Jaco ATV Waterfall Tour: 4 hours, mountain-to-ocean views

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.91 (352 reviews) 93% rated it 5 stars

Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/24

Duration4h

GroupUp to 15

LanguagesEN · ES

PickupAt your hotel

Ride the mountain ridge above Jaco, then swim at a waterfall and eat lunch in the rainforest

You ride an ATV through Costa Rican rainforest for four hours, climb to a ridge with ocean views, stop at a 30-foot waterfall, and eat lunch at a remote tilapia farm where the fish come from the pond you're sitting above. Pickup from Jaco is included, your guide speaks both English and Spanish, and all equipment and entrance fees are covered — you just bring closed-toed shoes, clothes you don't mind getting dirty, and a swimsuit.

Step-by-step itinerary

ATV tour with waterfall and lunch

Begin ATV ride behind Jaco mountains
Stop briefly at mountain range Agujas
Ride through primary rainforest to mountain top
View ocean from mountain mirador
Continue to Pueblo of Bijagual
Pass pueblo church, soccer field, saloon
Enjoy lunch at El Paz Del Campo
Fish tilapia at restaurant pond
Return to ATV Adventure Tours Headquarters

The Experience

"The road gets rough up there, but that's where the view lives," our guide says before you even clip your helmet. He's not wrong. The 4-hour ATV tour from Jaco climbs straight into the mountains behind town, through primary rainforest that closes in on both sides, and the terrain shifts under your wheels every few minutes — loose volcanic soil, then packed dirt, then creek beds that make you grip tighter. You're riding the Agujas range, and the higher you go, the quieter the rainforest gets, which is strange because you'd think it would be louder.

Around the midpoint, the canopy opens and you hit the mirador — a ridge where you can see the ocean all the way south to Manuel Antonio and north to Puntarenas, the Nicoya Peninsula sitting out there like a separate country. Your guide stops here, and you actually feel the altitude, the wind, the scale of it. Then you drop back into the trees and head toward Bijagual, a small pueblo that most tourists never find. The church, the soccer field, the central saloon — you pass them all on the way to El Paz Del Campo, a tilapia farm and restaurant hidden in the rainforest. The fish come from the pond right there, and if you've got kids, they can grab a stick and fish from the gazebo while you sit under the canopy and eat something that tastes like it was made for you specifically, not for a tour group. Lunch is included, and it's the kind of meal that makes the whole ride feel less like an activity and more like you stumbled into someone's life.

The ride back follows the same route but feels different — you know the terrain now, you're tired in a good way, and the rainforest doesn't feel as foreign. Your guide is bilingual, so if you miss something the first time, you can ask. Equipment is rented with the tour, and the waterfall entrance fee is built in. The whole thing takes four hours, which is long enough to feel like you actually went somewhere but short enough that you're not wrecked by evening. Weather doesn't stop the tour — it just changes what the rainforest looks like, and honestly, rain makes the colors deeper.

What’s included

Your tour includes ATV equipment rental, a bilingual guide (Spanish and English), waterfall entrance fee, authentic Costa Rican lunch at El Paz Del Campo tilapia farm in Bijagual, and pickup service in the Jaco area upon request. You'll ride through primary rainforest, stop at a mountain ridge with ocean views, visit a 30-foot waterfall, and have time to fish or relax at the farm before returning to Jaco.

Good to know

Moderate physical levelPets welcomePublic transport nearbyNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problems

Operated by ATV Adventure Tours Costa Rica

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see the rainforest and coast from a ridge most Jaco visitors never reach, and you'd rather not navigate mountain roads or arrange lunch separately — the guide handles the route, the farm handles the meal, and four hours is enough to feel remote without eating up your whole day.