Anyone traveling to Costa Rica should visit the region surrounding the Arenal Volcano. This perfectly symmetrical volcano is encircled by jungle, rivers, lakes and a wide variety of flora and fauna. Until 2010, Arenal was Costa Rica's most active volcano, regularly spewing lava while villagers and tourists watched from a safe distance. Although it has entered a resting phase, it is still a tremendous natural attraction worth visiting. Although it's often partially hidden by clouds, the clouds clear occasionally offering glimpses of the mighty volcano and resulting in dramatic views like this:
The first, and only other time, we have visited Arenal was 10 years ago with our college friends, Ben and Agnes. Here are a couple throwback pictures from our March 2004 trip that were taken with a disposable camera! Remember those?
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Arenal was one highlight of our trip 10 years ago and we remember wishing we had spent more time there. Since we were returning to Costa Rica for my cousin's wedding, we squeezed in a quick visit before heading back to San Jose for the festivities. We drove directly from San Jose International Airport and spent two days and three nights in Arenal.
Getting There
If not visiting with a tour group, we highly recommend driving here. You need to drive everywhere, and while you can get around in a taxi, you have a lot more flexibility with a car. It's a 3 hour drive from the airport, mostly along winding country and mountain roads. Directions are a bit tricky since there aren't many road signs but we used a combo of Google Maps and these directions and found our way without any issues.
Where to Stay
There is an abundance of hotels in the Arenal area - from low cost hostels situated in La Fortuna (the main town) to upscale resorts. When we visited 10 years ago, we stayed in a cabin at the Hotel Lavas Tacotal and loved it. One of my fondest memories was sitting outside our cabin at night, sipping Imperial beer and watching the lava spew from the volcano. Since the volcano entered a resting phase in 2010, there are no longer nightly lava shows. We considered returning to the Hotel Tacotal this time, but after reading reviews online we opted to try something different. People said that since the hotel changed ownership, the service has gone way downhill.
Since we booked our ticket a bit last minute, a lot of highly ranked hotels were booked. However, the Lost Iguana was highly ranked, in our price range and had a few rooms left. This place received great reviews online but since it is 17km outside of La Fortuna, many people opted for closer accommodations. Driving doesn't bother us and we liked the idea of staying somewhere a little more secluded, so we booked a room. Overall, we had a good experience. When we arrived on Wednesday night, the electricity in the rooms was out due to a wind storm that had just hit La Fortuna. The hotel provided us with flashlights, candles in the room and a free drink at dinner. Two hours later, the electricity was up and running! There are a few things to note about this hotel:
- There is no wi-fi in the rooms, but the wi-fi in the common area works great.
- The restaurant is pretty good! They serve a delicious breakfast, included in the room rate.
- The hotel will soon be converting to condos so each room will have a small kitchen. You'll still be able to rent a room, but each room might look a little different from the others.
Here are some pictures from the Lost Iguana:
Since we booked our ticket a bit last minute, a lot of highly ranked hotels were booked. However, the Lost Iguana was highly ranked, in our price range and had a few rooms left. This place received great reviews online but since it is 17km outside of La Fortuna, many people opted for closer accommodations. Driving doesn't bother us and we liked the idea of staying somewhere a little more secluded, so we booked a room. Overall, we had a good experience. When we arrived on Wednesday night, the electricity in the rooms was out due to a wind storm that had just hit La Fortuna. The hotel provided us with flashlights, candles in the room and a free drink at dinner. Two hours later, the electricity was up and running! There are a few things to note about this hotel:
- There is no wi-fi in the rooms, but the wi-fi in the common area works great.
- The restaurant is pretty good! They serve a delicious breakfast, included in the room rate.
- The hotel will soon be converting to condos so each room will have a small kitchen. You'll still be able to rent a room, but each room might look a little different from the others.
Here are some pictures from the Lost Iguana:
The rooms, restaurant and pool are located in separate buildings scattered up the jungle-covered hillside. We often spotted monkeys, birds and other creatures on the property.
Pictured above: Our room from the balcony. Pictured below: The volcano & jungle view from our balcony!
