Arenal Volcano Area in Northwest Costa Rica

The day after flying into the domestic airport in San Jose we drove up to La Fortuna to visit the area around Arenal Volcano. From San Jose, we took the number 1 highway to San Ramon then turned north toward La Fortuna. The highway is an excellent two lane road with frequent passing lanes. The biggest drawback is the volume of traffic. Make sure that you leave lots of time so that the frequent traffic jams don't increase your stress.

Coti eating an Iguana

Once through the town of San Ramon, the road narrows and follows the contour of the mountains. This road is very twisty and windy. The area is mainly agricultural with little towns along the way.  Watch out for the 25 Km school zones in each town. The road usually has two toupees (speed bumps) in these areas and your vehicle will take flight if you don't slow down. You also need to watch out for the narrow bridges. One lane usually had a ceda (yield sign). Signage along the road is good as long as you know which town is next. Even if you do not know Spanish it is easy to figure out what the road signs mean. The most interesting sign I saw do not feed the Coti!

One interesting stop along the road is the suspension bridge over a deep canyon. On the north end of the bridge is a nice restaurant and a small deck at the river's edge to view the canyon and bridge. You might see some interesting birds at the feeders on the platform as the put fruit out for the birds. This is a great rest spot.

There is a fairly long stretch of road where there is not a lot of development. The whole trip from San Jose airport to our hotel just outside of La Fortuna took us about three hours to drive in good weather. 

When we did the drive back to San Jose to catch our flight out the weather was rainy and the clouds in places were so low that you could not see very far in front of the car. Headlights were definitely needed! 

La Fortuna is a small town with a gas station on the one-way street travelling west through the centre of town. The town has a variety of tourist services available from restaurants, tour offices, souvenir shops and accommodation. There is also an airport just outside of town if you do not wish to drive, hire tourist transportation or take the bus.

View of Canyon and Volcano 

Outside of town towards Arenal Volcano are some high-end resorts and a variety of activities. Our accommodation was the Nayara Hotel and Spa a Costa Rican hotel. This is a beautiful property consisting of two different hotels that you could use the services at both hotels. Between the two proprieties is a canyon that has been preserved for wildlife. Because of the reserves within the property and the things they do to preserve the environment the resort is considered ecotourism. There are several pools in the resorts and some are identified for adults only. You can also book a variety of tours from the hotel and they also specialize in private tours.

Our first full day we drove up to Arenal National Park and hiked to the 1998 lava flow. There is a second area you can visit for the entry fee that allows you to walk down to the lake. The lake is man-made when the dam was built and provides fresh water and electricity for the area.

The town of El Castillo is very small and to reach this area you need to travel a bumpy gravel road. This town has accommodation, zip lining, river rafting, hiking, a butterfly sanctuary and reptile display. We visited the Butterfly Conservatory and this was very informative. The owner is an expat from the US and has studied and cultivated butterflies for years. If you are thinking that you want to visit make sure you have enough cash credit cards are not accepted. They also accept volunteers from around the world to work at the place. We met a man from Denmark during our visit. www.butterflyconservatory.org 

Day two we woke up to a perfectly wonderful cloudless view of Arenal Volcano. We could see the top smoking and I quickly grabbed my camera and went in search of the perfect picture. The Volcano is frequently in the clouds but we were very fortunate to see it so clearly. By the afternoon the clouds were back and it started to rain. One of our guides told us that it rains 400 days a year in this area even in the dry season.

We did a nature tour at the resort and Bill was excited to see a three-toed sloth. We spent the afternoon driving the north edge of the lake. There is not a lot along this area and it was difficult to stop and see the lake. A lot of the property in this area is private or tourist accommodation. Some people were taking a pontoon boat out on the lake but it was so rainy we choose not to do this.A

On Hanging Bridge

Motmot Bird

Our fourth day started at 5 am. We had booked a birding tour with Mystic Hanging Bridges www.misticopark.com and had to be there by 6:10 am. The night before was a steady rain but it had stopped. When we arrived at check in it started to rain again so we had a coffee and granola bar hoping the rain would lighten up which it did. The tour was small and we had a wonderful guide named Indira. We saw several hummingbirds, a variety of birds, learned about the local vegetation and watched the squirrel monkeys search for food.

When we returned to the hotel we had a great breakfast and then spent time resting before going the Eco Termales at 4 pm. The hot pools here are very different from Canadian hot springs. The water was very clear and no sulphur small. There were multiple pools to soak in.  We started in the coolest and moved towards the warmer pools. One pool had black sand on the bottom and the pools were built with cement and round rocks. The only allow 80 people into the pools during each five hour period of time. You can also choose to eat at the buffet or a la carte restaurant. Your bracelet has a barcode so you can order all your drinks and food using your bracelet and then they collect when you leave. For more information, you can visit their website at www.ecotermalesfortuna.cr