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Río Celeste Tickets and Hours: The Complete 2026 Visitor's Guide
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Best Places to See Sloths in Costa Rica
Just 13 minutes from Río Celeste in Bijagua, this unforgettable one-hour tour lets you spot wild sloths in their natural habitat with expert bilingual guides — plus FREE access to our Butterfly Garden!
$30
per person
Bijagua · Alajuela · Costa Rica
Everything for a day at Costa Rica's blue river — tickets, the hike, and the wildlife tours 950 metres from the park entrance — written by the local guides of Bijagua.
Río Celeste is the turquoise river inside Tenorio Volcano National Park, 9 km from the village of Bijagua in northern Costa Rica. Its colour is an optical effect: two clear streams meet at a spot called El Teñidero, and the mineral particles they carry scatter sunlight, turning the water an intense blue.
The park trail — Sendero Misterios del Tenorio — is 3 km each way, about 3 hours round trip with photo stops. In order, you reach the 20-metre waterfall, the lookout towards Tenorio Volcano, the Blue Lagoon, the bubbling Borbollones and finally El Teñidero, where the river turns blue in front of you. Swimming is not allowed anywhere in the park.
We are Jungle Life, a local tour operator based 950 metres from the park entrance. We don't sell park tickets or run tours inside the park — the hike is self-guided with your SINAC ticket — but we run the wildlife tours most visitors add to their Río Celeste day: sloths, birds, frogs and the jungle at night.
Small groups, local guides, and trails on our own private reserve at the foot of Tenorio Volcano. Every tour starts from our base 950 metres from the park entrance, so it fits before or after your hike.
Morning
Enter the park by 11:00 AM at the latest — the trail takes about 3 hours and everyone must be out by 4:00 PM. Book your slot on the SINAC site as soon as your dates are set: in high season, slots sell out 2 to 6 days ahead.
Afternoon
Sloth Tour or Bird Watching on our reserve — you're back from the park with half a day left, 950 metres from our entrance.
Evening
Jungle Night Tour or Frog Tour: frogs, insects and the sounds of the rainforest after dark.
Plan the details
Río Celeste Tickets and Hours: The Complete 2026 Visitor's Guide
Tickets, hourly entry slots, the 2 PM trap and when the river is actually blue — written 950 metres from the park entrance.
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No. The Misterios del Tenorio trail is well marked and most visitors hike it on their own with their SINAC ticket. What a guide adds is wildlife — that's what our tours next to the park are for.
No. Tickets are sold only through the official SINAC site (serviciosenlinea.sinac.go.cr), and you need an account there to see availability. Our tickets guide walks you through it step by step.
The blue disappears for roughly 24 hours after heavy rain, when sediment clouds the water. If it poured overnight and is still drizzling, consider shifting your visit by a day. The region gets about 3,500 mm of rain a year, so rain is possible in any month.
No. Swimming is prohibited anywhere inside the park; the photos of people in the water are from hot springs outside it, or from before the rule.
Yes — that's the usual plan. Enter the park in the morning, then join our Sloth Tour in the afternoon or the Jungle Night Tour after dark; both start 950 metres from the park entrance.
About 1.5 hours by car from La Fortuna / Arenal, and about 1.5 hours from Liberia airport (roughly 75 km). The road is paved the whole way — no 4x4 needed.
Book your wildlife tour directly with the local team in Bijagua — no intermediaries.
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