After more than 16 months there is finally a date for the reopening of the Poas Volcano National Park in Costa Rica, President Carlos Alvarado will be at the park this Wednesday, August 29 in an official ceremony and on Friday, August 31st the park will open doors to national and foreign tourists.

The Technical Assessment Committee (CAT) of Volcanology and Seismology of the National Emergency Commission gave the green light for the park to open again, after it managed to comply with all the security requirements established by a group of experts which included the construction of shelters, the purchase of gas sensors and training of personnel and nearby neighbors, among others.

“From the hand of the National System of Areas of Conservation (SINAC), the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT), the National Emergency Commission (CNE), the National Seismology Network (RSN), the National University’s Volcanology and Seismology Research Institute (Ovsicori), and non-governmental organizations such as Costa Rica por Siempre Association and Fundecor, and the participation of the Poas Tourism Chamber, ADI Fraijanes, ADI Poasito, we worked to make reopening a reality in a period of three months”, commented Vice-Minister of Environment, Pamela Castillo.

Access to the park will be limited to groups of 50 people at a time, tickets will be available for purchase online. The visitation to the overlook of the crater will only be of 20 minutes. The trail that leads to Botos lake is not open for the time being, nor the picnic areas.

Part of the works included 5 shelters: 3 new modules and the remodeling of 2 existing infrastructures,; these projects consist of:

A 2.5 x 2 m refuge for 18 people at the crater.
A 2.0 x 2.5 m refuge for 10 people at the crater.
A 1.5 x 3.2 m refuge for 8 people at the crater.
Enlargement and remodeling of the control house for 20 people (crater).
30 m2 of earthenware for the central health services module for 50 people.
4 wooden structures with shade cloth to keep tourists off the paths.