Come sip a cup of the “World’s Best Coffee” and enjoy a delicious breakfast while touring the Doka Coffee Estate. Revved up and ready, you’ll take a short walk to the summit of Poas Volcano with its stunning views. Combined with a visit to the La Paz Waterfall Gardens, where you’ll again stop to eat, you will have completed a Costa Rican experience others have only dreamed about!
Your day will begin when you are picked up from your hotel and driven through scenic farmlands into the neighboring mountain range until arriving at your first stop. The order of the tours may change depending on daily scheduling, but you will have a chance to visit them all. A bilingual guide will accompany you through each activity to point out items of special interest and answer your questions.
The Doka Coffee Estate is world-famous for having won the “World’s Best Coffee” award two years in a row. As you walk through the property, you’ll learn every step of how the coffee bean is picked, germinated, harvested and roasted before being ground to perfection. You’ll learn about Doka’s special recipe involving an intricate roasting process and blend of beans. A hot breakfast will be served to you including their signature coffee.
Next stop: The Poas Volcano! This is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Costa Rica because it is a visit to an active volcano. The geothermic activity becomes quite evident as you walk the well-maintained hiking trails to see geysers, fumaroles, gaseous sulphuric pools, and bubbling mud. It is a relatively short distance to the top of the volcano where on a clear day you can see three craters, one filled with shimmering blue-green water. This is an excellent spot for taking epic photographs. The visit to Poas Volcano is limited to 40 minutes by the park service, 10 minutes to walk to the viewing point, 20 minutes of observation time, and 10 minutes to walk back to the bus.
Typically the last stop will be The La Paz Waterfall Gardens. As you walk along the series of meandering trails you’ll come to five beautiful waterfalls, each easily viewed from strategically placed platforms. The largest fall, “Magica Blanca”, allows you to stand underneath and look through as the thundering water cascades over in front of you. This moment deep in the rain forest surrounded by nothing but Nature can be truly inspiring.
At the Gardens there is also a rehabilitation zoo created for a wide variety of rescued animals. They are brought to the center to be cared for, as well as prepared to be introduced back into the wild if they are able. Here you will see some of the most iconic creatures indigenous to Costa Rica such as monkeys, sloths, tropical birds and the ever popular red-eyed tree frog. Your guide, well versed in the natural history of the area will be sure to regale you with interesting facts about the wildlife you’ll encounter while walking the property.
At the La Paz restaurant within the Gardens, you will be treated to a delicious meal. The traditional or “typical” food of Costa Rica, as it is known, includes a hearty feast of rice, beans, salad, and choice of meat or vegetables.
This full day tour includes a bilingual guide, all entrance fees, breakfast, lunch, as well as transportation from Alajuela, Escazu, and San Jose. One way transport usually takes between 1.5 and 2 hours depending on the location of your hotel. Combined time of all three tours, breakfast, lunch, and round trip transportation is estimated to take between 9 and 11 hours.
Please wear comfortable walking shoes and bring along a jacket, as the altitude of Poas Volcano can make it quite chilly. You’ll also benefit from having rain gear, sun block, insect repellent, your camera and extra spending money to purchase souvenirs if you’d like.
Come immerse yourself gently in Costa Rica’s natural world to create memories that can last a lifetime ~
Please note that there are entry restrictions to Poas Volcano for people with heart problems, high blood pressure, pregnant women, children and people with disabilities.
The Poas Volcano, Doka, La Paz Waterfall Gardens is available from Alajuela, Alajuela suburbs, Escazu, Heredia, and San Jose
3 and up
Latitude: N 10° 11' 52"
Longitude: W 84° 13' 49.99"
08/16/2023
Traffic is horrible, spent quite some time picking up others from their hotels - we were just glad there were only three stops before our drop off. Koka was ok. Poas Volcano was cloudy and didn't see ANY of the crater - disappointing but again, not your fault. Waterfalls were beautiful and the rescue santuary was nice. Ride back was VERY long.
07/31/2023
This was a very good tour.
07/10/2023
Gary was a great guide. The gardens, volcano, and waterfall were all beautiful, a little more touristy than what we are use to.
12/20/2022
Martin was a fantastic tour guide. Would highly recommend.
11/10/2019
This tour was amazing. We learned so much and enjoyed ourselves greatly.
09/19/2019
We were the last stop on the pick-up schedule today, but they arranged to take our luggage with us, as planned. We enjoyed seeing Doka coffee plantation & the process from planting to harvest to Poas volcano was mildly erupting gases as we arrived & we were the last group allowed to visit the crater that day. Our driver & guide were well versed in procedures to follow & pertinent info. Our last stop was the LaPaz Waterfall Gardens. Our driver took our luggage to Reception as the guide stayed with us on our Tour of the Waterfalls. A great place to see & hike. It was covered in over 14,000 steep steps. We were in shape enough to navigate to the bottom to see the waterfalls, but we sure were Thankful for the tour bus to take us back up to the top. Our luggage & room was waiting for us back at the top.
02/15/2017
absolutely fabulous
02/07/2017
picking up time should be in consider with all the pickup places
12/16/2016
We weren't sure what to expect as we booked this tour a little late at the recommendation of Amy (our amazing PTW contact). We never should have doubted her. As usual, Amy knew exactly what to recommend. As a result, our last day in Costa Rica was one of the most memorable.
08/01/2016
The guide was fabulous
07/03/2016
We loved every bit of the tour, i would recommend this tour for everyone that would enjoy learning and experiencing Costa Rica
12/15/2015
The coffee plantation was beautiful, informative, and the breakfast was delicious. Hearing all about the process to make coffee was really interesting. We really lucked out on the weather for the Poas volcano, and had perfect views of the crater! The real highlight of this day was the La Paz Waterfall Gardens. The animal sanctuary was so well done, the food for lunch was incredible, and trails to see all the waterfalls were in great shape. What an amazing way to end our vacation.
07/05/2015
Unfortunately mother nature didn't cooperate. Poas Crater/lake was not visible because of low clouds
01/31/2015
Great tour. Lunch was not very good - a 5 in rating. Quality very low and long, long line-ups to get food.