Ready for a taste of Costa Rica’s wild side? This weekend we took a trip to La Paz Waterfall Gardens just north of San José, Costa Rica. Aside from the five beautiful waterfalls (hence the name), there is plenty to see. The gardens are full of Costa Rican animals ready to wow visitors.

As I’ve mentioned before, Costa Rica is an extremely biodiverse little piece of the planet. At La Paz Waterfall Gardens you get to see tons of species of birds, butterflies, frogs, snakes, and the most exciting, big cats.

If you think that you might like to visit yourself, check out these 7 insider tips for visiting La Paz Waterfall Gardens. That way, you’ll be prepared and can enjoy yourself to the maximum.

What Is There To See?

Before we get to those tips let’s talk about what there is to see at La Paz Waterfall Gardens. Then you can decide right off the bat whether a trip to La Paz is something you should add to your itinerary.

Butterfly Garden

The butterfly garden is truly a tropical paradise. Splashes of color from beautiful tropical flowers, plants, and trees fill up the space. Flitting about overhead and all around you are hundreds of brightly colored butterflies.

The famous Blue Morpho butterfly features prominently here and you’ll notice I got quite a few good pictures of those.

As you walk through, there are displays where you can learn about the life cycles of different butterfly species. They also have cocoon stations set up where you can see new butterflies emerging from their little homes.

Aviary

The aviary features a number of famous Costa Rican birds. We got to see Scarlet Macaws, Chestnut-Mandible Toucans, Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks, Caracaras, and more.

Here’s an interesting fact about Caracaras. They are nicknamed the bone-breakers. These clever scavenger birds will carry bones high into the air and drop them on rocks to break them open and eat the marrow.

As roads and vehicles have become more prominent in recent years the caracaras have adapted. Now you can find them tossing bones into the road and waiting for a car to come by and smash open the bone.

I guess it’s easier than flying up super high!

Serpentarium

There’s a small serpentarium where you can see quite a few different species of snakes native to Costa Rica. It was pretty dark in there and I’m not much of a snake lover so I didn’t get any pictures for you. If you want to check them out, you’ll have to go yourself!

Frog Garden

The frog garden was pretty small and very hot and humid. That’s how the frogs like it, I guess. The air was thick with the smell of rotting plantains, I assume they were there for the frogs to eat.

Some of the frogs are in glass cages and a bit easier to find, but the majority are allowed free reign of the garden. That means you have to work a little harder to find them hanging out among the plants.

Don’t worry, there’s always an employee hanging around nearby that you can talk to. They should be able to point out a few frogs for you even if you can’t find them on your own. That goes for the whole park, actually. There are employees that speak both Spanish and English ready to direct you, answer questions, and tell you interesting facts about the animals.

Monkey Pass

There’s an area where you can see a troop of spider monkeys. If you’re not used to seeing monkeys, you’ll probably find it exciting.

We’re used to seeing monkeys in the wild around Manuel Antonio. The ones here were not nearly as active and I thought they looked kinda sad. They are well taken care of at La Paz, of course, but I guess monkeys just don’t do well in cages.

Trout Lake

We didn’t go down to see this part, but there is a trout lake also on site. I’ve read that they allow you to fish for your own dinner if you’re staying at the Peace Lodge. That sounds like it could be pretty cool!

Big Cats

One of the biggest attractions at the park is definitely the big cats. When we went there was an ocelot pacing back and forth in the bottom of his cage.

The viewing area is above the cage floor and there is a lot of vegetation so I didn’t get a clear shot of his face. But you can see him pacing in these shots.

We also saw two pumas taking a nap together in a comfy corner.

The last cats we saw were the most majestic. At the time we went there were three jaguars hanging out. Two were together in one cage. They were sleeping when we arrived but then got up and moved around lazily while we were there.

The third jaguar was curled up in a cage across from the other two. He was asleep the whole time we were there but I did get this epic shot of him.

Need an awesome tote to haul your stuff around for the day? Here’s a giant tote bag that just happens to have a jaguar on it!

Waterfalls

The Spanish name for the area is Catarata La Paz or Peace Waterfall in English. There are actually 5 waterfalls on the grounds.

To reach the falls you do have to hike through the jungle. But don’t worry, the paths are well groomed and easy to navigate. You need to be capable of handling a lot of stairs, though.

7 Tips for Visiting La Paz Waterfall Gardens

Now that you’ve got a taste of what there is to see let’s get to my 7 insider tips for visiting La Paz Waterfall Gardens.

