Arenal Volcano aka: Volcán Arenal

Trip to the volcano was great. We left the hostel at 3:30 and drove 20 minutes to a hiking point. Our tour guide was a local who lived close to the town where the 1968 eruption of the volcano shocked everyone because it had been dormant for 500 years and they all thought it was a mountain. He had TONS of pictures to show how much the volcano and town of La Fortuna has changed in the last 40 years. He also told us stories of illegally hiking the volcano many times and being arrested for it as well. lol.

We got to a point where the van dropped us all off (there were about 10 of us) and then we hiked for 1.5 hours through the rainforest. We had some GREAT views of the volcano, and although it had been super cloudy and rainy in the day, it was perfectly clear around the volcano for us to see it. The hike was cool. Mostly downhill. We saw a viper snake, some animal with a Spanish name that looked like a mix between a raccoon and badger, a howler monkey, and many spider monkeys.

After the hike, we got back in the van and it drove us to the other side of the volcano where we could see the lava. We waited until dark and then the light show began!

It’s a beautiful view and a good hike for sure. You won’t really get too close but you can hike where the lava was from the 1968 eruption. Again, it’s just a good gorgeous view and some great exercise.

this was a great destination during my 2 week trip through CR 3 years ago. I’d go back in a heart beat.

I have been to La Fortuna (the city where Arenal volcano is) two times. Each time, I stayed at a small, local cabina-type place for a mere $10 a night. The owner is very nice, rooms clean and cheery (no frills), and just a few steps off the main road in La Fortuna. I can’t recall the name of the place, but many such as it exist and you don’t need to reserve in advance- just get off the bus stop and there will be people ready to walk you to their cabinas. Also, there is a restaurant called La Parada (near the bus stop or “la parada”) that has very good smoothie drinks and also meals for next to nothing. Good, cheap eats.

For Arenal, I do recommend the hiking tour to get closer and see a lot of the volcanic rock from bigger eruptions.

There are two major hot springs from Arenal. One is onwned/run by the nicest hotel in the area (Tabacon) and the other is Baldi Termae. Baldi is less expensive and very nice.

I took a guided hike on the El Silencio trail to see the volcano first. We saw some wildlife, like this tarantula making a modern home, and then we got rained on. The sound of the approaching rain was like a thunderclap, and no one in our group had jackets or ponchos except our guide. It started raining half-way through our tour, so we walked quickly back to the van. Here’s how menacing the sky looked when it was raining. Unfortunately, because of the rain I didn’t get to see any eruptions. Arenal Volcano is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and I didn’t see any lava, boohoo.