Private Tour: Irazú Volcano National Park Half Day

What your day looks like

Your breath-taking, adventure begins with a pickup from your hotel and a relaxing private drive through the wonderful Costa Rican countryside on an air-conditioned transportation and a recent model deluxe vehicle or mini bus. You will be heading to Cartago Province, about a 1-hour drive from San Jose. Irazú Volcano is a National Park in the Central Volcanic Conservation Area of Costa Rica. The volcano is still active although the last major eruptions were between 1963 and 1965, with occasional minor eruptions and some small lava flows since that time. With our professional tour guide, you will be able to explore the park and walk to the main lookout point. The Crater Principal lake has an unusual greenish yellow coloring caused by rainfall dissolving the minerals along the crater's walls. It has also been known to change color to rust-red depending on the minerals present. The name could come from either the combination of "ara" (point) and "Tzu" (thunder) or corruption of Iztarú, which was the name of an indigenous village on the flanks of the volcano. In Costa Rica, it is known by the name of "El Coloso" (The Colossus) due to the catastrophes that it has provoked in the past. The volcano's summit has several craters, one of which contains Diego de la Haya, a green crater lake of variable depth. At 11,260 feet (3,432 m), the Irazú Volcano is the highest active volcano in Costa Rica. It is easily visited from San José, with a road leading right up to the summit craters. From the top, it is possible to see both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans on a clear day. However, such clear days are rare, and the volcano's summit is usually cloud-covered. The national park contains both primary and secondary montane forests and is home to armadillos, owls, rabbits, foxes, woodpeckers, and hummingbirds. Temperatures at its summit vary between 3 and 17 °C (37 and 63 °F). The elevation is 3,432 meters (11,260 ft). After an exciting tour at the volcano, we will descend to the historical city of Cartago. Here you will visit the mysterious ruins of the old Parish and view the beautiful Basilica of our "Virgen de los Angeles" with rich displays of carvings, statues, and art.