When it comes to the best waterfalls in Costa Rica, Nauyaca waterfalls are definitely one of our favorites. Here is our guide to visiting this amazing natural beauty including tips for what to wear, how to get there and what you need to know about these waterfalls before you go.
How to get to Nauyaca Waterfalls: 2 Options
The waterfalls are located on a private property owned by a Costa Rican family, Don Lulo – this is the original Nauyaca Waterfalls Park. You will arrive at their office to pay the entrance fee and then head to the waterfalls from there.
These are the GPS coordinates to plug into Google Maps or Waze: 9.280789 , -83.822594. The plus code is 75FJ+68 Santa Juana, Puntarenas Province, Pérez Zeledón.
Driving
From Route 34 (Costanera Sur), the Nauyaca waterfall office is about a ten minute drive from where you turn left onto Route 243 on the way to San Isidro de General. If you crossed the bridge and passed Dominical, you have gone too far. The turn is at a very obvious intersection with signs to Platanillo.
The main road is well paved and as of June 2021, they have just paved the road from the main street down to their parking lot. It is accessible for all cars and no longer required to have only 4×4 or 4wd. This is for the Cataratas Nauyaca Waterfall office.
The Nauyaca waterfalls are located 160 kilometers (100 miles) from San Jose and 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from Dominical in the South Pacific of Costa Rica.
Nauyaca Waterfalls Entrance Fee and Hours
There are three ways to get to the waterfall from the Don Lulo office. You can hike, go on a truck or go horseback riding. Must make reservations beforehand.
They are open Monday – Friday 7 AM to 2 PM and on Sundays 8 AM to 2 PM.
- The entrance fee for the waterfalls is $10 USD per person.
- The horseback riding tour is $85 USD per person.
- The 4×4 truck is $32 USD per person and they have schedules at 7 AM, 9 AM, 10 AM, 11 AM and 12 PM. They bring you back two hours after you arrive at the waterfall.
- They also offer a premium truck experience which includes light breakfast, entrance fee, roundtrip truck ride, lunch and guide for $85 USD per person. Starts at 8 AM and ends at 130 PM ish.
- Parking is $3 USD.
Nauyaca Waterfalls Nature Park
There is a new nature park that provides access to the eastern side of Nauyaca Waterfalls. They offer a 10 minute truck ride to the waterfall access and once you get off, it is a 600 meter walk down to the waterfalls. It costs $27 USD per adult and includes entrance fee, trolley ride, parking, bathrooms, changing rooms and access to their nature park hiking trails. Must make reservations beforehand. You can find them on Google Maps/Waze under Nauyaca Waterfalls Nature Park.
You can visit Nauyaca Waterfalls via this nature park or the Don Lulo family office (horseback ride, truck and the 4 km hiking trail).
Should You Hike, Truck or Horseback Ride?
The trail is about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) through the dense rain forest. You can choose any of the 3 options to get to the waterfall.
Nauyaca Waterfall Horseback Riding
We have gone horseback riding twice and it’s a very nice ride through the forest. They include lunch on the tour after you visit the waterfall.
The horse back riding tour runs everyday Monday – Saturday. Duration of the tour is 8 AM to 130 PM which includes light breakfast, horse, guide, lunch and admission fee. Additionally, the weight limit for the horseback ride is 104 kg or 230 lbs. Nauyaca Waterfalls horseback riding tour costs $85 USD per person.
Nauyaca Waterfalls Hike
For the Nauyaca Waterfalls hike, I recommend people to be in moderate shape. It is hot and humid with bugs so if that doesn’t sound appealing to you, then I recommend going on the horseback riding tour. And if horses don’t appeal to you, then there is the pick up truck option.
The trail is the same for both hiking and horseback riding so if you are hiking, make sure you are prepared to get a little bit dirty and wet, especially in rainy season. There are some puddles and muddy spots along the way (not to mention some horse poo).
