The Best Trip of Our Lives

May 20-23

We took Casa Batsu Jeep/Boat/Jeep from Monteverde to La Fortuna. NOTE: You must carry your luggage on your own for about 1/4 mile. You must be able to actually carry it as the ground is not level and it's not really possible to roll your luggage to the boat. It's definitely a little more work than having a driver pick you up, but it was a cheaper and faster option so we decided it was right for us.

We stayed at Hotel Arenal Kioro while in La Fortuna. We had a beautiful, huge room that overlooked Arenal Volcano and we loved the view. The hot springs and pool were also fun and the bartenders were great. The food was pretty good, but expensive. The breakfast was excellent though. 

Tabacon Hot Springs - We chose the package that included massages. We enjoyed the massages, but do note that the massages are given outside (under a roof in a private area) but if that makes you feel uncomfortable this might not be the experience for you. The smoothies they offered in the spa were complimentary and delicious! The rest of the hot springs were really cool but it was pretty crowded. We enjoyed it the most after dark when it felt the most romantic.

ATV tour with Power Wheels Adventure ATV Tours. This was SO COOL! We chose the private option so it was just myself and my husband with two guides. They showed us all sorts of animals and reptiles along the way and we got splashed with mud and they took a ton of great pictures for us. Definitely bring a bandana so you don't get dirt in your face but this was a really fun experience as someone who has never ridden an ATV before.

Arenal Volcano National Park - this was awesome, my husband and I didn't get a guide and just went alone and hiked for about 2.5 hours. We saw an incredible amount of wildlife including some venomous snakes (!) and a whole bunch of other insects and some super loud birds. This was a highlight of La Fortuna for us. Note - we had no service at the park and had to have our cab driver just agree to meet us back at a spot 2.5 hours later which was a bit difficult to plan for when we didn't know how long the trails were.

Canyoning and Rafting tour with Desafio Adventure Company - This was so fun! The canyoneering was crazy and the rafting was a workout and a thrill. The guides were great and we felt safe at all times, they had a saftey kayak following the rafts in case anyone fell out. The only thing I would point out is the ride to the river is LONG, I can't remember exactly now but it was well over an hour. We did not plan for that and I get motion sick on busses so thats something to note for sure. Protip: make friends with another group while you're on the tour, we exchanged emails with another couple and split the cost of the photos with them. I wouldn't normally encourage "cheating" but most of the photos were frankly awful as we were all in motion rafting, so we each only got a few keepers anyway which was a good deal for the $20 it cost each couple.

One note about La Fortuna is that this is definitely the spot for adventure tours and adrenaline rushes and beautiful hot springs. If you aren't into that, I would recommend skipping this area entirely. It was by far the most busy, most touristy and we got ripped off on every cab we got which was the only means of transportation for us. Even just going to Tabacon (1.4 miles from our hotel) we were forced to pay $25 USD. It was absurd, but we had no other options. If you can speak Spanish really well you will probably be better off, but I definitely felt like we were in a tourist trap the entire time we were in La Fortuna. I don't regret going at all, but if we visited again, we wouldn't return here.