- Poás is an active volcano and the park can close at short notice. Check that slots are on sale for your date, and check again the day before, as of 23 Oct 2026.
- Book a morning slot before you drive, as of 5 Oct 2026.
- Helmets are required on the main lookout trail and on Sombrilla de Pobre, as of 23 Oct 2026.
- Up to 56 people can be at the crater lookout in each 20-minute turn, and the park takes up to 1,064 visitors a day, as of 23 Oct 2026.
- You look from the rail. The crater is not a walk down, as of 5 Oct 2026.
- A foreign adult pays US$16.95. IVA is included, as of 5 Oct 2026.
Poás Volcano National Park
Costa Rica
A steaming acid lake above Alajuela. Book a morning slot and look from the rail.
Check before you go
Facts
Tickets: Book a morning slot before you drive.
Fee: A foreign adult pays US$16.95. IVA is included, as of Oct 2026.
View: From the rail. Go early.
Contact
Phone (Central Conservation Area office): +506 2268-8091
Email: poas.info@sinac.go.cr
Official page: SINAC park page
Tickets: online through SICORE, serviciosenlinea.sinac.go.cr
Checked with SINAC, as of 13 Oct 2026.
Map
- The crater: A steaming acid lake. You look from the rail.
- The morning slot: Book it. Later the crater clouds over.
The acid lake is the view, from the rail. Book the morning.
The lookout is past the gate. You do not walk down to the lake.
Book a morning slot. The crater clouds over later.
It sits above Alajuela, a morning from the Central Valley.
Yes. Book a morning slot before you drive.
A foreign adult pays US$16.95. IVA is included, as of Oct 2026.
The useful visit is the morning slot. A late arrival can mean cloud, not the lake.
No. You look from the rail.
Book the morning. Stay at the rail. Do not step past it.
Parks near
Juan Castro Blanco
The 'water park' above Ciudad Quesada: cloud forest and river sources. Call before you drive.
Braulio Carrillo
Cloud and rainforest on the road to the Caribbean, and a cold crater lagoon above Heredia.
Irazú Volcano
The highest volcano, a drive above Cartago. Go early: the craters cloud over by noon.
Turrialba Volcano
An active volcano east of Cartago. Book ahead and check the alert level before you drive.
La Cangreja
A quiet river park south of Puriscal. Twelve kilometers there and back, with swimming holes.
Arenal Volcano
The cone is the view, not the climb. Lava-flow trails and lake views west of La Fortuna.