Nauyaca Waterfalls on Horseback: A Day in Dominical
Of the five most famous waterfalls in Costa Rica, Nauyaca is the one I most often send guests to. It is less crowded than La Fortuna, the swimming is unbeatable, and the way you get there — through working farmland on horseback with the family who has owned this land for four generations — turns a swim into a memory.
Location highlights
Where: Outside Dominical, Puntarenas province, south Pacific coast.
Drive time: 45 minutes from Uvita, 3.5 hours from San José.
Access: hike (4km each way), 4x4 shuttle, or horseback through the Don Lulo family farm.
Best season: November to April (drier trails). Wet season is fine but expect mud.
7:00am — Meet at the Don Lulo ranch
Check in at the family-run tour office just outside Dominical. Coffee, fresh fruit, and a quick safety briefing in Spanish and English. You'll be paired with a horse matched to your experience level — first-timers are perfectly fine here.
8:00am — Ride through working farmland
The trail winds through cattle pasture, teak forest, and across two small rivers. Your guide is almost always a son or grandson of Don Lulo and will point out toucans, sloths, and the medicinal plants their family has used for generations.
10:00am — Upper falls swim
Arrive at the upper cascade — a 45-meter drop into a deep pool you can swim across. Brave climbers can scramble the rocks to the second tier. Less brave (smart) guests stay in the main pool and float on their backs looking up at the canopy.
11:30am — Lunch at the lower falls
Walk five minutes down to the wider lower pool, where the family serves a traditional casado with chicken or fish, rice and beans, plantains, and homemade chan (a local seed drink). Eat on wooden tables in the shade.
1:30pm — Ride back & beach finish
Ride out by 2pm to beat the afternoon rain. Back at the ranch by 3:30, head straight to Playa Dominical for a sunset surf-watching session and a cold Pilsen at Tortilla Flats.
Why book through me
Don Lulo's tours are a Costa Rican classic, but the booking is much easier in Spanish. I sort the pickup from your hotel in Uvita, Dominical, or Manuel Antonio, get you on a horse that suits you, and make sure lunch is ready when you arrive.
