Arenal - trip report
Jan 23rd, 2009, 05:06 AM
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Arenal - trip report
We just returned from 6 wonderful nights in Costa Rica - we spent 5 nights in Arenal and 1 night in Alajeula. Fodor's was my best source for planning help so I wanted to provide some details from our trip in hopes that it is helpful for others. Let me just say that I am already ready to go back!!
<b>Transportation</b>
We flew direct from Atlanta to San Jose for just over $300 each. We thought this was a great deal. We landed in San Jose around 1:00pm and were on the road to Arenal with our Tricolor rental by 2:30pm. The drive took us less than 3 hours, but boy was it a long 3 hours! Windy roads, thick fog, huge potholes...
We did have an issue returning the car so I would recommend to anyone renting a car there to take pictures of it when you pick it up. They gave us a total junker to begin with and the check out sheet was marked up everywhere, but they accused us of doing "new" damage to the vehicle when we returned it. Hopefully Capital One Visa will work it out for us since we are covered by their insurance.
<b>Lodging</b>
We were supposed to stay the 1st night at the Poas Volcano Lodge, but we had to change our plans at the last minute due to the earthquake. I still have not heard from the lodge, but I read on Trip Advisor that everyone there is okay despite some damage to the lodge and road closures along the way.
I was able to get a reservation at <b>Lomas del Volcan</b> for 1 night. This place was better that I expected. The rate was $110 (breakfast and taxes included) for a nice, large cabina. We would have had a great volcano view if it wasn't totally clouded in. We were tired upon arrival so just ate at the hotel that night. It was okay, but we got our first glipmse of the overpriced, underwhelming cuisine of Costa Rica that we had heard about.
We spent the next 4 nights at <b>Arenal Observatory Lodge</b>. We LOVED this place. We had a junior suite for $172/night (taxes and breakfast included). The room was huge with floor to ceiling windows of the Arenal Volcano.
Again, food in the restaurant was not great and overpriced. I couldn't get enough of their gallo pinto for breakfast, though. We ate dinner there twice just to avoid the drive back down one of the worst roads I have ever seen. We actually timed it a few times, and it takes around 20 minutes. But if you plan right, you can avoid driving it more than once a day.
Our last night was spent in Alajuela at the <b>Siempre Verde B&B</b> on the Doka Coffee Plantation. I had read about it on this forum and it was a nice end to the trip. There are about 6 rooms there. We took one with a nice view of the property. It was $65/night (taxes and breakfast included).
This was the only place where we had critter issues. The windows don't close all the way so we had mosquitoes buzzing in our ears all night and a massive spider when we got back from dinner. But, hey, it was Costa Rica so we weren't too bothered by it. The staff there was very nice - can't say enough good things about them. However, be prepared with your Spanish as the reservations person is the only one that speaks English and she was only there for about 5 minutes.
more to come on our activities in Arenal...
<b>Transportation</b>
We flew direct from Atlanta to San Jose for just over $300 each. We thought this was a great deal. We landed in San Jose around 1:00pm and were on the road to Arenal with our Tricolor rental by 2:30pm. The drive took us less than 3 hours, but boy was it a long 3 hours! Windy roads, thick fog, huge potholes...
We did have an issue returning the car so I would recommend to anyone renting a car there to take pictures of it when you pick it up. They gave us a total junker to begin with and the check out sheet was marked up everywhere, but they accused us of doing "new" damage to the vehicle when we returned it. Hopefully Capital One Visa will work it out for us since we are covered by their insurance.
<b>Lodging</b>
We were supposed to stay the 1st night at the Poas Volcano Lodge, but we had to change our plans at the last minute due to the earthquake. I still have not heard from the lodge, but I read on Trip Advisor that everyone there is okay despite some damage to the lodge and road closures along the way.
