Don Rafa Adventure Tours

We had Fabrizio as a guide and he was fantastic! He spoke English and Spanish and helped me with a few of my congugations. James brought us on from the main road and Michael was our concierge. From start to finish they told us what to bring, what to expect and we had a fantastic time. We saw many so many things along the way, bats, a termite nest as learned about the local tree. I am not a swimmer but I felt safe and the Fabrizio even tied my water shoes a few times 😂. Showers and a delicious meal at the end was amazing. This is definitely a top tier tour.

My family went here in December; 3 adults, 3 kids ages 9, 11, 11. We had Cesar as our guide, and he graciously spoke English Spanish with me even though I still have lots to learn. Heads up: sometimes the payment system is down, so it's a good idea to have cash just in case.

We felt safe the entire time, but we didn't go quite as prepared as we could have. You will be walking along and through the river towards the waterfall and under the tree canopy, with many opportunities for jumping, sitting, and sliding in the river, either intentionally or not. I recommend wearing swim shorts and a t-shirt so that the rocks don't chafe your hips and your lifejacket (mandatory) doesn't chafe your skin. I also recommend sturdy water shoes or secured sandals such as Keens. Your feet will be wet for at least an hour. I wore hiking boots and they took 2 days to dry. You don't need a hat or even sunglasses, but if you want to take pictures or carry your wallet or car keys, a small dry bag that you can sling across your body would be the way to go. We didn't take water bottles (which I usually carry everywhere) and I wasn't too upset about it in the end.

The hike itself wasn't particularly strenuous, but you do need a fair amount of swimming ability and/or upper body strength to pull yourself along the rope that helps you get into the cave where the waterfall is.

Thanks for a great time, Cesar!

We had the pleasure of Jason being our guide. Very attentive and willing to assist in any way. The waterfall was beautiful and the cool water was refreshing on a hot day.

This was our first stop on our camping trip to Costa Rica and it was absolutely perfect. Large camping spaces available. We decided to stay a bit further away from the main area as the main place tends to be crowded by day tourists over time to time. When staying a bit further away it's very quite and beautiful. There is a river directly next to the campsite with beautiful blue water which is amazing to swim in. There are also clean facilities and a place to eat. We stayed for two nights and did both the walking and the tubing tour and they were both amazing. The tours are very cheap compared to any other place in Costa Rica we visited. Also it's a very friendly atmosphere at the camping site. Not a lot of the staff speak English but they put a lot of effort into trying to communicate with us although our Spanish is really bad. At Night there is a very friendly security guard called Raol who takes great care of you. Would definitely recommend this place!

We did the waterfall hike, tubing and lunch. The hike was nice, scenic and not too strenuous. Very rocky. Our guide Noel was excellent. He pointed out various special plants and even found a python along the trail and got great pictures.
The waterfall was amazing! Really beautiful! Actually there were several waterfalls along the hike but the big one was just gorgeous and hidden inside a cave area. Beautiful powder blue water. And again Noel took lots of great pictures.
Lunch was delicious and a good variety to pick from.
Tubing was good. We had to wait a bit for tubes to be available, but then my small group got to go on our own. The water was faster than I am used to with my leisurely river floats at home, there are also narrow rocky spots so I'm glad they provided helmets. I would have liked to float a bit slower but Noel kept us moving along fairly quickly. He also kept us safe and helped us thru tricky spots.
Noel also helped us with our new rental car as we had difficulty engaging the 4 wheel drive and getting up the big hills along the road. I highly recommend Noel and this business for a fun and beautiful adventure!

A very good campsite run by an amazing staff and a very nature conscious owner. We were lucky enough to do the tour to the La Leona waterfall with Chollo, Elias and his dogs and it was like a walk with the family through a magic scenery. My favorite spot in Costa Rica in 9 days! A special thanks to Raul that spend his time in a late dinner explaining the history around this magical place, at the end, good experiences are mostly about the people!

My wife found this while browsing the area and looking for a small tour that would be run by a local guide. Her dad has lived here in Costa Rica all her life so when we come back to visit he tries to show me a some of the local cultures.

With that being said this was by far the best experience I could have had. There are many other businesses in this area that have tours to the same place, but those are all either American or German owned. Those are run by people who come to profit off what Costa Rica has to offer and return very little back to the locals. Ask anyone native and they will say the same.

At Don Rafas, they do have an employee named Michael who speaks very good English. I do not speak Spanish and had no issues communicating with him or anyone else. So if you're an English speaker ask for Michael and they will get someone who you can talk too.

