Los Chorros Waterfalls

“Something different happens before 9am”

Los Chorros is a pair of waterfalls above the agricultural town of Grecia in Alajuela, accessible via a short trail through secondary forest and reaching two swimming pools — one at each fall — that are popular with local families and within a comfortable day-trip range of San José. The falls drop into pools of good depth over dark volcanic rock, the vegetation growing right to the edge of the water on all sides. Unlike the more photographed highland falls that require significant hiking commitment, Los Chorros is reachable in under an hour from the car park and the swimming pools are calm and safe for children. The surrounding secondary forest is dense enough to feel removed from the agriculture immediately outside it. Weekdays the site operates at a fraction of weekend capacity. In the rainy season the flow increases substantially and the pools take on a darker green colour from suspended volcanic sediment.