Poas Volcano National Park Half Day Tour From San Jose

If you’re in the area it’s a must see.

The guide was good but it was cool, very windy and misty the whole time. We never saw the crater unfortunately. Another set of friends went about an hour later and they got to see it. 😢 It was still informative though.

Great tour! The volcano is an interesting experience, but you may need to wait until the sun comes out and the clouds move out to view it. The rain forest area has beautiful nature and scenery.

Meh. Very long time in the van- after picking up and dropping off at various hotels total travel time up/down was 3:30 hours. This is not a reflection on Pedro and Arturo our tour guide and driver- they were wonderful. The roads in SJO are just very windy and there is a lot of traffic.

Harlem was a wonderful guide. He was very knowledgeable and shared much about his homeland. Very friendly .

My family (son,10) enjoyed this trip. We left Santa Ana at 0650 but there were enough stops to stretch legs and have breakfast. We were unlucky as it was very rainy at the park but we enjoyed learning about the volcano and taking a hike. Arturo was a very nice guide and answered all our questions. This is not for you if you want to drive straight to the volcano and back.

Don't book this tour...early pickup "6AM" (actual was 6:45) was advertised as getting to Poas early to maximize chance of seeing the crater. The trip wastes time at breakfast and gift shop at a coffee place, then mountain is more likely to cloud up by late morning. Find a private guide or tour that goes to Poas ONLY, or at least does the coffee plantation stop as an add on if there is time after good volcano viees.We got lucky in our last available 5 minutes and saw the vrater, otherwise it eould have been a complete bust.

This is the perfect tour for people who are focused on just seeing Poás volcano which was us. We got lucky and we were the only ones on the tour that day. Edgar, our guide was great! He gave us so much information about Alejuela and the volcano and was experienced so he knew the movements of the clouds as to when we might get a clear spot to see the crater. We were lucky. We got enough of a brief clearing in the cloud cover that we saw the bottom of the crater. You have to be patient. You also need to understand that there is no guarantee that you will see Poas. The clouds are unpredictable. We did also stop at a coffee plantation which was beautiful. I am glad we stopped. We are not big fans of gallos pintos so I could have skipped the breakfast. But we live in Costa Rica so someone visiting may want the experience.

Excellent tour and beautiful view of Poas Volcano! We were one of the lucky ones with a clear day and saw everything. It was very windy though, so I recommend taking a beany hat to keep your head warm! We made some stops for breakfast and strawberries which was a very nice addition.

Great tour. Edgardo knew very well all the details about this volcano and surroundings. Tour also included visiting a coffee plantation.

I really enjoyed the experience! Our guide Alexandro and our driver David were professional and friendly. The tour was well organised, it was a perfect mixture of waking in the beautiful nature and exploring other short stops like the coffee plantation or the strawberry shop. The breakfast included in the tour was really nice as well, we could choose from different options and try traditional food from Costa Rica. During the trip I felt safe and taken well care of. Our guide answered all our questions and I learned a lot from him about the nature and also culture of Costa Rica. As a solo traveller it was really nice for me to talk to the other members of our group and have fun during the day. I really recommend this tour to anyone who is looking for a nice and easy half day tour from San Jose.

Great tour guides Arturo and Armando! Fantastic breakfast and the sights of the volcano were spectacular!

Tour guide Ronny was great, very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about everything he did. Definitely a must take tour.

This was a gorgeous tour! The tour guide was super friendly and took us not only to the volcano but also to a coffee plantation! They provided an authentic Costa Rican breakfast and it was amazing!

Another great tour with Destiny Travels. Our guide Oscar was very friendly and informative. After the La Paz Volcano which it was too cloudy to see...he stopped by the Hacienda Alsacadia Starbucks Coffee farm for a brief visit. Thank you to this tour company for the exceptional service.

Even though it was rainy, I enjoyed this tour and Edgar was a great guide. Coffee farm stop is a plus!

What a great time! First time tracking since the pandemic started and I was completely wowed! The views the information the guide made us feel so comfortable

Great guide who explained things so well. Took extra time to wait for clouds to clear to see the volcano clearly. Breakfast was in a small family restaurant with authentic food. Stopped at a strawberry stand because someone asked if we could. Great experience.

Worth doing both the volcano and the lake. Long walk to lake but worth it. Take water if going to lake as walk is a bit longer than you think it's going to be. Take the same path out of the lake so you can return to the volcano. It looked totally different when going back. Both are really worth doing

The volcano . Nice experience. Need to walk to get to the site . If the weather is foggy, wait it will clear out fast.

Ricardo was the consummate guide. Seasoned, professional. Years of experience show through. Much knowledge of local botany, geology, history, volcanology.

How often do you get to stand at the edge of an active volcano? The crater was impressive and the drive up there even better. We had views of coffee farms, the city of San Jose, and the entire Central Valley. Go early to beat the clouds.

I really loved this trip! Edgar was a wonderful guide and driver, sharing lots of information about the country and volcanoes. On the way there we made two short stops: one at a coffee farm, where he told us a little about Costa Rican coffee and the other one at a local restaurant for some delicious breakfast. The Volcano itself was very impressive, as it had just broken out a few days before the gases were quite intense and we were only allowed to stay for 20minutes. For me totally worth it to see an active volcano. For a half day trip the price is definitely to high though compared with other full day tours.

Our guide Ron was super knowledgeable of everything in the area and Costa Rica in general! He picked my mom and I up from our hotel and took us on an amazing adventure to see the volcano. We stopped at a coffee farm on the way up and also had a delicious breakfast at a small restaurant on the way. The volcano was very interesting to see and overall the tour was great. If you are in San Jose for a day or two before flying out this is a great tour to get out of the city.

