Travel Log: Day 9 (7/6), Costa Rica

Ride Shares

Today we went to the La Fortuna waterfall which is only a couple miles from our Airbnb. Rather than attempting to walk on the roads with no shoulder, we opted for Uber. This was our first experience with Uber in the country. After using it, it’s the only way to go for local travel. I was shocked to see the map loaded with cars, and we got our UberX in about two minutes. Our driver pulled up in a Toyota Yaris, and the four of us fit fine but it was about the max the poor Yaris engine could seem to handle. The driver was good; didn’t talk much probably because it’s super obvious we’re American after he saw us and I uttered my first Spanish word.

The cost was very affordable compared to US Uber rides. We paid 1,626 CRC ($3.24), and I tipped 500 CRC ($1). The trip back from the waterfall was the exact same cost, and we had a different driver in a Nissan Sentra.

Waterfall

I’ll set aside my gripes and lead off with the good parts. The waterfall itself is incredible. It is raging, beautiful, and the most amazing waterfall I have ever personally seen. The water at the bottom and the river flowing out were a pleasing green-blue. We were allowed to swim in the river portion which was fun and crisp. We then made our way to the rocks at the shore of the waterfall where you could really feel the power. The facilities for access to the waterfall were also fantastic. They had very nice stairs and railing going to the bottom which we navigated easily in flip-flops. There was a restaurant, ice cream, booze, probably a gift shop, none of which we went to.

There were SO many people there by the time we were leaving. I would estimate that the distinct person count in our time there (two hours) was about 75 paying customers. It costs $20/adult, and over age 9 is an adult to them, so it was $80 for us. If my estimate is correct they pulled in $1500 in our time there, and we were there before it got busy. That price seems slightly high to me, but they have no shortage of demand to pay that price. I don’t really have a complaint here, just an observation. They could charge more to keep the crowds down but that wouldn’t be good. Neither would the opposite of lowering the price and sending demand through the roof.