Poás Volcano — Attraction in Sarapiquí

One of the worst experiences I had in Costa Rica! I went here for the first time without a ticket, waited for about an hour in a long car line to enter the national park, only to be turned away. The staff could easily walk through the line every 10-15 minutes to check if people have tickets, saving everyone a lot of time. This place is so popular that it’s often hard to get a ticket for the same day or even the next, so you really need to book your ticket in advance on the SINAC website. There’s no network in the area, so you can’t even check availability once you’re there.

I eventually bought a ticket for $17 ($15 plus taxes) and visited the Poas Volcano a week later. You also need to pay for parking, which costs around $5. Upon arrival, you get a helmet with a color that corresponds to your group. The staff claims it’s for your safety, but in reality, it doesn’t seem necessary. You’ll watch a short video about the volcano and then be allowed to walk to the viewpoint. It’s only a 500-meter walk on an asphalt road, so it’s an easy walk, even in flip-flops.

When you reach the small viewpoint, you only get 20 minutes to view the volcano. I was in the first group at 8 AM, and it was completely foggy, so I couldn’t see anything. I’ve read in reviews that this is common, and many others have the same experience. After 20 minutes, another group arrives with different-colored helmets, and the staff tells you it’s time to leave. There are some hiking routes nearby, but they’re closed, and you’re not allowed to go there. The staff essentially says, “That’s it, your time is up, you need to leave.”

I ended up paying $23 for a short, foggy view of the volcano and basically got nothing out of it. If the volcano is active or there’s a chance of poor visibility, they should just close the place rather than take money for a tiny viewpoint that’s often clouded over. This was a complete waste of time and money. I get that the place is popular since it’s near San José, but it wasn’t worth...

Not worthy to visit in 2021. Save your time until the people in charge makes corrections in their visitors policy. Update: Non Costa Rican tourists are required to pay the abusive $15 ticket per person while locals only pay around $2.0 per person. I am Costa Rican and feel ashamed about this kind of practice in Costa Rica national parks. On top of that you will be asked to pay for parking.

To begin with, the drive from Alajuela downtown to the Poas Volcano entrance takes around 1 hour. Then at your arrival you are required to follow Covid related guidelines (wash hands and social distance) and they will ask you to wear a helmet during your stay (an eruption in 2017 caused some rocks to be launched). The problems are mainly 3 (which completely defeat the purpose of the visit):

1st: you are only allowed to stay in the view point for 20 minutes!.. no sense!.., so if you are not in luck you might be able to see only clouds blocking the view to the crater. Also, if you travel with elderly or small kids and they don't walk as fast as the rest of the group then that is going to cost you valuable time at the viewpoint because the clock starts counting when the first persons in your group reach the viewpoint place.

2nd. the trail to the lake area has been closed during 4 years already. Really??? how come in all this time they haven't been able to fix the trail which was supposedly damaged during the small eruption in 2017. This means that you will drive all the way there and the ONLY thing you can do is visit a viewpoint during 20 minutes...

3rd. The small museum is also closed and the cafeteria and souvenir shop has elevated (almost prohibitive) prices. In summary, is not worth to pay a visit...

Visibility is by chance. We visited January 17th, 2024 and could see maybe 100 feet (so we could not see anything.) Just bad luck. We were also unprepared for the gale force winds and chill from being literally in the mist of the clouds. I failed to find a good source for weather forecasting at the park and suffered the consequences. The hike to the main viewing area is short, not steep (IMO) and on wide paved surfaces (which were quite wet but not unreasonably slippery, YMMV). We also took the short extra hike to the overlook of the inactive crater, Laguna Botos and could see; nothing. We took the alternate hiking path back down to the nature center and even it was paved (just a bit narrower.) We got tickets online ahead of time for $15 plus 13% tax each. I don't think it really matters what time you select for your pass. We were several hours later than the time listed on our passes and had no problem entering (it may have helped that we had a local driver/guide, but I can't say for sure.) We were there maybe an hour. Might have spent more time there if the weather/visibility had cooperated. This was the 2nd stop of our Doka Coffee Plantation/Poas Volcano/La Paz Waterfall Gardens tour day. Started in San Jose and ended...