The Blue Falls are some of the most spectacular waterfalls in Costa Rica. The series of turquoise waterfalls are located in a pristine patch of rainforest, creating some of the most magical scenes in the country. At first we were disappointed when the predicted sunny weather didn’t happen for us, but in fact the cloud and mist made for one of the most atmospheric walks we’ve done. It’s an unforgettable place and a must visit if you love waterfalls and wild swimming.
It’s pretty mind boggling to me that it still remains something of an unknown with international travellers. With the same jaw dropping water colour of Rio Celeste yet none of the crowds - and you can swim - it’s a little patch of paradise.
There are seven blue waterfalls altogether, and five are easily accessible via a relatively easy walk. That’s the trail we’re describing in this post. The other two falls are more challenging to reach and we decided to save those for another time!
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting Blue Falls.
Blue Falls
Know before you go
Although the track is well signed posted and easy to navigate, a guide is mandatory to visit Blue Falls. It’s located on private land and owned by the same people as Catarata Del Toro.
Although we always prefer to do things independently, our guide Victor was lovely. You couldn’t ask for anyone kinder and he never once rushed us, despite the fact we spent a long time at each waterfall.
You don’t choose your guide, they are assigned when you buy your entry ticket, but if they are all as nice as Victor then you’ll definitely have a good time.
The walk to Blue Falls
The stats
Distance: 6.3km partial circuit
Elevation gain: 310m
Difficulty: Moderate
All five waterfalls are located along maintained tracks. They can be rustic in parts and require the odd bit of rock hopping, but generally speaking the paths are pretty good.
There is some elevation gain as you make your way down and then up from the various falls, but no climb lasts that long. The most challenging waterfall to visit is Tepezquintle.
This one does involve a bit more boulder hopping and a river crossing (using rocks as stepping stones). Bits can be slippery, but your guide will always give you a hand if necessary.
You could also opt to skip this one if you don’t fancy the slightly rougher terrain. The trip is good value no matter how many waterfalls you visit. We’ll cover all the details on each waterfall below, so you know exactly what to expect.
Starting the trail
You’ll meet your guide by the gate opposite the parking area (more details on that below) and head gently downhill on a dirt road.
You’ll be offered the chance to take a walking stick, but there’s a second opportunity nearer the falls, and I’d say you don’t need one on this first bit of the track - unless it’s been raining heavily.
The early part of the walk is not particularly scenic and definitely not indicative of what’s to come!
After just over 310m you’ll reach a narrow bridge and after a little more downhill the trail will undulate - but it’s never steep.
This part of the walk is all on a dirt road, with some stones you can use if the road is muddy.
After you’ve been walking for 1km you’ll come to a signpost for the falls and there’s another opportunity to pick up a wooden stick. Our guide was quite insistent we take one, so we did. I’d say you don’t technically need one, but some sections can be a little slippery.
To the first waterfall
The first waterfall you’ll visit is Las Gemelas, and it’s 550m from the signpost. You’ll pass a second trail junction and then begin heading downhill on a series of stairs. You’ll pass through a locked gate and then cross a metal bridge.
You’ll pass a small waterfall on the left, before heading along the metal walkway over the river and getting your first view of Las Gemelas.
It’s absolutely spectacular, with milky blue water, backed by dense rainforest. To be honest, the blue pool before you even reach the falls would be a destination in its own right in many places in the world! The whole scene is simply magnificent.
Once you leave the metal walkway you’ll have a very short section where you walk along the rocks beside the river. You’ll arrive at the waterfall after you’ve been walking for just over 1.5km (from the car park).
Las Gemelas
Las Gemelas is incredible, the blue water is stunning and the waterfall, powerful. Even a really grey morning couldn’t diminish its beauty. I can’t imagine how much bluer it would look on a sunny day!
You get a lot of spray from the falls, so it’s almost like it’s raining as you get close. It’s definitely an amazing way to start your day!
