If you’re looking for a unique and adventurous waterfall hike in Costa Rica, then you have to visit Catarata La Leona.
La Leona waterfall is a small blue waterfall hidden deep in the canyons and caves of the a gorgeous blue river.
If you’re ready, book your La Leona waterfall tour with transportation in the link!
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Location
Catarata La Leona is in Guanacaste, specifically in the small town of Curubande. It is about a 30 minute drive from Guanacaste Airport.
La Leona Waterfall Park is about one hour from Playas del Coco and the Papagayo Peninsula and about 2 hours from Tamarindo and Flamingo.
It is a 30 minute drive from Liberia and a 1 hour drive from La Cruz.
Stopover: You can visit La Leona Waterfall along the way if you’re driving from Guanacaste to La Fortuna or vice versa.
Tour Length and Difficulty
The Catarata La Leona hike takes around 3 hours total.
The main trail has a moderate difficulty level.
You need to be in decent shape to walk on natural dirt paths, swim through rivers and have strength to pull yourself on a rope.
You cannot have any mobility or heart problems.
Best Time to Go
The best time to do the La Leona Waterfall Hike is during the peak dry season, which is January through April.
The paths are dry, there isn’t any mud and no real strong river current. If you go during rainy season, you have to be more prepared for mud and a stronger current. Additionally, the rivers may not be blue.
We went end of January and the water level never went over our heads and the current wasn’t strong.
If you go during the rainier months like September, October and November, the river may be too full/strong and will not be possible to do the tour due to landslides, floods, etc.
One of our friends went beginning of December, right at the end of the rainy season and she said the current was incredibly strong.
They had a hard time getting into the cave since they had to swim a lot harder against the current. The water levels of the rivers were also much higher.
Who Can Do The Catarata La Leona Hike?
Anyone with a sense of adventure and has good stamina!
However, there are some conditions. You need to be in good shape to be able to walk a couple kilometers through rivers and on completely natural paths.
You cannot have a fear of deep water and you do need to know how to swim.
If you have any foot, ankle, or mobility issues or are not able to walk long distances, we don’t recommend this tour for you. The trail is a completely natural path with rocks, branches, tree roots and dirt.
There isn’t a huge drastic climb or elevation, nor switchbacks but you will need to be able to walk at least a few miles on natural paths.
You also need to pull yourself on a rope to get into the waterfall cave.
Additionally, this is the dry tropical forest with high year round temperatures. You have to be able to walk through the dry forest in temperatures averaging around 33° C or 91° F. It is also humid, much more so during the rainy season May through December.
Catarata La Leona Video
Here is a video we did of our time at Catarata La Leona. I highly recommend watching our video to see what the guided hike is like since we weren’t able to take photos the entire time.
*The hike is no longer pet friendly. This video was taken in 2021 when hardly anyone knew about La Leona Waterfall but now it is very popular.*
The park used to be a finca, basically a farm as this area is mostly for farming.
Many projects like this started with nothing, just a piece of land handed down by a grandparent/ great-grandparent.
After tourism boomed in Guanacaste, the family decided to turn it into a tourist attraction, after realizing what incredible natural gems they have on their beautiful property.
Arriving at the La Leona Waterfall Park
We drove from Tamarindo, which took about 2 hours.
After we geared up, changed and used the bathroom, we headed off into the forest with our guide. One of the dogs that live on the property joined us!
Start of the Catarata La Leona Hike
Our hike started off easy. For the first part, our guide showed us the various river pools for bathing.
As this river originates from the Rincon de la Vieja volcano, it has this amazing blue color.
During our hike, our guide shared facts about the unique tropical dry forest and pointed out interesting trees and plants.
He also told us the legends behind the name “Curubande” and “Rincon de la Vieja.”
Rincon de la Vieja means the old woman’s corner in Spanish and Curubande is the name of the village chief’s daughter.
In the legend, Curubande fell in love with the son of the rival tribe’s chief. They had a tragic love story so whenever the locals heard loud howling wind at night, they would say she was still up there in the canyons, crying and grieving over her long lost love and son.
