People always ask me how many days they should stay in Costa Rica and the first thing I ask is, “What do you want to do?”
If you’re here just to get some sun and relax, then I think 5 days is plenty but if you have an adventurous spirit and want to explore, give yourself the very minimum a full week (not counting travel days). But if you only have a few days, how can you do it all? Luckily, there are several places that offer mega combo adventure tours which combine multiple adventures into one day.
One such tour is Buena Vista combo tour located in the Rincon de la Vieja area and it includes a canopy tour, horseback riding, hot springs, mud baths, and a water slide. Buena Vista is about a 30 minute drive from Liberia and a 1.5 hour drive from the Gulf of Papagayo.
As soon as you arrive, get ready for an exciting day!
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Buena Vista Adventure Park Combination Tour
The tour is operated by Buena Vista Lodge and Adventure Center. They have their own hot springs, ziplining tour, horseback riding trails and water slide on the property. The tour is open to the public so anyone can go and experience adventure in the dry tropical forests of Costa Rica. It’s one of the best things to do in Guanacaste!
Location and Directions
Buena Vista is in Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
How to get there from Liberia: From Liberia coming from the airport, turn left to go north on the Interamicanca highway (gas station on your right, Mcdonalds up ahead). Drive about 13 kilometers until you get to the Canas dulce intersection and turn right. You will see signs for Rincon de la Vieja National Park. Continue on this road for 17 kilometers and you will plenty of signs pointing to the Buena Vista Lodge. The last 11 kilometers are on an unpaved road.
Buena Vista Zipline
The first activity is the canopy tour with 11 platforms and 10 lines total. For first time zipliners it looks pretty scary but once you go on the first one, you’ll be hooked, trust me!
Even if you have a fear of heights, just don’t look down and enjoy the view and fresh wind in your face. By the time you get to your 10th line, you’ll be a professional zip liner! And what else do pros do but crazy stunts like no hands, backwards and upside down?
If you choose the adrenaline tour, they have an extra tarzan swing at the end of the canopy tour which is super fun!
Buena Vista Waterslide
What comes next you definitely don’t want to miss: the water slide!
When you get to the top, you see another canal behind the water slide, a gate and a man holding the handle to the gate.When you sit down in the chute, the man closes the gate and waits for the tank to fill up with water behind you. As soon as he deems that there’s enough, he pulls the handle to open the gate and there you go! The water shoots you down.
The boys went for a third time but I had to sit that one out. I was too winded by my second go around, so I was happy to take the camera and be paparazzi.
This water slide is about 420 meters long, has some twists and turns, a tunnel and then you land in the pool. The first time was really fun but it wasn’t as fast as I thought it would be so we went up again (you’re allowed a max of 3 rides).
The second time, the guy knew we wanted to go faster so he waited a long time for the water to fill up and holy crap! It must’ve been twice as fast, I almost fell out of my tube once flying around the corners!
I highly recommend using the tube as it’ll help you secure yourself in the slide. It can get really fast so hold on!
You can watch our video below of the Costa Rica waterslide!
Lunch and Horseback Riding
All that water sliding and zip lining made us super hungry so we went to get lunch (included in price). They served typical Costa Rican food: vegetable cream soup, rice, beans, platanos, pico de gallo, salad, meat, and fried fish with natural cas fruit juice. Good thing we all filled up with good food because horseback riding was next.
After about a 30 minute ride, the horses took us to our next stop, the waterfall. Tip: bring good closed toed shoes (hiking sandals are the best) for horseback riding because you’ll be hiking about a mile to get to the waterfall and the hot spring.
The guides will bring your bags for you on a truck and your things will meet you at the springs. But do not skip the waterfall! I don’t know the name of it but it is gorgeous and it is fairly easy to climb right underneath and feel the water pounding on your shoulders.
***Update for 2018. The last time we did the tour in June 2017, we didn’t go to the waterfall. You will need to go to it on your own if you want to see the waterfall.***
The hot springs are about another .5 mile hike from the waterfall and there are a couple hanging bridges to walk across.