1. Bring a Jacket

What? Isn’t this Costa Rica? The land of tropical beaches, heat, and humidity?

Well, yes, but Costa Rica has more weather variation than that. In fact, Costa Rica has 12 microclimates throughout the country. There’s weather for everyone in Costa Rica…well as long as you’re not looking for snow.

La Paz Waterfall Gardens is located up in the mountains near the famous Poás Volcano. This means that this area is far more temperate than where I live near the gates of hell in Quepos 😛 .

The temperature can range from 58 to 80 degrees F. Most of the time you’ll probably be okay in shirtsleeves, but I’d recommend bringing a light jacket just in case.

2. Bring an Umbrella

The sun shines in this area of Costa Rica, but far less than in the coastal regions. Up in the mountains, there are plenty of cloudy, drizzly days.

In fact, the weather reminds me a lot of my home in Washington State. Even a lot of the vegetation is similar since it’s a cooler climate.

Many of the exhibits are covered but the walkways between them are not. The jungle covers you a little, especially on the way down to the waterfalls. But you’ll appreciate an umbrella if it’s a bit damp the day you go.

3. Wear Comfortable Shoes

There are 3 kilometers of trails through La Paz Waterfall Gardens. You don’t have to hike it all if you don’t want to. But even just strolling through all the animal and garden exhibits is a bit of a trek.

Definitely wear comfortable shoes. I wore my trusty Skecher’s GoStep Lite slip-ons. These are a great, lightweight walking shoe that is super comfortable. You can see my full review here on these and other good shoes for Costa Rica.

There are a lot of stairs, especially heading down to the waterfalls. I know what you’re thinking…what goes down must come up, right? Yes, but they have a shuttle bus that will take you back up to the entrance. You won’t have to hike all the way back up.

4. Bring a Camera

Be sure to bring a camera with you. As you can see there are plenty of opportunities to take pretty pictures.

Pro tip: be respectful of people around you when taking photos, both you and them. I was holding my big, professional Canon 6D camera up to take a shot of the jaguars when this guy stepped right in front of me and started snapping with his smartphone. I hope he got a lovely shot because all I got was a shot of his back. 😒

5. Go Slow

Plan plenty of time for the excursion. You want to give yourself time to enjoy the exhibits. We spent about 3 hours strolling around the grounds. Note that we didn’t hike all the way down to the bottom-most waterfall.

6. Buy Cheese at Fresas Del Volcán

Okay, so this isn’t actually at La Paz Waterfall Gardens. Fresas del Volcán is a shop on the road up to La Paz.

If you’re driving in your own car, definitely stop and buy some Queso Palmito. You can buy palmito cheese in various places throughout Costa Rica, including most grocery stores. We bought some on our trip to Zarcero, another mountain town to the west of La Paz. However, none of it holds a candle to the cheese we’ve had from this shop.

This is palmito cheese done right. If you know anything about cheese in Costa Rica you know that it’s quite different from what we’re used to in the States. A lot of it is pretty bland and lacks flavor.

This cheese, however, is absolutely delicious. You’ll find it at most shops and roadside stands along the road to get to La Paz Waterfall Gardens. I can’t vouch for it, though. We’ve bought palmito in other places and none of it is as good as what we’ve found at Fresas del Volcán.

7. Buy Strawberries Along the Side of the Road

The cooler climate up here is perfect for growing sweet, delicious strawberries. You have to hit it at the right time for the sweetest most delicious ones. But since the weather is similar all year round, the strawberry season is almost the entire year and you have a good chance of getting some amazing fruit.

You’ll find strawberries everywhere in this area. People will be selling them out of the back of their trucks along the side of the road. Plus, practically every roadside shop will have them. At Fresas del Volcán, the place where you should buy palmito cheese, you can buy them as well. Roadside, though, you can get a better price and practice your Spanish!

Many places will also sell them as a dessert with chocolate, condensed milk, or both. Costa Ricans love their sweets!

Ready for La Paz?

There you have it. My 7 insider tips for visiting La Paz Waterfall Gardens. Have you been to La Paz? What did you think? Feel free to leave me a comment below!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments as well. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll do my best to find out!

Finally, I have a new photo jewelry collection that features one of the photos of the jaguars from this post. Plus, check out this post to learn more about jaguars in Costa Rica.

Until next time…

Cara