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!

Good luck actually seeing the volcano!

Stay at the volcano lodge and get a Smithosonia room with a volcano view. It will be one of the best investments in an experience that you’ve ever made.

How often you get to see a live volcano? Grreat! Anyway, the volcano is covered in mist quite often, so even that it erupts quite constantly, you might not be lucky enough to see nothing much. Also keep in mind that in this kind of volcano the lava is already cooled down to rockform – you have to visit the place at night to see the cool red glow.

Got a ride with a local tour guide in a jeep out to the Volcano. We were about a kilometer away from the peak. It was incredible sitting there, listening to the eruptions, watching lava flow down the sides (the intensity varies greatly), watching the world make itself. I could taste ash on the mouth of the beer can I was drinking out of.
We went after to the hot springs, which was pleasant. I met a guy from out West, Alberta or Saskatchewan, who was one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. He had me in stitches for hours. Then I spent an hour or two hanging out with some German tourists at the hostel I was staying at. (Which happened to have a bees nest in the wall of my room.) It was a great day. There is a beautiful waterfall fairly nearby the town.
I’ve been to Arenal twice. It was about 10 years ago now. I don’t know how much the town is built up. It was a bit of a cowboy town when I was there.

Loved our time in Costa Rica