Arenal Volcano

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.

Amazing. Awoken at 3 in the morning by the erupting volcano outside my room.

Rent horses and climb up the volcano. It’s incredible!