Very well planned trip, Charlton our guide was knowledgeable and a pleasure to talk to. He did the best but we could not see the caldera due to the clouds. It will be another time. A great experience overall

Ricardo was awesome and he has a huge knowledge about the vulcano and Costa Rica. I liked the time with him very much.

Good trip. Interesting to see the active and extinct volcanoes. The hike up to the extinct volcano is about 900m vertical We were fine but less fit people were having problems. And it’s already 5700 foot altitude. Should have that info as part of the tour.

♥️♥️♥️ This tour is incredible and very worth going on! I booked it last minute after having talked to another tourist in Costa Rica that raved about it. I booked both the Poas volcano and La Paz Garden tour on separate days, but unexpectedly was unable to attend the La Paz. The tour operator reached out to me to make sure everything was okay and offered to combine both the Poas and La Paz tour together for me the following day. This worked perfectly and I was able to see everything I wanted even though I couldn't go on my original tour! Due to my limited time in San Jose, I just figured it was my loss, so I really appreciate them being so proactive and letting me know what my options were! The tour guides are very well read and educated and teach a lot about the political, economic and general infrastructure of Costa Rica, and are able to explain the Poas stratovolcano and how it was formed. I cannot recommend this tour and this specific tour operator enough!!!

We had very little time on the volcano. The tour takes a lot of time on other stuff like coffee plantation and lunch on the way. We were doing this tour so that we can spend more time on Poás volcano but that was not the case. The tour guide was excellent and tried all he could in terms of making our tour memorable and full marks to that.

We had a great day seeing everything. Edgar was a great guide.told us lots of information. It was Lots of fun

The tour was exactly as set out in Viator and we had a very enjoyable experience. Ricardo was knowledgeable and went out of his way to help make it a great experience for us.

The driver was very helpful in everything we did. We would hire him as a private driver on our next stay in Costa Rica

We were picked up from our hotel on tike. Roger our guide was extremely knowledgable, telling us all about the Volcano, flora and forna. Poas Volcano and Botas Lake were spectacular. The driver drive sensibly. We saw two sloths as well!!!!

Got a private tour with my brother on accident so that was fun. The tour guide was really knowledgeable and a funny guy.

The description of the tour didn’t mention the coffee factory nor that breakfast was provided. Coffee factory was not a great experience the tour guide knowledge was poor.

We added the extension for a full day experience, was it worth it!! This was our favorite tour. Edgar was WONDERFUL.

I was super excited about this tour, I enjoyed the quick stop at the coffee plantation and enjoyed the included breakfast. But the weather was windy and misty at the volcano so wasn’t able to see the crater so that was a major bummer.

It was a nice tour, they picked up on time and we have a nice trip to Poas VOLCANO. We stopped for breakfast but the waitress didn't speak English very well and he didn't understood when other tourists asked about other options for breakfast. I think they could do it much better. Unfortunately, the volcano area was very foggy but I enjoyed the walk.

The main reason I chose this tour was because I was trying to avoid the coffee farm tour, and go straight to the volcano in the early morning when it’s most likely to be clear. The itinerary posted here is incorrect. You can’t seem to avoid the coffee farm unless you rent a car yourself or arrange a private tour. Fortunately someone spoke up and we switched one of the other unnecessary stops (for wine, cheese and strawberries) to the back end so that we could just get on with it to the volcano, and thankfully we were able to catch about 5 minutes of the crater before it got all socked in with clouds for the rest of the hour and a half we were there. By the time I hiked over to Boris it was also pure clouds. Also, don’t get excited about the wine, cheese and strawberry stop - it’s really just a souvenir shop where you’re offered a thimble of wine, a toothpick of cheese, and strawberries for purchase only. If you’re really interested in seeing the crater I would highly recommend renting a car (roads were all very well paved) and doing things on a less “fill a half day” schedule.

Poas volcano was fantastic! Great scenery! We didn't booked the full day at first but then we decided to join the group for the rest of the day to visit the Lapaz Waterfall garden! It was really fun seeing all those animals! We had a great lunch at the restaurant in the garden with a great view! The tour leaders, Edgar and Arturo were so kind and caring. We are really happy that we stayed for the full day!

Excellent trip to an incredible summit. The guide was very friendly, informative and really made the experience. Very much recommended as a rewarding day visit from San Jose. Ensure you follow in the afternoon with a further visit to La Paz waterfalls and animal sanctuary. This wasn’t offered when booking first on trip advisor but the guides helpfully added this to our trip. I would definitely recommend the full day rather than the half day.

I had amazing time, the guide has thought me so much about Costa Rica and was very sensitive and kind to everyone in the team. The comoany wad vwry flexible with me in real time about a trip change I wanted to do, that is not trivial at all!

This tour is totally worth it. The guide, Ronny, is super friendly and he will tell you everything you need to know about Costa Rica - you will learn a lot. I did the tour by myself, but the group I was with was very nice.

It was a overcast day but clear enough to see everything when we visited. We went on a 1/2 day guided tour that picked us up from our hotel in San Jose and it was great.

Smooth operations, knowledgeable guide, excellent drivers, a terrific breakfast, well-chosen stops, and a stunning time at the Poas volcano.

Freddie customized our trip based on our interests. We got a great view of the volcano. It materialize from the mist like magic, then disappeared again. Very special.

This was an amazing tour! The breakfast was delicious and volcano was beautiful. Ricardo was very friendly and knowledgeable. Definitely one of the best tour guides I've ever had!

We signed up for a half day tour and the guide went above and beyond taking us to a lunch spot and a coffee stop along the way. So nice to be driven up to the volcano and have information. We enjoyed the volcano and driving up from San Jose through all the eco zones.

It is quite expensive for a view minutes at the crater, but it is a good view on the vulcano if the weather is good.