Hearing these stories as we crossed the blue rivers and pools made the place feel even more magical.
After we crossed the river for the last time, our guide told us that it was time to explore the canyons.
He started walking up a hill full of rocks and tree branches. Although it didn’t look like much of a path, we followed him up.
Book the La Leona Waterfall hike with transportation here!
The Caves and Canyons
We emerged on the other side of this hill to an open canyon and caves.
Our guide explained to us that the rock formation came from the last volcanic eruption many years ago and now during certain months of the year, it’s home to lechuzas, or little owls. Hence the name, Cañon La Lechuza.
As we walked through the cave, I looked up and could see little furry faces peering down on us. They weren’t owls but bats and they were just hanging up there, napping and checking us out.
At one point, I felt like the hike turned into a caving tour as our guide led through more caves and canyons.
And every time I came out the other side of a cave, I felt like I had just passed into another world!
After what felt like the 5th or 6th cave, we came upon a calm section of the river. This pool was completely tranquil and quiet with a brilliant blue color.
We were hot and sweaty from walking so we jumped in right away!
Even though we were having a ton of fun swimming and jumping into the pool at this spot, our guide soon said Vamos!
And we looked at him like, what already? Si, he said with a large smile on his face.
Esto no es el parte lo más bonito del río (This isn’t the most beautiful part of the river).
So we put our shoes back on and followed him a little bit further down the river until we finally reached the actual entrance to the Catarata La Leona.
We realized exactly why before our guide said we hadn’t reached the nicest part of the river yet!
Arriving at Catarata La Leona – the Last Stretch
A large and calm blue pool emerged before us and I saw a rope in the water, stretched towards the cave in the back.
I could faintly hear a roar of crashing water coming from the cave and my excitement level peaked again as our guide explained to us the next step.
We had to swim through the canyon into the cave, using the rope to pull us along and in the cave, was the waterfall. Todo bien? he asked.
As soon as we said yes, he jumped into the water right away and motioned us to follow him.
Luckily the water level was not too deep and the current was not that strong so it was easy to swim to the cave.
When I reached the cave, he lifted me up out of the water, hoisted me onto the rocks and told me to turn around.
As soon as I turned around, the incredible Catarata La Leona waterfall appeared before my eyes.
We finally made it to the waterfall after trekking up rocky hills, climbing through caves and swimming through river pools!
Catarata La Leona is not big but being hidden inside a cave made it all more special, especially considering we had to swim, climb and trek through the forest and rivers to get there!
Tips for Visiting La Leona Waterfall
What to wear: Swim suit, clothes that can get wet and dry fast (I wore Roxy board shorts and a Nike dri fit shirt) and closed toed shoes.
You must have closed toed shoes because of all the rocks. Yeison and I both wore closed toed KEEN hiking sandals which are great for water and land.
If you wear tennis shoes and socks, your socks and shoes WILL get soaking wet.
Ladies, you can wear your swimsuit when it’s swimming time but I do not recommend wearing JUST a bikini.
Our guide told me about many ladies who wore only a bikini which literally got washed away down the river due to the strong current. Yikes!
If you want to wear just your swimsuit during the swimming part, wear a one piece.
What to Bring to the La Leona Waterfall Tour
Change of clothes, towel, sunscreen, hat, waterproof camera (we used our GoPro), 100% waterproof backpacks and 100% waterproof dry bags.
Some guides may provide dry bags. However, we still recommend to bring your own.
Our guide gave us dry bags but one had a hole and Yeison’s phone got wet. As the dry bags the guides provide have already been used MANY times by other tourists, they are not in new condition. They are in very used condition.
My Aqua Quest backpack and dry bags worked perfect and didn’t get wet at all. I also highly recommend a waterproof phone pouch.
The finca has changing rooms, a bathroom, sitting areas and a small picnic area.