In terms of swimming, it’s not really a swimming hole as such as there is a strong current, or there was on our visit. I’d say it’s more somewhere to take a dip, but what a dip! The water is very cold and it really does make you feel alive. We visited first thing in the morning and there’s really no feeling like it!
Accessing the water is fairly easy, you just need to negotiate a few rocks, although they are wet and a touch slippery. The pool starts off shallow and then gets deep closer to the waterfall.
The canyon waterfall
Just to the left of the turquoise waterfall is a second waterfall - Las Gemelas translates as the twins! This is one of the most exquisite falls I have ever seen in my life.
It sits in a moss covered canyon and has the most astonishing shade of blue water. It’s like a scene from a fairytale.
I don’t know how, as they come from the same river, but the water in this second waterfall is a different colour to the first.
To access the waterfall you have a short (few minutes) walk up the river. You can’t keep dry entirely, but you can use the rocks on the left to skirt some of the river.
The rocks can be a touch slippery, but if you take it slowly it’s not hard to get there.
The pool gets deeper more quickly than the one at the first falls, so it’s easier to get in. There was a strong current again, so you couldn’t swim much, but you can definitely have a plunge, and it may be one of the best waterfall dips of your life!
It’s hard to imagine it gets much better than this - unless you don’t like cold water, in which case brace yourself. Both the water and air temperature were cold, and this was in February! I don’t mind cold water swimming, but this definitely isn’t the tropical Costa Rica you might have pictured!
To Poza Azul
From the base of Las Gemelas to the Blue Pool, or Poza Azul, it’s just 400m. You’ll head back to the junction and then begin heading downhill. First on a wide dirt track and then there are a few stairs. The final bit to the pool involves walking over a few rocks, but it takes just a minute.
Poza Azul is yet another sensational spot. The setting is so serene, with the turquoise water backed by fern covered cliffs.
There’s also a multi tiered cascade. It had a tree down over the cascade on our visit, but it was still gorgeous. This is a very easy pool to access and better for swimming than any other spot along the trail.
The pool is bigger and calmer. There is a current on one side, but there’s plenty of room to avoid it, and it’s also less intense than the one in the waterfalls.
There are very few rocks inside the water to climb over and it gets deep relatively quickly, so it’s a relaxing place to swim.
I couldn’t believe it when as if on a cue a hummingbird arrived and entertained me as I swam up and down the turquoise pool.
In terms of water temperature, it’s similar to the others, but I think you feel it less as you can actually swim rather than just bob around.
Through the most spectacular rainforest of the trail
The next waterfall you’ll visit is Tepezquintle and this is the slightly more challenging one. From Poza Azul you’ll head back to the junction and then begin heading immediately uphill.
At first it’s on a grassy dirt track with some stones, and then after 150m you’ll reach the rainforest. There’s a sign here about snakes, but we didn’t spot any.
This was my favourite part of the whole walk. Although I’d hoped for sunshine to bring out the blue of the water even more, when it comes to rainforest, there’s nothing better than cloud and mist. And that’s exactly what we got.
It is magical, and remains etched in my mind as much as the waterfalls themselves. You’ll have a 150m climb on a series of stairs before you begin the descent. The stairs are mostly made up of small stones and were soaking wet, but thankfully they looked more slippery than they actually were.
The ferns, hanging vines and mossy gnarled branches of the forest felt like something from a movie set. It’s a forest lovers dream!
After the ascent you have a 150m descent, again on stairs. You’ll then need to cross the river using the rocks for stepping stones.
I’m always worried about slipping on these kinds of crossings, but our guide immediately gave me a hand and made the crossing easy. You’re now just 200m from the waterfall.
You’ll continue on a track largely made up of rocks and then there’s a little wooden bridge to cross. From here you can see the falls just ahead of you.
After just under 100m of dirt track and some rocks, you’ll reach the base of Tepezquintle (for reference this is roughly 2.8km from the start of the walk).
Tepezquintle Waterfall
Straight away our guide told us that the waterfall was looking much less blue than usual.
