Things to do at Rincón de la Vieja

Rincón de la Vieja is an active Guanacaste volcano at 1,916 metres, roughly 3 hours' drive from La Fortuna, so it works better as a Liberia-area stop than a day trip.

Rincón de la Vieja National Park protects its bubbling mud pots and fumaroles, which steam and hiss year-round without a hint of visible lava, unlike the imagery some tours use to sell it.

That geothermal activity, not eruption, is the draw: sulphurous vents, hot springs fed by the mountain, and trails through dry-to-wet transitional forest. Entry runs around 15 USD, and the fumarole loop takes 2 to 3 hours on foot. Bring closed shoes; the ground near the mud pots stays genuinely hot underfoot.