Horseback riding Rio Celeste

Recommended by 95% of travelers

Badge of Excellence

La Fortuna, Costa Rica

Great choice

5+ bookings last month.

2 hours (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Explore during this guided horseback riding adventure along the Rio Celeste, a river in the Tenorio Volcano National Park of Costa Rica. Experience its turquoise waters from atop a horse and observe the area’s local wildlife along the way. Also, get a chance to swim in the river. Riding helmets are provided.

Discover the Rio Celeste and its scenery and wildlife on this tour
The well-trained horses allow you to relax during your ride
Choose from different tour times throughout the day
The meeting point is about an hour’s drive from La Fortuna

What's Included

Frutas, agua
casco

Propinas

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Hotel Sueño Real Rio Celeste
Contiguo a restaurante La Jarra, Provincia de Alajuela, Katira, 21504, Costa Rica

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Itinerary

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Infants must sit on laps
Infant seats available

Not recommended for travelers with back problems
Not recommended for pregnant travelers
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travelers

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Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

Amandine_d

This was our first time riding horses, and it couldn't have gone better! Alphonso was incredibly patient and kind, especially with my two young kids (ages 7 and 4). He made a quick stop early on just to check that everyone was comfortable and doing okay, which I really appreciated. Midway through the ride, we stopped near a beautiful creek where Alphonso served us some fresh, delicious fruit — such a thoughtful touch! Even when it started raining, he kindly offered me his poncho to keep dry. You can tell he really cares about his guests. The ride lasted about 1 hour and 30 minutes ~ 2H, which was just the right amount of time, especially with small kids. It’s a very family-friendly tour and perfect for beginners. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a gentle, scenic, and well-guided horseback riding experience!

Reviews

4.9

based on 22 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Riding through paradise

Jackeline_G, Apr 2026

This was hands down the best experience ever! Riding horses through the river was absolutely unforgettable. Our guide was incredibly attentive, knowledgeable, and genuinely caring—he made us feel so comfortable, like we were just talking to family. We even got lucky and had the entire tour to ourselves, which made it even more special. I would 100% recommend this experience to anyone!

Amazing First-Time Horseback Riding Experience!

Amandine_d, Jun 2025

This experienced would...

CorneliusBlair, Jun 2025

This experienced would have been 10/10 if they wouldn’t take the horses near the street at the end. The last route going back to the meetup is a street walk and my 12yr daughter’s horse (which was being disobedient the entire time) just wondered his way into the street in on going traffic meanwhile there is a deep ditch with little room for the horses to walk on between the ditch and the grass so that part of this experience was very scary and I would make sure that route is changed before I book again. The head cowboy of this particular excursion does not speak English so communication with him is non existent if you don’t speak Spanish. Fernando was his help and he does a great job.

Response from Host, Jul 2025

We are very sorry for your bad experience, we will try to change the route, thank you for the visit, your opinion is really important for us!

So fun to ride the horses...

Erin_P, Jun 2025

So fun to ride the horses through the river! Our guide was kind and the kids loved the dog that tagged along too :)

We had a great tour with...

Brian_R, Jun 2025

We had a great tour with my wife and three teenage boys. The scenery was beautiful and the pineapple and watermelon halfway through hit the spot! The tour guide did a great job of taking photos of our experience.

Guide was very friendly...

Michael_H, Dec 2024

Guide was very friendly and knowledgeable! Would 100% recommend. We took the horses through the Rio De Celeste river and it was very fun. It was my first time riding a horse and it was very easy as the horses were well trained!

Great horseback tour

Mark_A, Aug 2024

Great time horseback riding with this company. We were running late for our tour time and they kindly switched our time. Beautiful ride to the river. Tour guide outstanding and helpful. Would definitely recommend.

Perfect way to see rio Celeste

Elana_H, Aug 2024

The river is so beautiful and we got to stop to swim and they provided fruit and water. Guide was Knowledgable. It was our first time ever horseback riding, sometimes our horses would not want to walk but we made it work. Being bug spray for mosquitos! Melvin was our tour guide, very nice

20 stars , GO !

Jene_M, Mar 2024

Amazing experience, if I could give this 20 stars I would. Pancho was the most amazing guide, I would love to come back and see him. We ate fruit off the trees and ate pineapples and fresh watermelon by the river .

Phenomenal experience

jordy_r, Oct 2023

Alfonso is a phenomenal guide, my gf only speaks English and he did his best to give good instructions. The horses are very well trained and he was very passionate about his animals.

Rio Celeste is worth the ride

Brooke_K, Aug 2023

We stayed in La Fortuna but booked the horseback riding at Rio Celeste because of the river. Therefore, it did take an hour or so to get to and the GPS would have taken us to the wrong spot, but we were using Waze as well and that took us to the correct spot, so be mindful of that. Also, the road from La Fortuna to Rio Celeste had unpaved parts to it, again just be mindful of that. The fellow that greeted us was extremely nice. Our guide was a good leader and supportive of our son who was a little nervous. The horses were good listeners and knew how to navigate the path. We did stop at the river and took a dip in. The color was so cool and the water refreshing. The mosquitoes were relentless so have powerful repellent. It was a good experience the whole family enjoyed.

Loved it

Ricardo_A, Apr 2023

My family and I really enjoyed this tour, our guide made sure we had lots of pictures so he stopped a few times to take the pictures himself. The horses already know the trail so you just have to relax and enjoy the ride. Rio celeste is beautiful too

Great experience for the family.

Sylwia_J, Apr 2023

Great horseback riding experience. My kids really enjoyed. We had a chance to swim in the Rio Celeste river and tasted Costa Rican guava. Fruits and water was also given to us. Love it.

Delightful ride!

Lannis_S, Oct 2022

We got to the address which is about 1 hour from LaFortuna at 9:00 am which is the time it said but they didn’t come until 10:15. The ride was delightful and well worth the money but I would make sure of the meeting time. They have a bird farm there that kept the kids busy. Pancho was a great guide. Speaks some English! The setting was beautiful.