Poas Volcano National Park
ATTRACTION Keywords:
Nature & Wildlife,
Tip - When to Go,
National Park,
Volcano
Poas Volcano National Park Reviews
We've found 21 Poas Volcano National Park reviews from Viator.com travelers and members: what they loved, what they liked and what they think could be improved. It's all here to help you make the most of your next trip.
Review by Ashley B, April 2013
Doing what: Poas Volcano, Doka Coffee Estate and Sarchi Arts and Craft
This is the perfect day tour as far as length. You will be picked up at 8am and dropped off by dinner time (~6pm). The volcano is a long shot as to whether or not you will see anything but clouds. Unless you take a tour that heads up to the mountains before sunrise it is not likely that you will see anything but clouds. It is very cold up there and will rain intermittently so being a water resistant jacket. The views on the way up to the volcano are amazing and I think the drive and the hike in the forest make up for not seeing anything once you get to the top. But don't count on a view at the volcano.
The coffee tour is great and very informative. The tour was somewhat shorter than I thought it would be but it is great. Lunch is provided at the coffee shop and is very good.
There is also a stop at a large Ox cart and touristy shop at the end of the day.
Overall this is a good tour if you only have a day and don't mind getting views from a bus window as it ascends the volcano. I enjoyed myself and the tour.
Review by Britt B, USA, April 2013
Doing what: Poas Volcano, Doka Coffee Estate and Sarchi Arts and Craft
The things you learn when you have a great guide! We had a wonderful day, and the weather was perfect. The volcano and the scenery also impressive. Learned a lot about coffee at the Doka estate. Lunch was good and the view from the table was beautiful overlooking the lake. Sarchi Arts and Craft - Beautiful hand painted oxcarts and woodwork, hard to resist buying souvenirs. A great day and I highly recommend it.
Britt B, CA
Review by Gemma R, April 2013
Doing what: Combo Tour - Best of Costa Rica from San Jose
We really enjoyed this trip. It is a great way to see the area around San José and you fit so much into one day. We started off at the coffee estate and to be honest, I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy this at first but we really did. It was actually really interesting and the grounds were nice. We had breakfast there overlooking the valley and it was a nice way to start to the morning. This was followed by a trip to Poaz volcano and we were lucky enough to get there on a clear day so had great views. After this we went to La Paz waterfall gardens which was very enjoyable. They buffet lunch there was amazing, we ate so much! The walk around the waterfalls was pleasant and we saw a bit of wildlife. We had enough time in each place, I thought the day was spread out well with a good balance of guided and independent parts and it was just a really good day. I’d definitely recommend it.
Review by Pauli, March 2013
Doing what: Combo Tour - Best of Costa Rica from San Jose
This was the best tour of all. The volcano crater was visible with fumeroles spewing out their steam. There was a great walk about. The La Paz waterfalls with its added attractions and Costa Rican lunch buffet were first class.
A great outing.
Review by Alexei G, USA, December 2012
Doing what: Combo Tour - Best of Costa Rica from San Jose
It was a very nice tour. But we were not lucky with the weather, couldn't see the volcano at all...Beautiful waterfalls garden with great lunch and very interesting visit to the coffee plantation. Nice day, but not the great one. Thanks anyway!
Review by Tarik C, November 2012
Doing what: Combo Tour - Best of Costa Rica from San Jose
Great tour. It was raining all day, so couldn't see the volcano. La Paz was wonderful. Oliver was a great tour guide.
Review by Michael B, July 2012
Doing what: Poas Volcano, Doka Coffee Estate and Sarchi Arts and Craft
Excellent value. Poas Volcano was magnificent (we were blessed with an uncommonly good day with great visibility). Plenty of time to experience the beauty. For the coffee lover, Doka Coffee Estate was like making a pilgrimage! The lunch there was wonderful ... a tradtional Costa Rica "casado" dish. I was also pleasantly surprised by the small stops along the way that were not on the itinerary. The only downside was the traffic in San Jose on the way home. This added about two hours to our expected arrival. We were located at a hotel downtown, however, so this was not a problem for those staying by the airport. I give this a very strong recommendation.