Mud Baths and Hot Springs
All that hard work hiking pays off because at last you reach the spa. First you go into the natural sauna to wash away all the toxins and then to the fun part, mud baths. Two pots are available, full of hot volcanic mud that you can slather all over yourself, exfoliating, cleansing and rejuvenating the skin.
Let dry and then wash it all off to reveal soft, smooth and refreshed skin.
And lastly, the natural hot springs.
There are several different pools you can choose from, the hottest pool is by the bar. Below that one is a warm pool, and below that one is the coldest pool. The hottest pool is around the temperature of a Jacuzzi I would guess and it’s perfect for soothing aching muscles, steaming away worries and calming the mind.
Phew, what a day! It almost seems like too much but actually, all the activities played out very nicely with each other and we didn’t spend a minute being bored. I had a blast the whole day and I would definitely go back again!
As you can probably see, the Buena Vista Combo Tour is an entire day of fun, adventure and excitement. There’s no way you won’t leave without a smile on your face!
Tips for Buena Vista Combo Tour
- Bring a GoPro or waterproof camera. You can put the GoPro on the helmets and you need a waterproof camera for the water slide. Make sure to bring the correct helmet mount.
- Wear hiking sandals or closed toed shoes for the horseback riding. No flip flops allowed!
- Horseback riding is optional – there is a truck that can take you to the hot spring if you don’t want to ride.
- Lockers are available for free at the zipline area so you can bring a small backpack.
- Bring plenty of sunscreen, mosquito repellent and a change of clothes.
- This is a full day tour so eat a good breakfast!
- If you have a car and are driving yourself, we recommend booking beforehand in high season (December – April) to guarantee your spot. Make sure to arrive around 8:30 AM. If you don’t pre-book, make sure to arrive early so you have plenty of time to check in and
This combo tour is offered by Buena Vista Lodge. If you want to do this tour and need transportation, please contact us for tour company recommendations. Please include the date of tour, how many adults and children and pick up location.
Latoya says
Hello ,
How many hours would you say the tour was to include all the mentioned activities?
The depth of the pool after the slide. How many feet?
Too nervous if it is deep water.
Sammi says
Not deep, I could stand in it. It’s a full day so depending how long you stay at hot springs, get there at 8 AM, leave around 5-6 PM.
Jen says
How wide and safe is the unpaved road heading up the lodge to drive a rental car? We plan to do this but I don’t want to end up stuck on a one lane road on a cliff with another car coming down! Thanks,
Sammi says
It is not bad, from what I remember, it’s not really on cliffs, and is easy to drive on despite it not being paved. Definitely not a super narrow lane road where you would have to back up or dangle off the edge if another car is coming.
K says
Is there a weight requirement if you can remember?
Sammi says
Usually for ziplining it goes by harness size, I think their biggest is XXL but I recommend you to contact them for their exact limits for the activities
Eva CHARBENEAU says
Hi Sammie,
I am 65 with an adventurous spirit and previous seeker of white water rafting trips! But now my knees aren’t so great and I worry about any long hikes or climbs required to do things my husband and I would love to try. We’d like to go on the Buena Vista Zipline and water slide….but is there any way to get to the top without a lot of climbing? If not, is there another tour you’d recommend? My new husband has never been white water rafting so that’s a possibility if it’s not too intense…. again my knees, as I know they’re strength is somewhat required to help hold me in the raft! Thanks in advance for any recommendations you can give us older folks!
Sammi says
Unfortunately there is no other way to get to the climb except walking up the path and I don’t recommend it if you don’t have good knees (I don’t recommend the waterslide either if you have bad knees since you will get knocked around a bit)
The best tour I would recommend is a covered riverboat wildlife safari – no walking or strenuous exercise required at all. Palo Verde National Park offers a very nice one.
Ilana says
Hi! Looking at going on the water slide at beuna vista with my kids 9, 12 and 14.
I have read some mixed reviews.
Do you think it would be appropriate for them?
