Costa Rica Still Delivers!
The Arenal Volcano in central CR is active but hasn’t erupted in over 10 years
Costa Rica, the land of volcanos, rain forests, spider monkeys, sloths, and nice beaches on both the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, has long been a must-see destination for adventure seekers. In addition to the above attractions, there are also yoga retreats, geothermal spas, jungle hikes, surfing camps, ziplining, white water rafting, hanging bridges, and plenty of other activities to keep you busy…or limit it to one or two and spend the rest of the time at the beach/pool enjoying the tropical weather!
This Central America country is easily reached from the U.S. via direct flights to San Jose (capital) or Liberia (closer to the Pacific coast). If you arrive in San Jose, as the majority of visitors do, and are staying elsewhere, you can rent a car, take a short connecting flight, or arrange private transportation. Just keep in mind that roads are slow, usually with moderate to heavy traffic, so allow additional time if taking any type of ground transportation, to reach your final destination.
Costa Rica is loaded with things to see/do and places to visit. We visited the Arenal Volcano/La Fortuna region first followed by Quepos/Manuel Antonio National Park. Once we landed in San Jose, we chose a rental car as our mode of transportation to reach the Arenal area. The roads getting there were well maintained although slow, mainly due to traffic (Highway 1 going west from San Jose/airport) and the lower speed limits on the curvy, two-lane road (#702) out of San Ramon to La Fortuna.
La Fortuna is the town closest to the Arenal Volcano National Park and has a nice center in which to walk around, shop, and eat. A few miles west of town is the Tabacon Resort & Spa which provides complimentary guest access (plus exclusive early entry) to the popular Tabacon Hot Springs. The hot springs, originating from within the volcano close by, provide a soothing environment among the maze of streams (some man-made to capture the natural flowing water), pools, waterfalls, and lounge areas. A bit touristy at times, especially at the large swimming pool by the main check-in/restaurant building, but it is still worth doing especially if you get there early before the tours arrive. Tip - walk up the pathways to find areas where its less crowded to better enjoy the experience!
A little further down the road and close to the Lake Arenal Dam is the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park. This is a beautiful loop hike through the rain forest where you will cross several hanging bridges over the valleys below. You will probably hear and maybe see monkeys in the trees at some point! Be sure and dress appropriately (just in case) and have everything covered. We forgot our backpack cover and it was soaked (plus the camera lens inside) when we finished.
The national park surrounding the volcano also has several hiking areas with wildlife around and a couple ziplining companies that were pretty good. While Arenal is considered an active volcano, it is currently “sleeping” as it has not had any eruption activity since 2010.
Following Arenal, we took a short puddle jumper flight on a Costa Rican airline to Quepos and the Pacific coast. One note about flying out of the La Fortuna “airport” – don’t expect much and keep in mind you’re in a foreign country. No detectors, everything will be weighed (including you – they are prop planes!) and the airstrip is in the middle of a farmer’s field and apparently livestock tends to venture across occasionally. This didn’t happen when we flew but we heard the pilots sometimes do a pass-by to make sure it’s clear!
Quepos is a coastal town close to Manuel Antonio National Park which offers plenty of wildlife, protected beaches, and hikes through the jungle. The overall area is quite busy due to the tourism, beaches, and vacation homes on the hills overlooking the Pacific and jungle valleys.
There are several hotels and resorts either on the ocean or inland however GAIA Hotel & Reserve is somewhat unique (as is another choice I will come back to soon). In addition to a luxurious hilltop boutique resort with great views of the forest terrain below and distant ocean, it also is a sanctuary for very photogenic scarlet macaws that regularly fly around the entrance to the resort. You may also meet other local visitors around the property including spider monkeys, sloths, toucans, and other jungle life. The below pics were taken from the property and our pool lounge chair!
The national park offers guided or self-walking hiking options after purchasing the entrance ticket. The hikes are easy on wide, fairly flat paths unless you venture off on side trails. Wildlife is abundant, especially close to the beaches, where the resident monkeys have figured out that some tourists don’t watch their food and backpacks very well while enjoying the sand and water! Sloths are also in the forest trees, if you can see them (they don’t move!), in addition to other native animals, amphibians, and tropical flowers.
On the way to/from MANP, you will pass a very unique hotel and restaurant called El Avion that will appeal to any aviation aficionados out there. They have placed two old airplane fuselages on the property – a 727 converted into a hotel room extending out of the jungle canopy plus a cargo plane within the main restaurant across the road – which is something you don’t expect to see in this jungle environment. It’s worth a quick stop to take a few selfies, especially inside the cargo plane cockpit!
The Pacific coastal region in the NW part of Costa Rica, closer to the Liberia international airport (smaller than the San Jose airport but has flights from Atlanta, Houston, LA, Miami, NYC and others), also offers several popular yoga retreat resorts if you’re a “yogie”. Golf and other activities exist around the area as well for the non-flexible, while their partners are chanting “Namaste”, making it a win/win for all.
Costa Rica continues to deliver great adventure, tropical wildlife, and relaxing beaches so check it out!