• Río Celeste waterfallThe blue fall is inside Tenorio, down a stair and back up the same way. Go at opening. After hard rain the color dulls and the trail turns to mud.
  • Tenorio Volcano National ParkStay on the marked path. The blue water and the river are the walk, not a climb of the cone. Ask that morning if the gate is open.
  • Color viewpointA platform looks down on the stretch where the water turns pale blue. It is a few minutes, not a second hike. If the river is brown, the view still explains the name.
  • Town squareBijagua's square is a bench, a church, and a soda. Use it for lunch after the park, not as the reason you drove here.
  • Heliconia gardensA short garden walk near town is birds and big leaves when the park is full or the rain has started. An hour is enough. It is not the waterfall.
  • Guided night walkFrogs and insects come out after the rain, and you want a guide with a light. Do not walk the forest road alone after dark. Wear shoes that can get wet.
  • Lake ArenalThe lake is a different day, east over the hills toward Nuevo Arenal. Do not add it after the waterfall. The road is slower than the map.
  • Caño NegroThe wetlands are only worth it if you are staying more than a night and can give them a morning. It is a boat, not a stop on the way back from the fall.

The landscape is rainforest, a mineral river, and pasture on the way into town. You are likely to see howler monkeys, toucans, morpho butterflies, basilisk lizards and frogs after dark. The plants around them are rainforest, heliconia, ferns and the pale water of the river.

Around Bijagua, monkeys and toucans are on the park trail at opening. The square is not the forest. Frogs are the night walk, after rain, not a sight from the soda.

Tenorio Volcano National Park protects the river and the forest around the blue water.

In Bijagua, stay on the trail and do not feed what you came to see. That is the rule that keeps this place the way it is.

The climate is warm and wet. Temperatures are about 20–29°C. Rain is common, heaviest from May to November. Mornings are the clearer hours. Bijagua sits at 425 m (1,390 ft).

If the river looks brown, that is the rain, not a closed park. The countrywide calendar is in the best time to visit Costa Rica.

The closer airport is Daniel Oduber in Liberia. Juan Santamaría in Alajuela is the longer drive, through the valley and around the lake.

The last stretch is rural and slower when it is wet. Arrive in daylight if you do not know the road. Buses, shuttles, and rental cars are compared in getting around Costa Rica.