One weekend was enough to reaffirm the tourist potential of Poás Volcano National Park. According to data from the National System of Conservation Areas, the site received 1,550 tourists during Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The national park reopened its doors under strict security measures on August 31st, after more than a year closed by the eruptive activity during the first quarter of last year.
According to data from SINAC, Poás was the second most visited national park just behind Manuel Antonio (it received 400 thousand tourists in 2016 ).
Last Friday, it received 200 tourists, on Saturday at 620 and on Sunday 730, and this that tends to increase as the public becomes familiar with the new ticket reservation system […]The novelty that national and foreign tourism will find is the security system, unique in the Central American region, which includes clear evacuation routes and better management of the number of tourists entering the national park, shelters, protection devices and gas meters in real time to safeguard the integrity of visitors if an emergency should occur,”
said the institution in a press release released on Tuesday.
Preventive measures and adequate infrastructure for the reopening were achieved thanks to an inter-institutional participation: Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE), Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), National Emergency Commission (CNE), National Seismological Network (RSN) and the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI).
Visitors are reminded that tickets to the park can only be purchased electronically through the SINAC website and not in the park. Access to the Protected Wild Area is regulated in groups of 50 visitors , who will be able to see the crater from the viewpoint for a maximum of 20 minutes. The schedule is from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.”
added the report.
At the moment, the trails are not enabled in some sectors and neither are the food areas.