La Fortuna Travel Guide

Arenal Volcano National Park lies in northwestern Costa Rica's Alajuela province and ranks among the country's most visited protected areas. Its centerpiece is the 1,633-meter Arenal Volcano, a near-perfect cone that remained active after the catastrophic 1968 eruption and still emits steam and gas today. The park encompasses tropical rainforest, waterfalls, hot springs and old lava flows, sheltering howler monkeys, toucans, motmots, sloths and more than 400 bird species. Visitors can hike across hardened lava trails, watch the crater glow at night, soak in geothermal pools, walk suspension bridges above the canopy and enjoy a blend of geological drama and rich biodiversity that makes it a world-class destination.

La Fortuna Waterfall drops about 75 metres from a basalt cliff deep in the rainforest below Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica, plunging into an emerald pool where mist breeds small rainbows. Reaching it means descending some 500 log-and-stone steps through vine-tangled jungle, past butterflies and the echoes of howler monkeys. The pool is bracing and the current strong — swim only in the marked zone. Morning is prime time: sunlight hits the falls head-on and crowds are thin. The climb back up is a workout, but birdsong and the roar of the falls make every step worth it. Most visitors pair it with the nearby Arenal Hanging Bridges in the same day.

Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park lies in the rainforest at the foot of Arenal Volcano, a series of suspension bridges strung through the canopy — the longest spans nearly 100 metres, hanging tens of metres above the forest floor. From bridge height, creeks and waterfalls run below while the richest layer of the rainforest unfolds at eye level: toucans, hummingbirds, three-toed sloths and howler monkeys in the branches, with the perfect volcanic cone at the end of the trail on clear days. The park also offers waterfall lookouts and frog and serpentarium exhibits. Early morning light-shafts through the mist are golden for birding and photography; a naturalist guide makes the hidden jungle come alive.

Among La Fortuna's many hot springs, Tabacon takes the all-natural route: instead of pumping thermal water into concrete pools, the resort lets the volcano-heated Tabcon River cascade through tropical gardens, forming a chain of stone pools and waterfall curtains that climb from roughly 25°C to 50°C. Day passes are capped daily and usually bundle a buffet dinner, so you can soak into the night with the silhouette of Arenal overhead—steam and starlight in the same frame, the most lavish stop after a hike.

Baldi turns hot springs into a full-blown water park: several dozen pools stack down the hillside at temperatures from the low 30s to above 40°C, with heated water slides threaded between them that drop you into the lower pools with a splash. A swim-up bar and waterfall walls punctuate the tropical gardens, while the day pass—typically covering buffet meals and drinks—offers some of the best value in La Fortuna. Families with kids and sore-legged hikers share the same steaming water, and both leave satisfied.

Lake Arenal is Costa Rica's largest lake, created in the late 1970s when a hydroelectric dam flooded valleys, villages and farmland, lifting the waterline to sit squarely in front of the volcano's cone. Today it both feeds the national grid and ranks as a wind-sports hotspot: from November to April, steady gales fill the lake with whitecaps for windsurfing and kitesurfing. On windless mornings the entire volcano reflects perfectly on the surface—the quietest big spectacle anywhere around La Fortuna.