Book Your La Leona Waterfall Tour with Transportation
If you are staying in the Guanacaste beach towns such as El Coco, Ocotal, Tamarindo, Flamingo and Brasilito and you do not have a rental car, you can book the La Leona Waterfall tour with transportation as a day trip.
If you have your own transportation, you can make reservations directly with the La Leona Waterfall Park. All visitors must go with a guide for the hike, therefore reservations are required.
This tour is now extremely popular so you should make reservations in the high tourism season (December through April).
Other Day Tours in Guanacaste
Check out other great day tours to do in Guanacaste!
Guanacaste Rainforest and Sloth: Walk a 3 km trail with a network of hanging bridges through the rainforest and then enjoy an easy walk in a private reserve to spot sloths.
Boating in Gulf of Papagayo: Discover hidden white sand beaches, snorkel in crystal clear waters and go fishing in the healthy waters of the Gulf of Papagayo
Hacienda El Viejo Wetlands: See wildlife on a river boat cruise, go birding in a pristine wetland, learn about Guanacaste culture, taste unique beer and sample one of a kind, home grown organic Costa Rican rum.
Guachipelin 1 day adventure pass: Zipline, horseback ride, white water tube, hot springs and mud baths near Rincon de la Vieja Volcano
Angela Easter says
Hi Sammi,
We are coming over Christmas and are interested in doing the adventurous hike, but do not need the full tour as we have a car. Do you have to have a guide for this hike or can we just do it on our own? If a guide is needed, do you have a recommendation?
Thanks,
Angela
Casey Johnson says
Hi! Your blog is amazing, thank you! My husband and I (mid 30s, active) are going to CR for 12 nights and considering spending our last two around Rincon. He will be 3.5 months post ACL surgery so can’t do super hard/long hikes like we usually do here in Colorado, but considering doing La Leona OR La Cangreja and then also the mud pots one, and also maybe rio blanco and oropendola in the 1.5 days we have there. If you had to chose between la leona or la cangreja, which would you choose? Or perhaps do those and leave out the mud pots one (we’ve seen geysers, etc. in Atacama). We will be there in early December. Truly appreciate your POV!
Sammi says
Both are nice, and for La Leona, they do have an easy trail that doesn’t require the climbing or anything, if you’ve already seen geyers and volcanic activity I would skip the mud pots.
@the.vandersons says
No longer dog friendly 🙁
Well we’ll have to leave the pup in the van, since it looks worth doing!
Sammi says
Yes they do, they’re right by the parking lot actually
April says
Hi, we are interested in doing the easier straight forward hike. Do you know if this trail will pass that first beautiful swimming hole on the way to the waterfall? Thanks!
Azar Jindal says
What is the total distance of the dirt road? And what is the distance of total hike that you did with guided tour?
Sammi says
I am not positive, at least a few kilometers of the dirt road, I think maybe 5 kilometers at least? We did the more like “adventurous” hike but I’m not positive the distance either, but if you take the normal direct path, it’s actually not too long. Maybe like 40 minutes walking normal pace? We took a lot longer on the adventure path and because we were filming.
Rachel says
We went today and it was amazing! My whole family loved it. Thank you for sharing this. The waterfalls and swimming through canyons was something we’ll remember forever… breath-taking!
Also, it was refreshing being on a less “commercial” tour and what an amazing deal. They charged us 9,000 colones pp which included the guided hike and a full lunch! Best value I’ve experienced in Costa Rica! A+++
Rachel Jacobs says
Thank you! I just contacted them through WhatsApp. Their number was in their Facebook page.
Rachel says
Thank you for the info! How do we reserve the guided hike? Is there a website?
Sammi says
They don’t have a website but we called them, this is their phone number: 8588 1563 and I think they have a Facebook page under the name Catarata La Leona, I believe they should have someone who speaks English.
Kelly says
This looks amazing! Thank you for sharing. How would I go about booking a tour? Are there guides available that speak English?
Sammi says
We called them (8588 1563 ) and I think they have a Facebook page under the name Catarata La Leona, they should have at least one guide that speaks English.