The place is Rio Celeste in Tenorio National Park, Costa Rica. Due to the lack of public transportation to the park entrances, it remains one of the least visited spots in Costa Rica. For information on why this park is unique and worth all the effort to see, check your Lonely Planet or click here. There is really only one thing to do there, and that is to hike the scenic jungle trail network surrounding the cloudy blue-green river and its token waterfall.
You can easily see all there is to see in the park in 5 hours, so if you're strapped for time and you have your own vehicle, it's possible to make a day trip of it from anywhere around lake Arenal, Liberia, Canas, or Upala. If you don't have a vehicle and don't want to pay the $65+ for a guided day tour from one of the surrounding cities, you can make it most of the way there on buses, and hitchhike the remaining 5 or 10 km from the Guatuso side (East) or Bijagua (West), respectfully. If you chose to venture out and do this, I would recommend staying at least one night near the park. There is no camping available in or around the park (that I know of), but there are numerous lodging options within 1 km of the park entrances. Unfortunately there are no real budget options, as no place costs less than $20 per person (unless you have a group of 3 or 4 willing to share an amply large "double room" for $40 per night).
The most important things you need to know when visiting Tenorio National Park -- and they don't seem to be clearly mentioned anywhere -- is that there are two park entrances, and it is possible to access the park from both Guatuso and Bijagua. This can be extremely confusing when referencing multiple travel sources that give conflicting directions to the "park entrance." That said, note that both entrances to the park are on the same road, only 3 km from one another. Another noteworthy detail is that the east entrance (the one you'll see first if arriving from Guatuso) does not charge an entrance fee to enter the park; they only encourage donations. The west entrance (the one you'll see first if arriving from Bijagua) is run by the Park Service which charges $10 per adult.
The trails beginning at both of the park entrances lead to the exact same place, and actually meet up towards the end, connected by a couple small bridges crossing the river. The only difference is that the trail from the east entrance is less developed, thus more muddy when wet, and runs along the east side of the river, while the trail from the west side is pretty well maintained and runs west of the river. Since both sides of the river offer unique perspectives, I would strongly recommend going up one side and coming down the other. Obviously if you don't want to pay, go up the east side. This is also a better option if it has recently rained, as the west trail is much less slick, thus easier to go down.
If you have a Lonely Planet, keep in mind that all of their distances relative to the "park entrance" are referring the the west entrance, and they assume you are arriving from Bijagua. If you're following the directions from travelcostaricanow.com, note that they approach the park from the opposite side, from Guatuso.
If you want to put on your adventure face and make the journey using mostly public transit, read on. I will warn you though, that I do not have complete information on the bus schedules for buses that stop near the park entrances. Still, the following accounts of my own experience might be sufficient supplemental guidance to get you there and leave without too much trouble.
Getting There
I went to the Tenorio National Park with one friend. We left from La Fortuna near Arenal Volcano. We followed the instructions as provided here. We took a taxi from La Fortuna to El Tanque. It's a very short drive, but deceivingly lengthy, so I wouldn't recommend walking it. I imagine it would take a good hour by foot. The cab cost us around 5000 Colones, but I'm pretty sure we got ripped off. The meter seemed to be ticking abnormally fast. If you're on a tight budget and can't find a reliable cab, I would recommend giving yourself enough time to hitchhike it.
Once in El Tanque, we took the 7 a.m. bus towards Upala. I didn't see a designated bus stop, so we just waited 20 meters or so past the intersection on the right side of the road with the signs to Upala (the road across the street from the grocery and hardware stores -- to the left when coming from La Fortuna). The bus stopped to let people off, so don't stress over not being seen. When you board the bus, let the driver know that you're getting off in Guatuso so that he knows how much to charge you. If I remember correctly, the fare was 1800 Colones per person. The ride to Guatuso lasts about an hour.
