My 13 and 14 year old boys LOVED this cave tour!! I feel like this is a hidden gem in the La Fortuna area. Many people don't seem to put this on their itinerary, but it was so, so cool and fun. A real highlight of our trip. We've been to caves all around the U.S., but this immersive and interactive experience is unlike any others we've done. Climbing and traipsing through the water, being taken into "hidden passageways", only the light of a headlamp.... just incredible fun. It's a nice change of pace too from the standard rainforest walks/ hikes in the area. My 72 year old parents did this as well, and the guide was amazing with them. He was patient and helped my mom safely navigate the caves. (My parents did bypass some of the more challenging sections and waited for us, but the guide was great with personalizing the tour to the different levels in our group.) Highly recommend for adventurous kids, pre-teens or teens!!

I've been spelunking in various spots in California, some with water, some with very tight squeezes, but this was the first that combined both! Our family with two teenagers had a great time! There are various passages that allow you to crawl on all fours through narrow tunnels filled with water. Some of these are optional, but we did them all. It was quite a workout and wearing non-cotton shorts/T-shirt is recommended. If you have some water shoes, those are likely to be more comfortable than the yellow rain boots they provide. There is no light other than those on your helmets, but that made it exciting and was still able to get great photos with my waterproof camera (if you bring a cellphone, it better be in a plastic bag). The spiders and bats don't bother you. Finishing up with a soapy shower (to make sure you don't have any bat guano) followed up with fruit/snacks and drinks was a fantastic conclusion.

Venado Caves really impressed all in our family, from an excited teenager to a reluctant one. It is not a simple walk through a cave. It is exciting to see different formations and squeeze through areas to move through the accessible cave system. Elvis was our guide and he was fantastic, told us about the cave and its bats, spiders and crickets (none of which bother you). He led a calm atmosphere to encourage our reluctant teenager to try more than she originally thought she would. Definitely visit if you are in the area!!

The cave was awesome! So fun walking through water, climbing rocks. Seeing scorpion spiders (harmless to us), bats, cricut, millipede, tarantula and howler monkeys on our way out. Our guide, Jose (driver Omar with Jacamar), was amazing with interesting facts and history about the cave and helping us with any tricky footing. My 10 yr old was hesitant by said it was the best day ever about half way through the cave.