A lot of people that come to Costa Rica and head straight to the beaches. After living here for almost 8 months now, I have to say my favorite parts are the jungles- The places that are so green and wet and filled with animals- THAT is Costa Rica to me!
Bijagua is a beautifully green and wet village in the Alajuela province and is known as “The Gateway to Rio Celeste”. So many people pop in on a one day tour to see the blue waterfall, but there is SO much more this area has to offer!
1) Rio Celeste
Bijagua is probably most known for a jumping off point to Rio Celeste, which is a beautifully turqoise river in Tenorio National Park. My first time I came to Costa Rica I REALLY wanted to see Rio Celeste, but we didn’t have time. I was so excited to finally check it out.
It is not as amazing as Havasupai Falls in Arizona, but still pretty awesome. There is something so fascinating about really blue water!
Quick Facts/Tips
- Location: Tenorio Volcano National Park
- Price: $12 for adults, $5 for children 2-12
- Hours: Open every day from 8-4 PM
- In my opinion, the best time of year to come is dry season (December-April) to see bluer water!
- You cannot swim in the water in the park
- Bring: It is rainy here often so bring a jacket and shoes with good traction!
- Time: Allow yourself 2 hours to enjoy the trails. They are not difficult but there are a few steep parts.
2) Heliconias Rainforest Lodge
This was a REALLY surprising place that I want to return back to! My mom really wanted to see hanging bridges on their trip to visit us in Costa Rica but we did not want to spend $200 for the whole family just to see the bridges.
Heliconias was INCREDIBLE and I wish I had better pictures to do justice to the experience!
This is a beautiful hotel/restaurant that also offers other tours, including suspension bridges that honestly are some of my favorite in all of Costa Rica!
Quick Facts/Tips:
- Price: $14 adults, $7 children
- Hours: 8-4
- Time: Allow yourself 1.5 hours to hike the hanging bridges trail (2.5 km) but there is more to do/see here.
Unfortunately I do not have many good pictures of this experience because of how dark it got but we had a blast. My dad said it was one of his favorite parts of his trip to Costa Rica. I have seen a lot of hanging bridges in Costa Rica and I loved this experience. Also Julie (front desk) was so kind and gave us free drinks at the end as we relived our experience of running through the trail in the dark.
Something that I have learned while living in Costa Rica is you have to watch out for snakes. We were about halfway around the trail when we realized it was getting dark. I stood in front of the group with my light as we rushed to finish the trail.
All of the sudden on the path I saw a SNAKE slithering across in the dark. It was freaky. We were terrified and wanted to get out fast. I don’t know if it was a feur de lance or what, but we were really grateful when we were done to be alive and out of the dark woods!
3) Tubing Rio Celeste with Onca Tours
This was a favorite family highlight for SURE!! They told us that Beckham was the first two year old to ever go tubing in the river with them haha.
The guides in this company were unlike I have ever had before. They ran like maniacs up and down the river making sure we all stayed on our tubes. I was SO surprised what an adrenaline rush it was because they had said Beckham (our two year old) could go. I imagined it would be like the lazy river. But it was seriously fun for everyone!
I 100% recommend Onca Tours for tubing Rio Celeste. They are personal, kind, flexible, quick to respond, professional, so helpful, budget friendly, safe….I could go on and on. We loved our experience with them!
Quick Facts/Tips:
- Contact: Odier +506-8399-2757
- Prices: $25 children, $50 adults
- Time: Three hour tour
- Wear: water shoes and swimsuit
- Bring: water camera, sunscreen, bug repellent
- I would recommend going during dry season to see the really blue water! We were there in August so the water levels were a little higher which was fun, but Odir showed me pictures of December and the water was incredible!
4) Tree Chocolate Tours
While my dad and Dan went rafting class 4 rapids on the Tenorio River, I went with my mom and the kids to a chocolate tour. I wasn’t really looking forward to it because I love adventure sports and really wanted to be with the rafting group but this tour was INCREDIBLE.
I feel like I say that a lot haha…..but for real, it was just above and beyond.
Luis was the BEST guide and he spoke in English for the people who didn’t speak Spanish in our group. He really went above and beyond to make the tour fun for the kids by showing us certain plants, giving us samples of so many things, and even taking us to a swing in the forest. The kids had a blast and the adults learned a lot as well. It was a win win, which doesn’t happen often with tours!
The chocolate tour is offered on a private property that grows bananas, cacao and coconut, along with a ton of other plants. They do the complete chocolate making process right at their home and walk you through all of the steps, plus let you sample each part of the process. It was fantastic!
Quick Facts/Tips
- Price: $18 adults, $9 children 5-12
- Time: 1.5-2 hour, depending on needs of group
- Bring: camera, water bottle, good walking shoes (closed toe, there are biting ants all over!!) bug spray
I love Bijagua and these are only a few of the amazing things you can do there! I want to go back and spend more time at Tenorio Volcano National Park, including hiking in it’s crater. I want to spend more time at Heliconias lodge while there are no snakes haha. I want to raft the Tenorio River and see the blue water of Rio Celeste during dry season.
What a beautiful place Costa Rica is!