Review by Fran, USA, April 2012
Doing what: Poas Volcano, Doka Coffee Estate and Sarchi Arts and Craft
Great trip! I confirmed a week before and received an email the next day confirming the pickup time. A van arrived with a driver and bilingual guide. The drive from San Jose to the volcano took about 1 hour 20 minutes. Along the way the guide was very friendly and talked about Costa Rica. It's not much of a hike to see the volcano, easy 10 min walk from the parking lot. After viewing the volcano we drove 10 minutes to Doka Estates for the coffee tour - excellent, samples of coffee and chocolate covered coffee beans, butterfly garden, and great buffet lunch with local costa rican food. Sarchi tour is ok, stop at the workshop where oxcarts are made, 15 minute presentation, and then we had 45 minutes to browse the souvenir shop. Overall, it was a great deal through Viator.
Review by Mary N, March 2012
Doing what: Combo Tour - Best of Costa Rica from San Jose
Tour was good but everyone should be advised to (or given) water to carry especially in the high altitude on the volcano!
Review by Folke B, September 2011
Doing what: Poas Volcano, Doka Coffee Estate and Sarchi Arts and Craft
First: You demanded us to confirm via email but you did not answer you had got our confirmation. Therefore we were anxious that no-one should pick us up. It is very important that you answer emails especially when we asked for an answer!
Second: We were pleased with the tour. We were lucky to see the volcano in sunshine. The guide was nice and ambitious.
Review by Barbara D, USA, August 2011
Doing what: Poas Volcano, Doka Coffee Estate and Sarchi Arts and Craft
This tour was superb! The Poas Volcano was beautiful! We enjoyed the coffee tour at Doka Estate as well. The Sarchi Arts and Crafts were remarkable! We recommend this tour!
Review by Angela L, USA, April 2011
Doing what: Combo Tour - Best of Costa Rica from San Jose
We went on this day tour during our honeymoon. Our tour guide was not very friendly. We were told that we would stop at this little shop on the way to the waterfall from the volcano but because we had someone joining our tour late we did not have time to go anymore. I think that was very rude of them. It was not our fault that they allow people to join the tour late and that the person was waiting to get picked up. We all paid a lot of money and want to see and do everything we are told we will get to. We loved seeing the coffee estate, volcano and waterfall but tour guides can make or break a tour.
Review by Kelly L, March 2011
Doing what: Combo Tour - Best of Costa Rica from San Jose
This tour was well worth the money! Donald was an awesome tour guide with 15 years of experience. He knows so much about the process at the coffee plantation, the volcanos and the waterfalls. He taught us a little Costa Rican, as well as telling us about the country while on the bus.
Even though we are huge coffee lovers, we had no idea what the process involved. I only have more of an appreciation for coffee farmers now. The breakfast was excellent too!
It happened to be cloudy at the Poas volcano, so we didn't see much. Instead we hiked up 160 feet to the other crater and saw the lake. Some of our group stayed at the original crater long enough to see the clouds part for a good view of the crater. We regret missing that a little. Note to people on the tour - when the guide says meet at a certain time, be there. Don't make him come looking for you because you made everyone wait 20 minutes!
The waterfall area was serene. It started with several "houses" of wildlife in which you could get up close to a variety of native wildlife. An excellent lunch buffet was next, offering traditional CR dishes as well as pizza, hot dogs and salad. The tour ended with the falls, which were gorgeous. Donald knew the tour so well, that he could tell us how many steps we would descend and ascend.
In addition to Donald's great tour guide skills, our driver was amazing - some of the roads were narrow, on a cliffsiode and full of potholes. I never once felt scared or unsafe.
Review by James E, USA, March 2011
Doing what: Poas Volcano, Doka Coffee Estate and Sarchi Arts and Craft
great trip, except for the Sarchi Arts and craft, all that is is shopping, Coffee and Volcano excellent, driver AL was excellent!!!!
Review by Lynn K, September 2010
Doing what: Combo Tour - Best of Costa Rica from San Jose
perfect day trip for a little bit of everything. coffee plantation was interesting, poas volcano really neat and la paz waterfall / nature center was beautiful. with breakfast and lunch included it is a great value. the driver and guide were terriffic.
