Rio Chollin, Province of Alajuela, Costa Rica

4DLTT2015 5:00 PM Jan 1, 2020

Free spa!
Rio Chollin is a river which I believe feeds in to the local spa hotels. This is a naturally heated river and free to visit. It is situated text to the Tabacon spa hotel. A taxi dropped us off on the road and you make you way down a slight slope. This can become very muddy and therefor slippery so be careful. You enter through a fence that has obviously been pulled back to allow public access. The area had been fenced off most probably because the hotels probably don’t want you going in for free when they have $40 packages you could buy from them! The river is very warm and it is lovely to relax in. There were only a few tourists and locals chatting. The river is not huge so could get very crowded if you were visiting in peak season. The river is shallow and kids could sit safely. There are areas you can sit in front off which make its feel like you are in a jacuzzi. Delightful! Here we also saw a family of monkeys swinging around the trees above us which was beautiful. I would recommend having water shoes as it is very rocky when walking up the river. I had flip flops on and could of easily lost these to the current! We visited late afternoon. I was recommend to go around 2pm latest. It is important to leave before it gets dark as you have to leave via the slope. It is best to be able to see where you going to ensure you don’t hurt yourself. We stayed until it was getting dark and a torrential down pour started. I would recommend you leave when there is heavy rain as the river begins to rise and the current becomes strong.

5Jacinda B 5:00 PM Nov 30, 2022

Amazing!
We loved relaxing at this free hot spring! The water was a perfect temperature and we were able to find a private spot to enjoy each other's company. The only negative was the parking experience, which cost us 5,000 colones. Having read the other reviews, it seems like they vary the price and we probably overpaid. Other than that, it was an unforgettable experience!