Age wise – officially they are all allowed to on go down. Was just curious based on your personal experience- what your thoughts were
Sammi says
The slide is super fun! I would have your kids wear the rubber mat thing to protect the skin
Kelly says
A practical question…did you wear your bathing suits under your hiking clothes? Or is there somewhere to change for the slide/mud baths?
Sammi says
There are changing rooms there
Lori says
Hello,
I see the difference between the two tours (Hacienda Guachipelin & Buena Vista) is the water slide and the repelling but are they at the same park or two different locations. If they are at the same park, can you pay to do the water slide alone?
Thanks,
Lori
Sammi says
They are two different parks.
Nancy says
Hello! I’m traveling with my 6 year old. I’m trying to decide between buena vista and guachipelin. Is there one that you felt would be more suitable? Or any other lodging? You mentioned the river tubing as an advantage that guachipelin has, but I’m not sure they’d allow him to go (he probably would want to ride with me and not alone).
Sammi says
Hi Nancy, the Guachipelin tubing has a minimum age of 8 and I don’t believe they allow people to ride together (the tubes are only for 1 person, they’re not big). For Buena Vista, I know the minimum age of the zipline is 4, and Guachipelin minimum age for zipline is 5 and he can do the horseback riding. I am not sure what the minimum age for the Buena Vista waterslide is so I would check with them.
Staci says
Is there a weight limit for the horses and the zip lining?
yeison says
Hello Stacy, thank you for reading our Blog!
The weight limit for both are 350lb but the The big harness has a 47 inches waist max.
Please let us know if you have any questions
Liz says
Do you recommend this tour or the Guachipelin tour in your other post
Do either of the tours include transport? I wasn’t clear on that since you mentioned you do need your own transport to the hotsprings
Sammi says
Hi Liz! We love both of them and either one is awesome, we do like the Guachipelin one a little bit more because of the white water tubing which is crazy fun. The Buena Vista one has a nicer waterfall but the white water tubing is super fun. If you don’t have a car, you will have to book the tour with a tour company that provides transportation. THe Guachipelin hot springs are separate from where the rest of the activities are so you need to drive yourself or your tour guide will take you. Let me know if you need tour company recommendations! 🙂
Liz says
Thanks Sammi, I booked with Shaman after seeing your recommendation on the Palo Verde page.
Have you gone through MemoAdventures before?
Also wanted to mention, I found your website because it was sent to me by an American Express Platinum Concierge member 🙂
Sammi says
Hi Liz, awesome! He’s an excellent tour guide, you’ll learn a lot and have a lot of fun!
I haven’t gone through MemoAdventures before, actually have never heard of them.
Wow that’s awesome! I’m glad it’s helpful 🙂 Have a great time in Costa RIca!
Brenna says
This is for my 1 yr wedding anniversary and honeymoon combo celebration. I wanted to get some feedback in location in Costa Rica. My ideal vacation would be beautiful scenery, beaches, adventure like (water rappeling, ziplining and ATVS, waterfalls, etc) Also I was looking into those Hot Springs Resorts (Baldi Hot Springs vs Tabacon). We’re in our late 30s and wanna have fun, be adventurous but still have some relax time too. Im not too familiar with locations but can you kindly please tell me if the Hot Springs resorts in Le Fortuna is far away from doing adventure stuff like (water rappeling, ziplining and ATVS) and going to a nice beach? I heard Guanacaste is nice but is that far from Le Fortuna? or Should I just do Hot Springs in Guanacaste in one of the tours? I was also thinking the Hacienda Guachipelin Adventure Tour in Guanacaste vs Buena Vista combo tour located in the Rincon de la Vieja area . Which one do you prefer? Please help. I wanted to do the Hot Springs, beach and the mentioned adventurous activities. Ill be staying for 4 days. =) Also I heard in August its rainy season but theres a few locations warmer than others. If you can kindly tell me some recommendations I would really appreciate it.
