Two young men died after strong currents pulled them out at Playa Cabuyal in Liberia, Guanacaste, on Saturday, and rescuers spent Sunday searching for an 18-year-old swept away at a waterfall south of San José, according to the Costa Rican Red Cross. A woman was also rescued in Sarapiquí after floodwaters carried her off an overflowing bridge.
The alert from Playa Cabuyal came in at 5:43 p.m. Saturday, when two adults were reported missing in the water. A woman who was with them was brought back to shore by people on the beach.
Red Cross crews located the bodies of both men, who were between 20 and 25 years old, later that night. The scene was turned over to the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ), and the men’s identities and nationalities have not been released.
Earlier Saturday, at 1:35 p.m., the Red Cross received a report that a young man had been dragged away by the current at the Los Reyes waterfall in San Lorenzo de Tarrazú, in the Los Santos region. He has been identified as Daniel Cubero Montero, 18, a 2025 graduate of Colegio San Luis Gonzaga in Cartago who was studying at the University of Costa Rica and the National University.
The Red Cross sent a first-response unit, a rescue team, basic life support ambulances and specialized divers, but suspended the search at 6:35 p.m. because of poor weather. Crews returned at 5:30 a.m. Sunday, supported by firefighters and local residents, and he had not been found as of Sunday afternoon.
The third emergency took place around 6:15 p.m. Saturday in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí, Heredia. A woman tried to cross a flooded bridge on a motorcycle after heavy afternoon rain swelled the river, and the current swept her away before Red Cross crews reached her and brought her to safety.
The incidents came as Tropical Wave 47 crossed the country, bringing heavy downpours and thunderstorms to much of Costa Rica on Saturday afternoon. The National Meteorological Institute (IMN) recorded up to 125 millimeters (4.9 inches) of rain at Laguna de Fraijanes.
The IMN forecast that instability left behind by the wave would keep producing isolated to scattered afternoon downpours and thunderstorms across the Pacific, the Central Valley, the Northern Zone and the Caribbean mountains.
Rivers and waterfalls can rise within minutes when rain falls upstream, even where skies are clear. Swimming in rivers and in pools below waterfalls is most dangerous during and after afternoon storms, and flooded roads and bridges should never be crossed on foot or by vehicle.
This article was updated Sunday, Sept. 27, to report the deaths at Playa Cabuyal and the continuing search in Tarrazú.
