriate shoes and clothes as the trail can be quite muddy. Bathing suit if cold water is not an issue for you!
Difficulty: Easy
Entrance Fees: visit their facebook page – You can do a combo with Rio Agrio – (No reservation needed)
Best Time To Visit: Go there in the late morning to get the best lighting on the poza
Tips: Be sure to check out the weather the days prior as rain can affect the color of the water, which could turn muddy instead of this magnificent blue ☹Â
Three pictures of Poza Azul
After just a 20 minute-walk downhill, we arrived at the best hidden gem we found in Costa Rica. The Poza Azul is a natural pool made in stone. The color of the water is like milky blue (of course the color depends on the weather conditions…). We were so impressed that we stayed there for hours. We saw very few people there and mostly locals!
Tips: You can contact the owners via messenger if you want to have more information on price and exact location. They organize tours taking you to both Rio Agrio and Poza Azul. Check out their facebook page.
Poza Azul from the ground… get your swimsuit ready!
To be honest we didn’t get into the water as it was too cold for us but some people did. And fun facts, as the water is coming from the Poas Volcano, people say that it tastes a little bit like water with salt and lemon…but you probably should not drink it as it contains some acid stuff (yep volcano stuff)!
You won’t see a lot of people on the trails and if you go there on a weekday you may have the whole place for yourself. The owners will always be available if you need any assistance.
4. Poas Volcano
The Poas volcano is one of the most beautiful volcano in Costa Rica, the crater and its crater lake usually gives you strong photo opps when you are lucky enough with the weather to get a glimpse at them. But…
Is It Worth It To Visit The Poas Volcano?
For us it is not worth it to visit the Poas volcano: In 2018 the park was closed because of the volcanic activity but in 2021 we tried to go there and the park was open but our hotel informed us that the reservation must be made through the SINAC website (you have to create a free account and then reserve the date and time of your national park visit, which requires online prepayment of the Poas Volcano National Park’s entrance fee). The real bummer is that visitors can stay only 20 minutes inside the park. They do that because there are a lot of people visiting the volcano, so they want to control the flow of tourists. So that’s two good reason not to: Too many people and not enough time to enjoy the place. In addition, it is often cloudy so with only 20 min allowed at the viewpoint, it’s not like you can wait for clouds to move away… Make sure you get updated information on the visiting conditions before you plan to go there as this may change … The park is located 1,5 hours from the El Silencio Lodge, should you still want to do it, they can organize the trip for you.Â
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