Brenna
Sammi says
Hello Brenna, for 4 days that isn’t a lot of time to be able to do all but I would pick just one place (either Guanacaste or La Fortuna). You could stay in Guanacaste and do a day trip to La Fortuna to hike, see the volcano and go to hot springs, a day trip to Buena Vista/Guachipelin (both are fun, just depends whether you want to waterslide or white water tube), one day for beach and one day for ziplining and ATV in Guanacaste. You won’t be able to do everything but you can do a good amount in 4 days.
Melissa says
Hi!
First off thank you so much for all of your advice, it has really given me a lot of insight! Now to my question, my boyfriend and I are traveling to Tamarindo in the early November and this was one of our first activities we wanted to try–out of this tour and Guachipelin Combo Tour, which one did you like the best? Also, what tour company would you recommend we book most of our activities with? We are also interested in the Rio Celeste hike and Optional Wildlife Refuge but since we’re not over 25 yet, we don’t want to rent a car due to the high fees. Thank you again for all your insight!
Best,
Melissa
Sammi says
Hi Melissa! We love both tours but we love the white water tubing at Guachipelin, we’ve done it at least 5-6 times and it never gets old. The waterslide is awesome too, but we prefer the tubing. As for tour companies, I’ll send you an email with our recommendations. You can actually rent a car if you’re over 23 years of age in Costa Rica, not 25 here 🙂
Janette Gould says
Greetings from the state of Washington!
We are a large group of 19, 9 adults and 10 children with 3 children under 3. Is there anyway to accommodate for the small children? We want to go on one of these tours. We are looking at Buena Vista or Vandara Hot Springs. Could you tell me the difference between them? We love your blog, thanks for all the information.
Janette
Sammi says
Hi Janette,
Unfortunately the tours aren’t suitable for children that young since they can’t do any of the activities. The adults could take turns taking care of the children and switch off for the activities, but they’re too small to go ziplining, the water slide and horseback riding. You should contact the lodge to see if they have any options for children that young. As for Vandara, I am not sure we have never been there. It seems they have a website if you Google them, and you can read about the activities they offer. It looks like they’re also in Rincon de la Vieja National Park.
yeison says
Hello Jennifer, thank you for reading your blog, there is only one road to get to Buena Vista lodge you just have to follow the rincon de la vieja national park road and unfortunately we do not have any discounts for the Extreme Combo. The lodge is in the national park in Guanacaste, if you Google Buena Vista lodge Rincon de la vieja you willfind it.
Jennifer says
Hello, thank you for your review! We are looking forward to doing this for our visit in late August 🙂
A few questions for you:
(1) Do you happen to have the address for the adventure park? When I look up Buena Vista Lodge, I only get the location that is near San Jose (and not in the Guanacaste area).
(2) Do you currently have any discounts for the Extreme Combo Tour and/or rental cars for the visit?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Jennifer
Sammi says
Hi, the adrenaline extreme tour has longer cables and a tarzan swing, the regular ziplining tour doesn’t.
I recommend booking it at least a few days before your possible tour date or at least a few days before you land in Costa Rica. They run this tour every day but there are only so many people they can fit so you’d want to guarantee a spot.
We don’t have discounts for this tour, but if you need recommendations for a tour company if you don’t have your own transportation, we can help you with that.
Christina says
Hi.. traveling to CR next week and your article has me interested in a tour! I’m having trouble telling the difference between the Buena Vista End Combo and the Buena Vista Mega Combo. The price difference is $5.
Also, would you recommend we book beforehand or could we do it while we are in the country. The reason being we aren’t sure what day we want to schedule the tour. Would there be a price difference if we waited until last minute?
ALSO, do you have any discounts available right now? (:
Christine says
Hola. I am booked to stay at Buena Vista in early February. I am traveling alone. They tell me that to get there I need to hire a taxi for $60 US which translates to almost $100 canadian which is a HUGE amount that I’d rather not spend on transportation. My thought is to take a public bus to Canas Dulces and taxi from there. Any thoughts?? If any other readers are looking to share a shuttle on February 1, would you be willing to connect us?? Thanks and keep on tanning those feet!