The hike takes about 1-1.5 hours one way depending on how fast you walk to the waterfalls. As for the hike, it is wonderful since you can take your time, take pictures and spot wildlife (lots of sloths and toucans in this area). Definitely worth every step!
Nauyaca Waterfalls Truck
Don’t want to pay for horses but don’t want to walk? Take the Nauyaca Waterfalls 4×4 truck! This is by far the easiest and fastest way to get to the waterfalls. The truck tour fee includes entrance fee and truck ride. Or you can opt for the premium tour and get a guide, light breakfast and lunch included.
Nauyaca Cataratas
Upper Falls
The upper falls comprises of several cascades and you can’t swim or bathe in this area. You can walk around the rocks (careful it’s slippery) to get amazing views of the upper fall and the top of the lower falls.
This upper falls is a 45 meter (147 feet) drop. Also keep your eyes out when you go up there because I saw an otter jump into the water once!
Lower Falls
This is where most people spend their time, the lower falls. There is a lovely deep pool you can swim and bathe in and plenty of rocks to sit on. You get a stunning view of both waterfalls surrounded by lush green jungle and the sounds of nature.
This second fall is a tiered waterfall of 20 meters (65 feet) and the pool is six meters (19 feet) deep.
You can have a picnic, lay around, swim and relax. The local guides tie a rope onto the rocks and help visitors so they can climb up and jump off. Be very careful and do not climb up there on your own if there’s no guide, it is slippery!
Videos
Yeison brought his drone and took an awesome video of the waterfalls from the air. See what it looks like from above and watch one of the guides leap off a high ledge of the waterfall. Truly amazing! (And don’t try this yourself!)
We also took a video of the Nauyaca horseback riding tour. Watch it below!
What to Wear and Bring
- You can bring your swimsuit and change at the office.
- Bring lots of water, bug repellent and sunscreen.
- There are no food or snack stands so bring your own.
- Bring waterproof equipment if you plan on bringing electronics. A waterproof backpack is highly recommended.
- Wear closed toed shoes (no flip flops) since it get muddy/steep on some parts of the trail. The rocks are slippery at the waterfall. If you wear tennis shoes, you’re going to have wet socks and shoes by the end of the hike.
- Wear shorts and a tank top/short sleeve shirt that dry fast. It is very humid! If you are visiting in rainy season, I do recommend a rain jacket.
What to Know About Visiting Nauyaca Waterfalls
First, I recommend going there as early as possible if you want to have it for yourself. This waterfall has gotten very popular and it gets crowded in the afternoon, particularly the months of December – April.
Second, when it comes to water levels, we visited in February and August. The photos and videos above are from our visit in February. The photo below is from August. When we visited in August, the waterfall was SO full, we couldn’t walk down to the pool because it wasn’t there! It was extremely windy and not nice for swimming.
This is something to know about visiting Costa Rica during rainy season as waterfalls are a lot fuller. If you’re visiting August – October, see how the conditions are first. All we could do is stay near the steps as it was raining too hard.
Remember, this is the South Pacific of Costa Rica where it is very humid and can rain even in the dry season so pack appropriately. When we visited in February, it poured every day for almost a week! Check out our ultimate Costa Rica packing list and rainy season packing list for more tips.
Third, there are no facilities at all at the waterfall itself. So if you get hurt, need assistance or anything, help won’t come quick. Cell phone reception is pretty much nonexistent too. Bring plenty of food and water.
Fourth, make sure to keep an eye on your belongings while at the waterfall. Don’t leave your phones and cameras sitting out in plain sight.
Lastly, please be very careful on the rocks!
Where Can You Visit From?
You can visit the Nauyaca Wateralls from Manuel Antonio, Dominical, Uvita and Ojochal. From Manuel Antonio, it is about a 45 minute drive. From Uvita, it is about 25 minutes. The best way to get there is via car, it is very complicated to get there via bus.
If you don’t have a car, there are some tour companies from Manuel Antonio who offer this tour such as Paddle 9.
