[2] The volcano and surrounding park were closed for nearly 17 months, with a 2.5 kilometer safety perimeter established around the erupting crater.

The northern lake is known as the Laguna Caliente ("hot lagoon") and is located at a height of 2,300 m in a crater approximately 0.3 km wide and 30 m deep.

[5] Acidity, lake temperature fluctuations, and a complex, toxic sulfur and iron chemistry (conjectured to be like conditions on early Earth and Mars) limits aquatic life to a specially-adapted Acidiphilium bacteria.

On February 25, 2014, a webcam from the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI) captured the moment a dark cloud exploded about 1,000 feet in the air from a massive crater of the Poás Volcano.

[10] On April 9, 2017, National Park officials placed restrictions on visitors at Poas due to an increased volume of toxic gases at the summit crater.

[14] Following a substantial blast on April 22, that sent incandescent rocks over a large area which damaged park buildings and infrastructure, Costa Rica President Luis Guillermo Solis toured the surrounding towns the following two days.

Business owners described the negative financial impacts the volcano park closure were causing, and Solis released a video in Spanish and English urging potential tourists to visit the nearby community shops and restaurants.

In respect of it being 'an iconic and type example of an arc shield-like massive stratovolcano and type example of an active crater lake complex', the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) included 'The Poás volcano' in its assemblage of 100 'geological heritage sites' around the world in a listing published in October 2022.