Laguna Danta

Laguna Danta Crater Hike

The volcano Tenorio has three different craters and the only one that is possible to hike is the Laguna Danta Crater which is the smaller one; the entrance of it is through the Heliconias Reserve.

This is a really nice hike especially if you want to see different kind of forests.We start the hike at 600 amsl where we have the Rainforest and until the 1350 amsl where we have the cloud forest.

On the top there is a Lagoon called “Tapir Lagoon”, it is a quiet and peaceful atmosphere that provides incredible biodiversity and maybe the chance to see wildlife like: Monkeys, Sloth, toucan, white nose coati, many birds, foot prints of the Tapir and the Puma.

The distance going up is around 3 km, we will go slow looking for wildlife, once on the top we can hike a little bite around the lagoon to enjoying the mystic cloud forest, coming down we have the chance to do the trail of the hanging bridges which is just one more kilometer (4km) so the total of the hike is around 7 km.

The Laguna Danta & Hanging Bridges Tours is a good combination for hiking lovers, enjoying the Rainforest, birding a little bite and learning something about the different plants and animalsof the Rainforest.

Tour Includes:

Bilingual Guide.
Transportation.
Refreshments.
Entrance fee.

Important Information:

Pick-up location: Any hotel around Tenorio area.
Pick-up time: 8:00 a.m.
Duration: 4 hours.
Level of difficulty: Medium.
Total of the hike: 7 km.

What to bring:

Insect repelent.
Hiking shoes.
Rain jacket
Long Pants.
Sunscreen.
Camera.

Leonel took me up to Laguna Danta. It was a really fun hike through the jungle on a semi-maintained trail. Leonel used his machete sparingly to clear the trail for us. He assisted me when I needed help, but was not in my face about it. He calibrated his interpretation of the trail to my interests. Overall, he was wonderful company. This trail was definitely a real hike and not just a nature walk. Plan to get muddy. I would recommend full-length hiking pants for this trail. You can only access this trail with a guide. After Laguna Danta, we walked the Heliconia Hanging Bridges and Leonel pointed out a bunch of cool birds. I would definitely recommend this for anybody who enjoys a fun hike to a beautiful spot. (If you are interested only in Hanging Bridges, Selvatura in Monteverde is cooler - highly recommend that too).

My girlfriend and I did a private tour with Marlon to the Laguna Danta in the Tenorio National Park. It was a manageable climb as we are reasonably fit and the path was mostly clear, however, Marlon had to clear it from time to time with a machete. It was also dry season so the paths were not muddy. We really enjoyed the rainforest, we had the trail to ourselves as only guided tours are allowed and it is not the most popular route. Marlon was a good guide, stopping to point plants and animal tracks out from time to time. We would recommend to everyone!

After reading several excellent reviews I contacted Bijagua rainforest tours. Marlon was quick to respond and was very informative. He offered several options for our group and we decided on the Helocionas hanging bridges and Tenorio volcano hike. Our guide Freddy was great and 5 minutes into the hanging bridges portion of the hike we already saw toucans and monkeys. The hanging bridges were really cool and gave us great views of the rainforest. When that portion of the hike ended we started the very challenging hike to the Laguna Danta crater. We wanted a challenging hike and we got what we asked for. After the 3 hour hike we were exhausted and had a couple of beers at the Helocionas lodge before going to our next stop for lunch. Before lunch Freddy told us we were going to get to see a sloth. This was one of the most important things for me to see in Costa Rica and Freddy delivered. Freddy already knew where the sloth was at an since it's a sloth we really didn't need to hurry. We had a great lunch at Finca Verde Lodge and after eating Freddy took to an area not 50 yards from the lodge and there was a three toed sloth in the top of a tree. It was very easy to see but Freddy brought his spotting scope with him so we could get a really good close look at this really cool animal. He helped us get some great pics with our phones using his scope as a zoom lens. I highly recommend Bijagua rainforest tours. Many thanks to Marlon and Freddy.