We are only spending two days in Arenal and would like to spend most of the time relaxing in the hot springs/getting massages in the spa...

But I was thinking we would spend one half day doing the hike up to the volcano..has anyone done this is? Is it worth it?

No-- but we very much enjoyed the Hanging Bridges trail near Arenal. (I think it's near Lost Iguana?) And we also much enjoyed many of the little trails at Observatory Lodge.

you will see little, there are lots of better tours to do there.
check out my La Fortuna travelblog here:

http://costa.rica.typepad.com/la_for...ome/index.html

My husband and I took a horseback ride to la catarata with Sunset Tours. It was just the two of us with a guide. Our horses were very good and sure-footed. We did lots of running - not one behind the other, but pretty free to do what we wanted within reason. The ride was at least one hour to the water fall where we walked the many steps down and took a dip. We both loved it! We went to the hot springs after - we needed it! The hike at the volcano fields was very worthwhile. You don't really go up the mountain. We were able to hear and see the lava rocks coming down the mountainside. The guide was knowledgable. If you can get there at dark, you can see the red of the lava.

Guanacaste - your blog is very helpful - I just bookmarked it.

I am definitely interested in both of the hotels you mentioned but I can't seem to locate a website for either one. Could you help point me in the right direction?

Thanks so much!

A trip to La Fortuna Waterfall for sure. Whether by horseback or car.

You can do an afternoon hike to the volcano, takes maybe a couple of hours, our guide was very informative and interesting. Then as we came out of the forest into the open land the volcano was putting on quite a show.

We went on a whole day boat tour to Cano Negro Preserve...it was really nice and we also did a 1/2 day slow class III river rafting on the Sarapiqui River..loads of fun.

The highpoint of our 4 days in Arenal was the Cano Negro day trip--fantastic wildlife! I did enjoy the volcano hike with a guide. Have fun!

thanks everyone - think we'll opt out of the rafting b/c we have class 5 rapids one state over all the time (gauley river)...and the cano negro sounds nice but too long --- so i think we will do the hike b/c many of you liked it, and relax in the hot springs and spas the rest of the time (most of our activities will be during our 5 days in manuel antonio)...thanks for the tips