hgraham

My husband and I are going to Costa Rica for the first time in mid-December. We will be two nights at the Arenal Observatory, one night at Tabacon, then to Manuel Antonio for six nights. Do we need to have any tours we want to do all lined up before we go?? Or can we make arrangements when we get there? Specifically, we're interested in the volcano night hike the A.O. offers from 4-7 p.m. Maybe it's offered at all the hotels in the Arenal area? Has anyone done this hike and is it worthwhile? Also, how about the Arenal Hanging Bridges or the La Fortuna Water Fall? We might be interested in the Arenal SkyTrek but if they're booked when we get there, that could be okay, too, because I'm a big chicken! We could try another canopy tour in M.A. Thanks for any input.

Molly2

My husband and I did the night tour last summer, and it was a memorable experience to say the least! I do believe that is offered by at least one other company, probably several. Arenal Observatory Lodge doesn't {or didn't} limit the number of participents on their tour. You could sign up on the spot. In our instance, this was not such a good thing, as it made for a chaotic experience.

I'll top that part of my summer trip report for you, as it would exhaust me trying to go into the details again - what a mess!

I don't think that you need to have tours lined up, but do pester the management to be sure what you're getting.

hgraham

Molly2: Thank you so much for your reply. I wasn't sure what "topping" meant, but I found your trip report. (I'm new to these forums!) I'm not sure we'll do the night hike, but for sure we will do the morning hike they offer. Also, maybe December will have less rain than when you were there?? Glad to hear the Observatory Lodge restaurant was good, although I'm a little concerned your husband got sick! We will also be without a car so I'm thinking maybe we should plan on getting there later the first day (seeing other things on the way from San Jose), spend the next day at the Observatory Lodge, hiking, etc., then leave early the next day for Tabacon. I heard Tabacon offers free shuttles into La Fortuna, so I guess we could catch a taxi from there to the waterfall and the hanging bridges. Would that work?

Molly2

You're quite welcome, hgraham, and welcome to the board!

Regarding the food at the lodge - we forgot to buy bottled water, and rather than make a long trip back to the office, my husband elected to drink quite a bit of tap water the night before. That might well account for his problems!

I don't think that with one or two days you'll run out of trails or activities, with or without the nighthike. The grounds are just beautiful! If the weather is very good, you might be able to hike to the waterfall you're talking about {there is also a short trail starting near the office leading to another small but pretty waterfall}. We weren't so fortunate.

As far as weather in December and arranging activities from Tabacon, I'll defer to those more knowledgable.

Do give a trip report!

hgraham

I'm assuming from what you wrote, we don't have to bring bottled water with us, but that we can buy it at the Observatory Lodge office? We are getting one of the Smithsonian rooms so maybe it's not as far a walk as your room was. I'm not sure. We both drink a lot of water as a rule and I heard the water in Costa Rica is safe but since we do drink a lot, maybe we should go with bottled.
The waterfall we were interested in seeing is mentioned in the guidebooks I've read. It's called La Fortuna and is 246' and there's a road to an overlook but you must pay $3 to hike down a steep trail to the base. It would be great if we could hike to it from the Observatory.

Molly2

Yes, you can buy the water at the office, which should be considerably closer to your room than La Casona. We did drink small amounts of tap water elsewhere in Costa Rica without incident. I guess we'll never know what caused my husband's stomach distress - just thankful it didn't last long!

I know that the hike you're talking about can be done either independently or as a tour from the lodge. I believe that it is fairly long and difficult, but, if the weather is with you and you're in good shape, I'd go for it!

Molly2

That should read "IS considerably closer than La Casona" - time for bed!

hgraham

Thanks again for the info.
Do you know why the Observatory Lodge wants you to get there by 5:00 p.m.? We are hiring a private driver (our one splurge!) our first day to drive us from Alajuela to the O.L. I was thinking maybe we could have dinner in LaFortuna before driving to the Lodge since we'll be having all our meals there the next day.

Molly2

Sorry, I don't know. We arrived around 1-2 pm and had to wait an hour or so to check in. I THINK that the office closed at 8 p.m. when we were there.

Perhaps you can call them from Alajuela or La Fortuna the day of arrival?

dcmalia

I don't know if you're still looking for info, but I just booked an Arenal night hike with Desafio, aka Monteverde Tours. It leavs at 3:30 p.m. for a couple of hours, then you get dropped off at Baldi or Tabacon hot springs from 6-9 p.m. Cost for guided hike, hot springs and all transport is $39/each. Check out www.monteverdetours.com or e-mail Janet at [email protected]

We'll be back Dec. 4th, so I'll post a trip report about that time with how it went down... Good luck!

hgraham

Thank you to Molly2 and dcmalia for the info! I will look for your trip report before we leave Dec. 12. It sounds like your tour is a pretty good deal because doesn't just entrance to the hot springs cost almost $30? The night hike tour with the Observatory Lodge is $25 per person. I think we'll wait until we get there before deciding on tours.

