Bucket list experience:
For just over forty years Arenal was one of the world’s safest active volcanoes to visit – a rumbling cone set in lush forest, spewing out lava that glowed red in the night.
Today, Arenal sleeps but remains truly spectacular – oozing hot rivers and springs, with a near-perfect cone, fuming puffs of gas, and shrouded in black ash. On its slopes, lush forest fringes crumbling, congealed lava fields, and the trees are rich in wildlife – including peccaries, ocelots and capuchin monkeys.
The forests are beautiful, cut with numerous wildlife trails and dripping with waterfalls. There are spectacular views of the mountains’ perfect cone at every turn – framed by rainforest trees.
The entire area is protected as a national park, a larger conservation area and a series of private reserves – all part of the 204,000-hectare Arenal Conservation Area.
Over the years, a series of luxurious hotels and a string of hot river spas grew around its flanks and ecotourism parks with canopy walkways – at toucan’s eye level – were built in the beautiful cloud forests around the mountain.
It’s illegal and potentially dangerous to summit the mountain itself, but there are great hikes in the area; trails run across lava fields through pine woods filled with peccary and parakeets. Other trails lead to waterfalls like the 75m-high La Fortuna, which drops into a refreshing, clear-water pool that you can hike to and swim in.
There’s a range of other bucket list things to do in and around the national park too.
Canopy walkways offer monkey-eye views and the park environs have some of the country’s longest and fastest zip lines. There’s also rainforest river kayaking, tubing and white-water rafting, mountain biking and canyoning.
Want more recommendations in this destination?
Destination Guide >El Castillo, Alajuela Province, Costa Rica
This small centre just outside the Park has atrium habitats housing hundreds of colourful rainforest butterflies, as well as other small rainforest fauna and an orchid exhibit. You’ll leave with a full appreciation of the extraordinarily diverse range of butterflies you may not see in the wild. Open daily.
Best for ages: 4+ | £11
Arenal National Park, Alajuela Province, Costa Rica
A beautiful 75m-high waterfall that drops into a refreshing, clear-water pool surrounded by moss-covered boulders. A wonderful place to swim.
Best for ages: 13+ | Free
Arenal Volcano National Park (the part of the volcano you can access) is 18km from downtown La Fortuna and you can get there by hire car or taxi for the cab fare (about US$30 one way) plus the park entry cost of US$15. Cabs will also drop you at trails and pick you up at the other end.
Some of the attractions (like the canopy walkways and the La Fortuna waterfall hikes) can be done solo. You’ll need a local guide, however, to hike in Volcan Arenal National Park whose entrance lies some 12km west of Fortuna Town. These are easily organised through hotels and guest houses or local agencies in La Fortuna village itself.
Organised tours make life easy by providing all logistics and knowing what’s best to do where and when. They’ll often also offer combos that combine several bucket list activities into one action-packed day.
Or you can base yourself in the park at Arenal Observatory Lodge – the only hotel in the park, with wonderful up-close volcano cone views and forest trails running from the lodge itself.
The Arenal volcano region has its own regional climate. The driest period – when the volcano’s perfect cone is most easily seen – is January-late April. Rain is heaviest in June, October and November. However, the area can cloud over at any time of the year.
Average temperatures are warm and humid all year round – varying by only a few degrees, as you’d expect in the tropics and peaking at around 25 °C in April and May.
Our selection of the best Viator tours of this attraction or activity
La Fortuna
$63 | Rating 4.76 / 5 [77 ratings]
Tour supplied by:
La Fortuna
$63 | Rating 4.79 / 5 [138 ratings]
Tour supplied by:
La Fortuna
$80 | Rating 4.85 / 5 [332 ratings]
Tour supplied by:
La Fortuna
$88 | Rating 4.96 / 5 [359 ratings]
Tour supplied by:
Our writer’s picks of the best places to stay near this experience, closest first
Arenal Volcano National Park, Alajuela Province, Costa Rica[3.3 miles]
Originally built for scientists, this is the only hotel inside Arenal National Park; which guests have to themselves until gates opens at 8am. Volcano views are astounding.
Official star rating:
La Fortuna, Alajuela Province, Costa Rica[3.3 miles]
A gorgeous, sustainable rainforest retreat, close to the Arenal Volcano National Park, that harnesses the healing power of the Tabacon Thermal River.
Official star rating:
San Carlos, Alajuela Province, Costa Rica[6.2 miles]
Private in-villa hot spring baths and vast plunge pools, four-posters, marble-lined bathrooms; this adults-only mountainside resort is Arenal’s most luxurious. Adults only.
Official star rating:
Fortuna, Alajuela Province, Costa Rica[6.4 miles]
A stylish, family-orientated luxury hotel with villas set in lush jungle gardens overlooking Arenal volcano’s perfect cone. It’s also home to one of the best spas in the region.
Official star rating:
Destination guides including or relevant to this experience
Costa Rica
Rainforests, powdery beaches, white-water rivers and towering volcanoes: this relaxed Central American country offers exceptional wilderness adventures in stunning landscapes.
Our writer’s recommendations of other bucket list experiences our writer says you must do in this destination, closest first
Monteverde, Alajuela Province, Costa Rica[19.3 miles]
This rugged mountain, misty cloud forest is a biodiversity hotspot, with canopy walkways and zip-lines through rainforest trees encrusted with orchids and covered in thick carpets of dripping moss.
Best for ages: 8+ | Free
Costa Rica[108.1 miles]
Stringently protected, crawling with life, astonishingly diverse, Costa Rica’s protected forests and reefs have inspired successful conservational tourism worldwide.
Best for ages: 13+ | Free
Other worthwhile experiences near this experience if you have time or interest..
La Fortuna, Alajuela Province, Costa Rica[6.3 miles]
Located 10 minutes from La Fortuna, this small but authentic hot spring facility has several pools, surrounded by thick rainforest, fed by mineral-rich underground hot springs. Water temperatures range from a warm 32°C to a hot 41°C. You can sip on cocktails as you soak.
Best for ages: 8+ | £8
Bagaces, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica[53.8 miles]
This resort has one of the least-visited hot springs in the country – a 160-foot river flowing a thermo mineral gorge, surrounded by bird-filled tropical dry forests. Eight hot springs mingle with river water, creating pools or varying temperature water. There’s one special pool where you can apply mud to the skin.
Best for ages: 8+ | Free
Bajos del Toro, Alajuela Province, Costa Rica[55 miles]
Easy to visit, Costa Rica’s biggest waterfall drops into a deep pool in a forest-swathed bowl in the mountains near San Jose.
Best for ages: 8+ | Free
Poas Volcano National Park, Alajuela Province, Costa Rica[61.8 miles]
A spectacular steaming volcanic rim you can almost drive up to – easy to visit on your way to or from the airport.
Best for ages: 10+ | £10
Round-ups that include this experience
Multiple countries
From traversing sand dunes, to walking on glaciers, through canyons, up mountains and along ancient city walls, here’s our round-up of the world’s best walks. Each walk can be tackled in a day or less with a moderate level of fitness and no technical ability.
![Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve [zip-line]](https://familyhotelfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/Costa-Rica-Monteverde-Cloud-Forest1-SH.jpg)