The pool by the bar was heated to just the right temperature for a cloudy rainy day. There is another unheated pool for those who need to cool off.
Animals roam the property. My favorites were the monkeys and this massive snail that was almost the size of my hand.
What To Do
The Arenal region is perfect for nature lovers and outdoor adventure junkies. There are so many ways to fill your days - whitewater rafting, nature walks, canyoning, kayaking, hiking and volcanic hot springs to name a few. We did a lot in two days, but also had a good amount of time to relax.
Arrival: We arrived on Wednesday night and were so tired that all we could do was eat dinner at the hotel and go to bed.
Day 1: Whitewater Rafting with Desafio Adventures. You can read my review here. It was a blast!
Night 1: Dinner & night pass to the Tabacon Hot Springs. Since we were in close proximity to the volcano, there are many natural hot springs in the area. Ten years ago, we tried Baldi Hot Springs which is still around today (and seemingly packed with tourists). Tabacon is supposed to be the premier hot spring resort in the area so we decided to buy an evening pass which included a buffet dinner.
There are a lot of pools at Tabacon and the landscaping is beautiful. We arrived at 6pm and had a 7pm dinner seating so we tried a few pools before dinner. At 6pm the place was PACKED - both the pools and dining room. We changed for dinner at 7pm (which was just OK) and then went back to the pools at 8pm and it was an entirely different experience. All the kids were gone and, at times, we felt like we had the place to ourselves. My recommendation is to dine elsewhere and then arrive at Tabacon around 7:30pm and buy the night pass that doesn't include food. The hot springs are a perfect follow-up to a day of rafting. My muscles thanked me in the morning.
Arrival: We arrived on Wednesday night and were so tired that all we could do was eat dinner at the hotel and go to bed.
Day 1: Whitewater Rafting with Desafio Adventures. You can read my review here. It was a blast!
Night 1: Dinner & night pass to the Tabacon Hot Springs. Since we were in close proximity to the volcano, there are many natural hot springs in the area. Ten years ago, we tried Baldi Hot Springs which is still around today (and seemingly packed with tourists). Tabacon is supposed to be the premier hot spring resort in the area so we decided to buy an evening pass which included a buffet dinner.
There are a lot of pools at Tabacon and the landscaping is beautiful. We arrived at 6pm and had a 7pm dinner seating so we tried a few pools before dinner. At 6pm the place was PACKED - both the pools and dining room. We changed for dinner at 7pm (which was just OK) and then went back to the pools at 8pm and it was an entirely different experience. All the kids were gone and, at times, we felt like we had the place to ourselves. My recommendation is to dine elsewhere and then arrive at Tabacon around 7:30pm and buy the night pass that doesn't include food. The hot springs are a perfect follow-up to a day of rafting. My muscles thanked me in the morning.
Day 2: After a leisurely breakfast, we visited La Fortuna waterfall. It takes about 20 mintues to hike down to the waterfall and there is a small swimming area at the base of the falls.
After our swim, we drove to Arenal Volcano National Park and hiked along the lava trails to a clearing with a nice view of the lake. Unfortunately, we couldn't see the top of the volcano due to clouds.
Pictured Above: Chris' reaction to the "High Volcanic Risk" sign. Pictured Below: A second warning!
We walked through the "Cana Brava" - tall reeds - for about a mile.
Then we entered the forest, climbed some volcanic rocks and made it to the top where we had a decent view of the lake, despite the cloudy day.
The volcano view, on the other hand, left a lot to be desired:( Oh well!
At this point, Chris's ankle was pretty swollen due to a bee sting (we think), and he had a hard time (literally) trying to find a place to sit. So we bid adieu to the volcano behind the clouds and went back to our hotel.
Night 2: Upon arriving at the hotel, we headed straight for happy hour at the pool, relaxed a bit and then went to Rana Roja for a delicious dinner of ceviche and typical Costa Rican dishes like Chifrijo and rice, beans and plantains. YUM!
That sums up our quick jungle adventure in Costa Rica. Hopefully, we'll have a little more time to explore during our next visit because there is so much to do here!
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