Normally I’d be a little disappointed, but honestly it was like a scene from Jurassic Park - with thick mist and the powerful waterfall surrounded by orange cliffs and lots of foliage.
You just couldn’t be disappointed! It felt fitting that the visibility was somewhat obscured by the mist, it all added to the wild vibe.
The falls have a decent sized swimming hole and it’s quite easy to get in the water. There are a few rocks again, but it gets deep relatively quickly.
As with all the falls there was a strong current, so you could swim a bit, but the current didn’t allow you to go too far. Nonetheless the atmosphere was incredible.
Heading to the final falls
You’ll return back the way you came and then take a slightly different route from the bottom of the stairs after exiting the rainforest.
It’s back on an easy grassy dirt track and you’ll reach the trail junction 700m from the base of the falls.
You’ll then walk a little further to reach the junction where you may or may not have picked up your wooden stick. From here you are just 400m away from the final waterfall, La Celestial.
The track heads gently uphill for 150m before you reach the stairs down into the rainforest again.
There are 250m of stairs downhill, so more than for any other waterfall but Tepezquintle. It’s a good track though with stairs almost to the end, when you’ll have a few rocks to walk over to reach the base of the falls.
La Celestial
La Celestial translates to ‘the heavenly’ in English and it’s easy to see how it got its name.
The water colour is yet another breathtaking shade of blue, and even with a grey sky, the colour was remarkable. The waterfall is less tall than some of the others, but wider and equally stunning.
There’s a large pool at the base and you’ll need to climb down a couple of rocks before negotiating a few rocks inside the water to get to the deeper section for swimming.
Yet again, there’s quite a current, but it’s a good sized pool and a final dip here is the perfect way to end the walk.
Well almost end it because you still have to walk back, which is 1.8km more.
The Blue Falls trail has to be one of the best wild swimming walks in the world and a must even if you don’t like swimming and just want to experience the sensational scenery. The fact we got every spot to ourselves is mystifying to me!
The best time to visit the Blue Falls
Although not yet popular with international tourists, the Blue Falls are popular with Costa Ricans. For this reason we suggest avoiding weekends. We visited in the morning midweek and had every waterfall to ourselves. Even if you visit in the afternoon I doubt they’ll be crowded, but you might not get them completely to yourself.
In terms of seasons, dry season is the best time to visit as the water will be at its bluest. However I have seen it look blue in rainy season too, so it’s worth checking if that’s when you’re visiting. If there has been exceptionally heavy rain the falls can turn brown, or have the blue colour significantly diluted.
Blue Falls opening hours and entry fees
At time of writing the Blue Falls are open between 7am and 5pm Monday to Saturday (closed on Sundays).
The entry fee is USD $15 per person and this includes the guide. If you visit Catarata Del Toro on the same day the combo prices is USD $25. This is a saving of USD $4.
To be honest I don’t know how long these prices will last as they charge less for a guided walk to five waterfalls than most other waterfalls in Costa Rica charge for one self guided walk!
Getting to Blue Falls
Blue Falls is located in Bajos del Toro and you buy your tickets from the same place as Catarata Del Toro. You’ll find a cafe and toilets here.
You can normally drive to a car park down the road when you have your tickets. We arrived first thing, so the second car park wasn’t open yet, and we walked from the ticket office to the trailhead, which was 470m down the road.
Blue Falls is roughly 71km and a 2 hour drive from San Jose. There are some very steep and windy mountain roads. with no safety barriers, so drive slowly - you pretty much have to anyway due to the gradient! There are many potholes along the way.
It’s a similar distance but a little quicker to drive to La Fortuna, the roads are not steep and there are less potholes (but still plenty as you arrive at or leave Bajos).
Both these roads are paved and you do not need a 4WD, we’ve done it in a very old 4WD and a newer small car and the small car coped better!
There is currently no public transport to the waterfall, so you really do want your own car unless you are going to take a tour.
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, we will earn a small commission if you click through and decide to make a purchase. This helps towards the costs of running our website. Thanks for your support.
