Local Legends says “When God finished painting the sky, he washed his brushes in the river that now bears the name Rio Celeste.” Rio Celeste is a right blue river named after the color of its water caused by dissolved minerals at the confluence of two small rivers.

Rio Celeste is located in the Volcano Tenorio national park is about 11km from Casitas Tenorio. The trail is about 7km in total. After 1.5km you will pass the descent to the impressive waterfall. Other highlights include the impressive blue lagoon, bubbling hot pools, the Teñideros” (or dye point) where the river takes its blue color from merging with a small creek and a lookout point. The park opens at 8am and entrance is not permitted after 2pm.

Tickets must now be purchased online. Tickets will no longer be sold at the park office. You can reserve up to three months in advance. Tickets can be purchased via the SINAC website. You need to make an account first and then purchase your tickets. We recommend doing this as soon as is feasible, as when we did a trial to purchase some tickets, the system took a long time to send the confirmation email to set up the profile.

The colour of the river can change after high amounts of rainfall due to sediments carried in the river, however after several hours of dry weather the river’s colour can be restored to its remarkable blue colour.