TripleSecDelay

There's an interesting thread titled "Don't Drink the Water" on the European board here...FYI...

LA_FadeAway

I see you asked about the Hanging Bridges too. We did them this past July and found it to be a nice experience. The foilage, river, waterfall, and views are all beautiful and we happened across a family of howler monkeys too. It only takes about one and a half to two hours to do the full hike. I'd do it if you have time!

shillmac

TripleSec--can't find that thread. On the European Fodor's board? I've looked at 200 post titles--is it buried?

hgraham

LA Fadeaway: Thanks for info on the Arenal Hanging Bridges. I think we'll definitely do that hike. Is a guide necessary?
TripleSec: I also could not find the thread on "Don't drink the water" but would really like to read it.

TripleSecDelay

Shoot, guys, I typed Euro when I meant US.

Here it is :

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=1

Sorry for the confusion.

swigswig

the fortuna fall is great, a steep downward walk so the walk back is a bit of a workout but fine if you take your time. it is magnificent and make sure you have good directions to it...it is back off a little dirt road about 4 miles. also the fall at eh observatory is a great flat hike. it is smaller but also gorgeous..we also saw morpho butterflies (big bright blue) on this walk. the office closes at 5, no 24 hr reception. i drank the water everwhere and had no problems. have fun! the walk at sky trek is nothing to be afraid of...you are up in the top of the canopy so it puts you at eye level with birds etc. have fun!

hgraham

Thanks, swigswig.

swigswig

Make sure to take binoculars as the birds from the Observatory are out of this world. The La Fortuna waterfall is now $6 per person. The food is a bit overpriced but it is good, we had a car and drove into town a lot--the food was still expensive. The pizza and salad are good at Mamamia's?
May I suggest the Marlin (close to entrance of Park)when you get to MA? The mahimahi casado is great! And pretty affordable. Also, make sure and get a guide when you go to the park in MA (20 per person and 7 entrance fee plus a tip to get across the water). We saw SO SO SO much wildlife with our guide Mario ...take lots of ones and fives for tips. Everyone wants a tip (except for restaraunts and taxis) The gift shop at the blue monkey is great, all proceeds go to Kids Saving the Rainforest. We also did the kayak tour of the mangroves which was a bit uneventful after the Nat'l Park. We had a close encounter with the white faced monkeys there but we were already spoiled being awoken by howlers every morning and watching the white faced monkeys play right outside our room.

dcmalia

Definitely recommend the night hike we booked. We saw lava rumbling down the sides of the cone!! Amazing!! We were picked up at our hotel (Volcano Lodge) at 3:40 p.m. by a van that picked up several other couples. On our way, the guide told us about the hot springs and pointed out places along the road.

THEN he saw a bunch of cars pulled over, so we all jumed out and there was a TUCAN in the tree! TWO TUCANS! We all got a look before they flew away. Then we all got back into the van and pulled over again only a few minutes later b/c there were MONKEYS playing and hanging upside down by the side of the road!! Got pics of those!!

Then we did the hike, which was OK. There were lots of other people on the trail (Sunset trail?) so it was kinda like tourist central. But our guide was cool and told us about strangler figs, leaf cutter ants, medicine you can make with plants, etc.

Then we hiked to this look out spot where all the tours went and our van was waiting with a cooler of fruit juice drinks. As night fell, we saw more erruptions. Think it has to be dark to see them. Then we hiked down a little ways to see this green lagoon, which was mostly just a dark lagoon b/c it was dark by then...

At about 6:30, we left and went to the hot springs. They usually take people to Baldi Hot Springs, but we requested Tabacon and paid more to go there. Definitely recommend Tabacon!! You have to pay $10 deposit for each towel and locker lock, but you get it back. We didn't understand Spanish and didn't know it was a deposit, so we were pissed off and thought they were trying to rip us off. But they weren't. Silly Americans!

There is a maze of hot and cold springs, very awesome - Plus a wet bar and a slide! Whoo-hoo! The springs have a free shuttle to take you back.

Again, we booked this for $39/each through the following company:
http://www.monteverdetours.com My contact was Janet at [email protected]

Good luck!