This is one of the most magnificent natural attractions I’ve ever seen in Costa Rica. It is now one of my top favorite waterfalls along with the Catarata Llanos de Cortes in Guanacaste and Catarata del Toro in the Central Valley. You can read about other Costa Rica waterfalls we love in this post.
Looking for more things to do in Dominical? Check out our top 10 things to do in Dominical and Uvita post!
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Marlon says
Hey Sammi, first of all thanks for the great guide!
I plan to go there tomorrow. Hiking is no problem for me I am used to temperature etc. However I have a huge backpack and a small one. Do you know if there is anyway to store the big backpack at the entrance? I will visit it while traveling through, so there is no way for me to leave it elsewhere. Thank you in advance!
Sammi says
Hi Marlon, you can ask the office to see if it is possible to leave your backpack there since last time I remember they don’t have lockers.
Felicia Murrell says
How far are the falls from Playa del Cocos? Do you need to rent a car to get there?
Sammi says
It is about a 5 hour drive from Coco, the best way would be to drive and stay a night in Dominical or the area.
Richard says
It seems that the third option, taking the truck , there is a schedule were your thwere for 2 hours, Has anyone done this and is it worth it ?
Sal says
can you hike in and take the truck back out?
Sammi says
The truck has to be reserved in advance so I think if you reserve it, you should be able to. You will need to contact the park office to make sure and make reservations.
Tommy K says
I’m going to be driving down from Manuel Antonio. Where do we pre-book the 4×4 ride to waterfall once there?
Sammi says
You can check on the Nauyaca Waterfalls website and contact them to book it.
Sammi says
Hi Dianna, I am not sure if you will be able to do Manuel Antonio to Nauyaca by bus (enjoyably) due to the schedule and the bus will only drop you off at the entrance office, the falls is still a long way in (around 4 kilometers one way). You need to take the bus from Quepos to San Isidro, ask the driver to get off at Nauyaca and for the whole hike and time staying at the fall is around 4-5 hours (or you can take the truck which saves some time). If you want to take the bus, it looks like there’s a bus from Quepos to San Isidro at 530 AM and 1130 AM and a bus from San Isidro to Quepos back at 1130 AM. The bus ride from Quepos to Nauyaca is maybe around 2-2.5 hours so you will need to make sure you make it to the entrance office by 1130 AM.
Dianna says
Hey, first of all I wanna say that your posts about Costa Rica have been super helpful to me as I plan a 5 day trip for my boyfriend and I. We are going this May and will be in Quepos for about 2 1/2 days, which I fear isn’t long enough for everything we want to see/do. But we’re trying to make the most of our time without feeling too rushed. This waterfall has essentially been on and off our list several times because while we really want to see it, we aren’t sure we’ll have time. One of the issues is that we won’t have a rental car and are depending mostly on the public transportation in an effort to keep costs low. I have had trouble finding info on getting to the waterfall via bus. I realize it will make the ride longer and I have no problem getting up a little earlier to ensure that we have plenty of time to enjoy it. But I am wondering if the bus would drop us off at the entrance area or if we would have to find additional transportation from where ever it does drop off. I’m also wondering how getting a bus back would work. Any help or advice on this issue would be really helpful! Thanks 🙂
lango says
Hi,
Is the falls closed on Christmas day? We are visiting this month and want to hike on our own to the falls.
Thanks!
Sammi says
Ni Iango, the falls are open but only for hiking.
Kelly says
We area travelling to the area in January. Do you know if the pick up truck option is still available? Do you we need to book ahead of time and what time would you recommend getting there? Your website has been so helpful in planning our trip. Thanks so much for your help!
Sammi says
Hi Kelly, it should be and I do recommend booking in advance because the waterfalls are very popular and January is a busy time. I recommend going early in the morning (weather down in the South Pacific doesn’t always adhere strictly to dry/rainy season and we have been there in February where it poured rain for days) and so you can have all day to enjoy it.
Sammi says
About 25 minutes