Sammi says
Hi Christine, I’m not sure where you are staying but there are buses from Liberia that go to Canas Dulces every day from 5:30AM, 7AM, 9AM, 1030AM, 12PM and it takes about 45 minutes. Unless you’re staying there, you’ll have to take another bus from where you are staying to Liberia which can be about 1 hour from Coco and a little more from Tamarindo area. The last buses from Canas Dulces to Liberia are 14:45, 16:15, 18:15 and 21:00 daily so at least there are routes in the evening you can take. I am not sure how much a taxi will be from Canas Dulces to Buena Vista, but the road is not good to Buena Vista Lodge so it may not be very cheap and it’s still about 15 kilometers (but it could be less than $60). Just make sure they use a meter.
I was going to suggest just going with a tour company, but they charge $140 which is the same price if you took the $60 transportation because the tour itself costs $80.
I’d suggest posting in the Expats in Guanacaste, Expats in Costa Rica and Backpacking in Central America Facebook groups to see if you can connect with other travelers.
Sammi says
Hi Nicole!
Your best option is to travel to Liberia and stay a night there and do the tour the next day. You can easily get to Liberia by bus from San Jose for cheap, I wrote a post on taking the bus from SJ to Coco but it is the same station and I listed the route times for Liberia in this post: Bus from San Jose to Playas del Coco
If you don’t want to take the bus, you can book a shuttle which will cost around $180 (you can email Randall he does these transfers). If you need recommendations for hotels in Liberia, we recommend some decent budget/cheap ones here: Best hotels near LIR airport.
Nicole Greb says
I would like to do this tour when I am visiting in December this year. Where can I book this? Also I will be in san Jose so where can I arrange travel to the place?
Thanks
Sammi says
Hey Emily! We are currently running a tour promotion right now, one of them is book 1 tour, get the 2nd half off and this applies to Buena Vista Combo Tour. You have to redeem the tour by February 29th however, so in case you are coming after that, let us know and we can contact them to see what we can do. Here is the promotion page if you want to check it out:Costa Rica car rental discount
Sonya says
Hello,
We are headed to Costa Rica in November. Do you recommend just renting a car and doing our own thing or just doing tours? We can’t decide. Is it confusing getting around on your own? Or safe?
Sammi says
Hi Sonya,
You can certainly do both. If you are planning on moving around the country, you can drive, take the bus or hire a shuttle. Driving is a bit confusing but you can rent a GPS. Most people we know who are first timers to CR like to do more tours since it’s less hassle than figuring it all out yourself.
It is very safe in CR, just use your common sense like any other country.
If you’re not planning on going to different places, you can do both. REnt a car for a couple days and explore on your own. And then do a couple tours for ziplining or whatever activity you want to do. It really is up to you depending on what kind of vacation you want.
Michelle says
Thanks, Sammi! I want to do this tour next month. Would you suggest the mega combo or the extreme combo? It looks like the difference is the regular canopy tour vs the extreme canopy tour.
Sammi says
Hi Michelle! Hmm well I think we did the regular canopy tour and it was really fun. I’m not sure what the extreme canopy tour is like but it may have more lines to go upside or do superman or things like that. If you’re not afraid of heights and/or already have ziplined before, the extreme one would be more fun.
Michelle says
Awesome, thanks for the reply. It looks like the only difference is a Tarzan swing, which looks pretty scary!
We’ll be renting a car, but I’ve read that the lodge is hard to find. Would you suggest driving ourselves or opting for the shuttle service?
Sammi says
Ohhh haha yes usually extreme ones have a Tarzan swing. Should be fun! I’ve done a couple and it’s scary at first but it’s really fun.
The lodge isn’t too hard to find but it is on a gravely road so it’s pretty bumpy. There are signs everywhere once you turn into the national park for the lodge so it’s hard to miss. We drove ourselves which was fine and if you guys are renting a car, it’s worth driving yourself because a shuttle can cost something like $50 dollars.
Bianca van den Brink says
Hello !
