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Quepos: ATV Rainforest Tour & Waterfall Swimming

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/27

Duration4h

GroupUp to 1

LanguagesEN · ES

PickupAt your hotel

Ride ATVs through Costa Rican palm plantations to a hidden waterfall

You ride a semi-automatic ATV for 15 miles through rainforest plantations and village roads, hike into primary forest, swim in a waterfall pool, and return for a traditional Costa Rican lunch — all with a bilingual guide, helmet, water, and hotel transport included. No separate arrangements needed.

Step-by-step itinerary

Meet at Manuel Antonio headquarters
Receive trip overview and safety instructions
Drive ATVs through plantations and villages
Learn about local culture and sustainability
Hike through primary rainforest
Swim at waterfall natural pool
Return to ATVs and drive back
Enjoy traditional Costa Rican meal
Relax and shuttle back to hotel

The Experience

You've just landed in Quepos or checked into your Manuel Antonio hotel, and you've got the afternoon or next morning free. The ATV tour starts with a short drive from your accommodation to the headquarters in the North area, where your bilingual guide runs through vehicle operation and safety — it takes maybe twenty minutes, and then you're on the seat of a semi-automatic ATV, ready to move. The route is 15 miles of dirt roads that wind through the real working landscape of the region: rice paddies, teakwood plantations, African palm orchards stretching across what used to be a 135,000-acre farm. You're not on a theme-park trail. You're on the roads locals use, passing through the villages of La Parcela and San Rafael, and your guide talks about how the land has changed, what sustainability looks like here, why the economy shifted.

Halfway through the ride, you leave the ATVs and hike into primary rainforest for maybe thirty minutes. The canopy is thick enough that the light changes. If you're lucky — and the guide will tell you the odds — you might see toucans, sloths, squirrel monkeys, the birds that live nowhere else. The hike ends at a waterfall with a natural pool, and the water is cold and clear. You swim if you want to, or just stand in it. After that, you hike back to the ATVs and ride out the way you came, back through the plantations to the adventure center.

Lunch is waiting: a traditional Costa Rican meal, not a tourist plate. There are lockers to stash things you didn't want to bring on the ride, and towels if you want to rinse off after the waterfall. The shuttle back to your hotel in Manuel Antonio leaves after you've had time to sit down and eat, so you're not rushed. The whole day is maybe five to six hours from pickup to drop-off.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel pickup and drop-off in Manuel Antonio, a semi-automatic ATV for the 15-mile off-road route, a bilingual guide, safety helmet, a light rainforest hike to the waterfall, swimming time in the natural pool, fresh fruit and bottled water along the way, and a traditional Costa Rican lunch at the adventure center afterward. Towels and lockers are available if you need them.

Good to know

Moderate physical level

Operated by Fourtrax Adventure Tours

Is this one for you?Right for travelers who want to drive themselves through real Costa Rican landscape — plantations, villages, rainforest — without arranging transport, a guide, or a meal separately. The bilingual guide and fixed itinerary mean you don't navigate or time the stops yourself.