Climb spectacular Poas Volcano near San Jose on your Costa Rica travel adventure.
Over 2 million people visit Costa Rica each year and the majority of them fly into the country via San Jose. Less than a quarter of these travelers visit spectacular Poas Volcano only 19 miles from the capital. Poas Volcano is still active and standing at the crater’s rim watching puffs of sulfur escape from the Earths’ steaming crust after hiking through lush cloud forest is one of the highlights of Costa Rica for the lucky travelers who make the trek. There is a second crater filled with turquoise water nearby that is an ideal lunch spot and provides a great hike around the rim for those who still have the energy.
Eruptions go back as far as 11 million years with the most recent activity occurring in 1989, when the park was closed due to dangerous gas emissions. The volcano is part of the 13,800 acre Volcan Poas National Park which boasts a wide variety of wildlife and unique plant life. Another must-see spot within the park is the dwarf forest. This strange forest is full of stunted trees where bonsais and ferns struggle to grow because of the acid rain in the area created by the volcanoes gas emissions.
San Jose offers quite a few attractions as well, and if you are flying in and out of this travel hub, it is worth it to take an extra two or three days to really explore the region. The city itself has tons of great restaurants, and a booming nightlife for those looking for a city adventure counterpart to their nature filled Costa Rica vacation. However, San Jose is also a great base for exploring the nearby artisan villages in the surrounding highlands. Only an hour from San Jose sits the charming little village of Sarchi, where locals produce the famous Costa Rican oxcarts, as well as intricately painted wooden bowls and trays, and a variety of hand carved wooden pieces like masks and wind chimes.
This guide to Poas Volcano and other attractions near San Jose was written by a Costa Rica travel expert at Costa Rica For Less, here to help you design your Costa Rica vacations.