We are going to Costa Rica in the end of November and also want to do a tour like this.
Do you have an idea how we can book this tour or if we can book this tour when we are in Costa rica itself?
Greetings Bianca
yeison says
Hi Bianca, you can book it with a tour company if you need transportation or book it directly with the Buena Vista lodge.
Bianca van den Brink says
That would be great ! We probably rent a car so we have our own transportation. Maybe we can book it when we are there or with discount from you, sound great. Greetings
Sammi says
Yes sounds great! Just send us a message when the time is closer to your trip!
Sammi says
Hi Bianaca,
Also just in case, you can check the Buena vista lodges website here http://www.buenavistalodgecr.com or you can also wait until you’re here and book it then with a tour company or you can go on your own if you have transportation. If you need any recs for tour companies, or other tours like this one just let us know!
Courtenay says
Hey! This is an awesome review. It’s surprisingly hard to find info on things to do in Costa Rica, so thank you! I was wondering if it’s possible to ride the waterslide if you’re not doing the rest of the tour? We have plans to zip line & ride horses already but I really don’t want to miss out on a waterslide in the middle of the jungle!
yeison says
Hi Courtenay I am sure you can only ride the slide we are not sure about he cost but I am sure that if you email them they can give you the answers right away
Jamileh Horan says
We are going in June and can’t wait! Would you recommend this tour or he guachepelin(something like that)? We can’t decide if we wanna stay in guan caste or Manuel Antonio. How do you even choose?!
Sammi says
Manuel Antonio is just the national park but you can explore that area since there’s also Jaco or if you go further down south, Dominical/Uvita, etc. Guanacaste is a whole province so there’s at one of places to choose from. You can do both 😉
Sammi says
Also we love both of them but personally like the river tubing in Guachipelin better.
yeison says
Hi Ellen great you cant miss this tours is one of our favorite activities! If you need transportation we know the right people here.
Have a great day
Yeison
Ellen says
I have a group of 20/ppl going to costa rica on 4/25 we cannot wait to do this excursion! Thank you for all of the great info!
ray says
What would be the cost for this tour when picking us up at the Liberia airport Hilton Garden Inn and dropping us off at Allegro papagayo on April 12?
Sammi says
Hi Ray, we are not a tour company so we can’t give you a quote, your hotel will be able to arrange tours for you. You can email them to see how much it’ll be.
Nancy Russell says
Thanks for sharing some great information! We’re very excited to be going to Costa rica in mid-March. The Buena vista combo tour looks like something we’d like to do. How much notice do we need to get reservations? What are the days and hours of this tour? Thanks is advance.
Sammi says
Hey Nancy! If you’re near the area, you can probably book it through your hotel or go through a tour company. I’d give at least a couple days notice, maybe even 5-7 because it is high season in March still. It runs all day but with so many activities you want to get there in the morning. I think we got there around 8 AM but your tour company will let you know when they’ll pick you up. It ends around 5 to 6 PM depending on how long you want to stay at the hot springs.
Betty Diaz says
Hello, amazing post! Very helpful! I am organizing my first trip to Costa Rica (so excited) I was wondering the cost of this whole combo and where I can make reservations? 🙂
yeison says
The whole combo goes by around $100.
Happy travels !
Emily says
This tour looks amazing! I’m planning a trip to Costa Rica now and definitely want to do this. Would we be able to get a discount (two of us)? Thanks for sharing!
Melissa says
We have a group of 6 coming first week of May! Could you tell me more about this? And how we make reservations?
Sammi says
I just sent you an email 🙂
Becky says
HI there. We are planning a trip to Costa Rica at the end of April. Can you offer us any discount on the Buena vista combo tour, including the water slide? Thank you.
Sammi says
Hi Becky unfortunately we don’t have any promotions for the month.
Francisca says
How can I go about booking a tour with you? I arrive on June 12th
Sammi says
Even more to do here: 50 things to do in Costa Rica
😀
Gemma Two Scots says
Aw man, this has got me so excited about going to Costa Rica, so much to do!