In Guatuso, we got off at the small bus station where it stops for several minutes. There are numerous small vendors there, and it's not a bad place to grab a good Tico breakfast. From there, we took a short walk out of town, following the signs to Upala. Contrary to what the Travel Costa Rica Now site says, I found that the sings from the bus station to the road to Upala are quite clear and obvious. After just a few minutes walking on the road leaving town (10 or 15 minutes from the station), you'll see a decent sized dirt road on your left, clearly marked with signs for Parque Nacional Tenorio. Note that this road does not go all the way to the park entrances, nor does it go through to Bijagua; however, it does take you to the road that does. Here, you can hitchhike down this road, or just wait until a local bus turns in at around 9:30 (give or take 20 minutes). Unfortunately, I don't know the exact time since we walked for an hour or so before a friendly Tico stopped to tell us that a bus was on the way. So, 9:30 is my best guess for that turnoff. The fare is about 1000 Colones per person and takes you 20 km down that dirt road to the dirt road that takes you to the park entrances and ends in Bijagua. Tell the driver "Rio Celeste" and he'll drop you off at the right intersection and point you in the right direction. If you're confused, look for the signs to various Rio Celeste Hotels.
Now, you are as close as you're going to get with public transportation. Unfortunately, the home stretch to the first park entrance is a brutal 5 km climb up a rocky dirt road. It's doable, but I'd recommend throwing your thumb out to any car that drives by. We did and got lucky after about 10 minutes. There are no other outlets on this road, so know that any car going up the hill is sure to be driving past, or stopping just short of, wherever it is you want to go. We were dropped off at the first (east) park entrance. It looked like this from the direction we came:
If for whatever reason, you're trying to find this entrance from the opposite direction, it is extremely easy to look over, as there is no park entrance signage facing that way. So, keep you eyes open for the Rio Celeste Hotel. They share the same entrance.
Across the road from this entrance, you'll encounter a contradictory set of signs:
The official blue sign on the left says 2 km to Posada Rio Celeste (where the road crosses over the river). The little brown sign on the right says 1 km to Cabinas Piuri. This sign employs a unit of measurement that I like to call 'ticometers," commonly used by locals who have no idea what they're talking about. The conversion rate is approximately 1.86 ticometers to 1 kilometer, give or take a few hundred meters. For example, Cabinas Piuri, at 1 ticometer from this sign, is actually located past the river crossing, almost 2.5 km up the road. I make this clarification primarily for those of you who plan on staying there, which I highly recommend. These are the giant $40 "double rooms" that I mentioned earlier. Each has a California king and a full sized bed, with private bathroom and mini fridge. Plated Tico breakfast is included, and a two course dinner is available for $7 per person. Another advantage to staying here is that it is located between the two park entrances, making it possible to do the entire trail loop without backtracking.
Less than 1 km past Cabinas Piuri (still coming from the east side), you'll see the other park entrance. The signs are poorly positioned for arrivals from this direction, but this entrance is easily recognizable from the park services building and this Soda across the parking lot:
If you are arriving from Bijagua, this is the first park entrance you'll see and from that side it'll look like this:
Getting Out
When leaving the park, if you're headed to La Fortuna, there is a bus from the Guatuso bus station back to El Tanque at 2:00 pm. We didn't leave that way so I'm not sure of the best way to get to that station. Remember, it's 5 km down the hill to the other dirt road that leads to Guatuso, and 20 km to Guatuso from there. I'm sure that the local bus we took in runs both ways, but you'll have to inquire as to when on your way there.
If you're leaving through Bijagua, you'll have to hitch a ride to town (10 km). The best way to do this is to wait by the west park entrance (the one with the Park Service Station) and catch cars as they leave the parking lot in your direction. It took us less than one minute. In Bijagua, there are bus stops on either side of the one street through town, near the mercado. Both the bus going north to Upala and the one heading south to Canas, coincidentally drive through Bijagua at 9:30 a.m. It was Sunday when we left. There is a chance that buses run on a different schedule on other days.
We were headed to Monteverde so we took the bus to Canas. From there, at the bus stop (not station) by the concrete park in the middle of town with signs of down syndrome kids, we took a bus to Tilaran. We only had to wait a few minutes from when we got there. Two buses for Tilaran showed up at the same time. One cost 600 Colones, and the other, 1200.
In Tilaran, there appeared to be one primary bus terminal near the center of town by the park. The bus to Monteverde leaves from there at 12:30 (still Sunday).
I hope this helps. I encourage anyone in Costa Rica to make the trip to this wonderful park. Also, if you find out any more information, notice any mistakes, or care to contribute in any way to this post, please comment or email me and I will put it up to date. Thanks!
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