Don Rafa's Campground and Tour to la Leona Waterfall | Tourist Attraction

February 8th, 2024 by vsinnott

We highly recommend spending a night here! We parked the van right on the river bank, next to one of the raised platforms, for $6 per person per night. We left our back doors open all night and so enjoyed the sound of the water racing past. They make a really good, basic Costa Rican lunch of rice, beans, veg, salad, juice, and either a meat or egg or cheese (or vegan option) for $10. They also have breakfast and lunch but we didn’t try those. The tubing was fun, but a bit short for the $20 per person (around 20 minutes or so). The waterfalls tour was SO FUN! A lot of the time you are hiking or swimming in the river so my husband spent $15 to buy water shoes here rather than wreck his sneakers. We climbed, swam, jumped, and slid down a natural slide on our butts. We see all ages and abilities out there so there must be different paths you can take but ours was nice and challenging. We think it was $40 per person and two hours long. Clean toilets and cold showers. Gorgeous swimming holes.

July 20th, 2023 by larissa-151993

we did the river waterfall tour which was quite fun. we left this place after one night. dogs seemed friendly at day. be careful at night, they guard the farmers shed.
two basins for dishwashing. toilet and shower at sight. good place to stay dry and start your tour. restaurant at site for lunch only 10 $ p.p. waterfall tour long 30$ p.p. short tour is 20$ p.p.

December 3rd, 2022 by christopherbrenes

It is my second time here and it is a quiet place with good weather and a beautiful river.

April 23rd, 2022 by Megan

4x4 required to get to the site, otherwise they can pick you up in town if you book a tour. Camping 3000 colones per person, waterfall tour 10,000pp, tubing 10,000. We only camped and hung out in the river that runs alongside the campsites. Raised wooden structures for tents and covered picnic tables, grills, and spaces for ground tents. Lots of friendly dogs. Showers and bathrooms were excellent, also had a fire pit with bench swings, marked pathways with lights, and lots of signage about packing out your trash, caring for the river, etc. There is a soda onsite open until 4pm if you want to buy food instead of cooking. Numerous friendly staff around.

April 13th, 2022 by @alyvanblake

the road in here is very steep in a couple of sections, and a guy at the beginning of the dirt section made sure we had 4x4 before letting us pass. we made it in there in 2wd, as a challenge to myself, but we have a ton of traction and it was dry. I'm not sure how people would make it out of here if the road was any kind of wet. reception asked for 5 dollars each to camp pppn and the tour is now 30 bucks each... we negotiated down paying for 60 dollars total for 2 nights with the tour for 2 people. and they let us take our dogs!. we started on the first tour at 7 and had the waterfall at the end to ourselves for at least 20 minutes before we turned around. the waterfall is definitely worth checking out, but honestly, you don't need a tour guide. just fallow the super easy to fallow path upstream and keep an eye out for ropes and ladders where it gets tricky. would be easy to blend into the hordes of crowds that start leaving between 9 and 10. restaurant was 6 bucks for a generous lunch, but beers were 3 each... this place is awesome and highly recommend making it up here. it's high enough for a comfortable temperature after the sun goes down. dog friendly!

January 6th, 2022 by TravelingGinger

My family and I camped here for 2 nights. They are busy building huts for the campground and running an eco tour business. Everyone was very nice and helpful. There are plenty of friendly dogs running around looking for pets. The river and swimming holes are great. The restrooms and showers are clean. No WiFi or electricity.

November 14th, 2021 by avargas

The Waterfall is amazing! Increíble! Come and enjoy!

September 18th, 2021 by Schiebockner

We camped here and did the big tour to Catarata Leona (without tubing) in the morning.

They have a decent area where you can park away from main area where visitors come and go and among the trees or even under one of the two roofs if your car is low enough.
For tents there is a big level grassy area and or wooden platform with a roof if you prefer that.
There is one bigger building with toilets, sinks and showers close to the main area and a single but new and clean flush toilet and sink closer to the camping area.
Also you have direct access to the river from the camp.
All in all comfortable and quiet to spend a night or two.

Prices:
Camping 4000 C/p
Small tour 5000 C/p
Big tour 10000 C/p
Tubing 8000 C/p

We negotiated 12000 C/p for the big tour and camping.
Also after asking if there was a way to do our laundry they offered us to use their washing machine (manual fill and drain but worked very well, 12 kg) for free and even provided lines to dry our clothes.
All of that considered the price was fair.

Especially if you are there on a weekend, it makes sense to do the tour early to avoid the masses. We started at 8 am and where the only ones until the way back.

September 8th, 2019 by mischling

La Leona waterfall is gorgeous and can be reached from the campground by walking upriver (crossing it many times) for 45min. Alvaro guides you to the waterfall, explains some flora and enjoys telling you about his country. The last 20min to the waterfall requires swiming. If you dont consider yourself a swimer, he provides you lifejackets and a rope you can pull yourself through the gorge to reach the waterfall.

Campground is has a river with natural pools and a natural slide. Toilets are available. Potable water is not reachingbthe area yet but i am sure that Alvaro can organise a Cooler with drinking water.

The 1 km road to the place can be reached driven on 2WD to get there, but back out you'll need 4WD. Call +506 8687 3171 to arrange pick up from Curubandé.

Alvaro's FB and Instagram shows pictures of 'Don Rafa's Advenrure'.