They offered us 2 different hikes. The first and longer one goes through bat caves and a few other attractions, but ends up at the La Leona waterfall. This one is a bit more expensive and longer but is for those who want to see more. The second one is the one we did which takes you to La Leona waterfall and is about a 3 hour hike round-trip with spending time at the waterfall. It was not a hard hike at all (moderate to some). Little elevation change and a few watercrossings (with ropes to make it easier) and you'll be at the waterfall in no time.

They also offer river tubing, swimming holes, camping, hikes, food, bike trails, and much more.

After our hike we got to shower in their bathrooms and then sat down to have a Costa Rican typical lunch. Ill post a picture down below.

What this place has:

•On site bathrooms with showers, urinals, and stalls. It is a big bathroom that is unisex so there might be males and females in there but the showers are stalls with doors so that's not a problem.

•English speaking employees

•River tubing

•trails and hiking to swimming holes or waterfalls

•food

•bike trails

•a dog named Lucy who guided us the entire time

All at a very affordable price.

The road there is very up and down but can be done in small cars. We saw many people in cars making the drive with no problem. If you aren't comfortable then call the number below and they will come pick you up. They are very nice people and will do what they can to accommodate you!

If you want to call for information we called, 85881563 and talked to Maikel. He was very friendly and accommodating especially with me only speaking English.

Check out the pictures below and decide for yourself!

I did the waterfall hike, and camped at here. Only $3 to camp and absolutely beautiful. Waterfall hike was definitely worth it. Wear good shoes but also expect to get them wet.

Don Rafa's campground itself is really nice, but the workers make it a gem! The campground has toilets ans showers and a river eight next to it, where you can cool down. You can camp on the ground or in one of the wooden plateau. You may have a camp fire, lots of threes for your hammock.

Propably need a 4x4 and high clearance as way to the campsite is steep (even if it's dry).

Awesome hike to La Leona!
Staff/ guides are Great! Very helpful. 5 stars!🤙🏽

Amazing experience! Our guide , Andre was fantastic. We told him we wanted high adventure, so he increased the difficulty of the hike. No teen in our group was disappointed. Our best adventure in Costa Rica so far! So beautiful, so fun, and very challenging (at our request. We highly recommend!

What a place. What amazing people! So friendly they make you feel like family. Great for a solo traveller like me. What a thrill! I just went on a last minute hike from here and it was one of the best experiences I've had in CR. Guide was great. The hike was beautiful, the river is a milky blue. loads of butterflies, heard toucans and monkeys.The waterfall and canyoning, well it is strong water (end of rainy season) and hard forces of nature but wow wow wow. Everyone involved was so friendly and a real CR, nature experience. The food at the soda where they gave me lunch was one of the best traditional CR dishes I've had.. go here - camp, hike, tube, play with puppies, be with nature. A+ recommendation from me.

So much fun!!! The waterfalls are beautiful! Our guide Jason was excellent. We also river tubed which was an added plus! Pura Vida and lifelong memories!

We did not have 4 wheel drive but a Toyota SUV with front wheel drive. By hitting the sandy hills at about 40 mph we got up them and didn’t get stuck. That said I would not do this with my own car I’m embarrassed to say and we thought the car if it had artificial intelligence would have told us it was all in and no more of this!

Amazing experience I won’t soon forget!! Worth every penny, do everything this place has to offer!

Wonderful campground after a steep and bumpy road. The location is really great and the whole team is so nice! Many sweet dogs accompany you during the experiences too :-) a soda with good food is there too but be sure to book first because kitchen closes early. The walk to the Catarata Leona was splendid! We recommend with no hesitation!

Needed every bit of the 4 wheel drive to get there but it was great and our guide Chris was awesome

We were very pleased with the tour given to us to see La Leona waterfall. Since we got there a little later in the day, they accommodated for us and let us go back and see one of the falls. I was not wearing proper shoes and they offered me shoes that would be better for the hike. We were led back to the falls by a very capable young lady who was kind and helpful the entire way back. She made us feel safe and gave us information that she knew about the area. She helped us when needed to cross the water and climb up and down the rocks and trails. I would definitely suggest this tour group and the tour itself is a sight to see.

They were so, so kind and super organized. I have an ankle issue, and Ceasar was the best! The tour is incredible and full of gorgeous vistas and adventures.

Quilt camping, felt very safe during the night. Very friendly guard that helped us when we arrived after dark.
View from the small waterfall next to the campsite is stunning.