I was able to get a reservation at <b>Lomas del Volcan</b> for 1 night. This place was better that I expected. The rate was $110 (breakfast and taxes included) for a nice, large cabina. We would have had a great volcano view if it wasn't totally clouded in. We were tired upon arrival so just ate at the hotel that night. It was okay, but we got our first glipmse of the overpriced, underwhelming cuisine of Costa Rica that we had heard about.
We spent the next 4 nights at <b>Arenal Observatory Lodge</b>. We LOVED this place. We had a junior suite for $172/night (taxes and breakfast included). The room was huge with floor to ceiling windows of the Arenal Volcano.
Again, food in the restaurant was not great and overpriced. I couldn't get enough of their gallo pinto for breakfast, though. We ate dinner there twice just to avoid the drive back down one of the worst roads I have ever seen. We actually timed it a few times, and it takes around 20 minutes. But if you plan right, you can avoid driving it more than once a day.
Our last night was spent in Alajuela at the <b>Siempre Verde B&B</b> on the Doka Coffee Plantation. I had read about it on this forum and it was a nice end to the trip. There are about 6 rooms there. We took one with a nice view of the property. It was $65/night (taxes and breakfast included).
This was the only place where we had critter issues. The windows don't close all the way so we had mosquitoes buzzing in our ears all night and a massive spider when we got back from dinner. But, hey, it was Costa Rica so we weren't too bothered by it. The staff there was very nice - can't say enough good things about them. However, be prepared with your Spanish as the reservations person is the only one that speaks English and she was only there for about 5 minutes.
more to come on our activities in Arenal...
Jan 23rd, 2009, 04:18 PM
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Thanks for the report...you did get a great deal on your flights - I'm jealous!! Also looking forward to hearing what you did for activities during your stay.
I have a question for you regarding your junior suite as we also have one reserved for next summer. I haven't been able to determine from any other reports if you can see the lava at night from the bed in the jr suite. Many who have stayed in the Smithsonian rooms have said you can simply watch the lava without getting up in the middle of the night, while others have said that you have to go on to your patio to see the view because of the overhang. Just wondering what was your experience?
Thanks!
I have a question for you regarding your junior suite as we also have one reserved for next summer. I haven't been able to determine from any other reports if you can see the lava at night from the bed in the jr suite. Many who have stayed in the Smithsonian rooms have said you can simply watch the lava without getting up in the middle of the night, while others have said that you have to go on to your patio to see the view because of the overhang. Just wondering what was your experience?
Thanks!
Jan 24th, 2009, 10:30 AM
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Tasha - We had room #32 which had 2 beds parallel to the windows (if that makes sense). We pretty much just watched the lava from our patio. To be honest, there wasn't as much flow as we had thought, but the volcano was pretty clouded in for our entire visit. We got to see lots of red hot rocks tumbling down, though. On our last night, the top was clear and there was a small but steady strem of lava flowing down (on the left-hand side if you are looking at it) which was totally cool.
The room next to us (#33) had the beds side-by-side directly in front of the windows so they probably had a pretty good view from their beds. I'll post pics of our room when I remember how to link to it.
Earthtraveler - We rented from Tricolor since it was the most recommended on this board.
The room next to us (#33) had the beds side-by-side directly in front of the windows so they probably had a pretty good view from their beds. I'll post pics of our room when I remember how to link to it.
Earthtraveler - We rented from Tricolor since it was the most recommended on this board.
Jan 24th, 2009, 10:56 AM
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<b>Activities</b>
There was so much to see and do in Arenal that we found 5 nights to be a nice amount of time.
<b>La Fortuna waterfall:</b> We were told you could hike to it (4 km), but we realized the "hike" was just a walk along a flat, dirt road so we drove up to it instead. Then you have to walk down a little ways to the waterfall. Wow, talk about a powerful fall. My husband got in and swam around a bit in the chilly water.
<b>Sky Trek:</b> This was one of the highlights of our trip. It was a beautiful and cool morning so we decided to do the 10:30am trip. We were pleased to find that Sky Trek's location is very convenient to AOL. We took the tram up to the top of the canopy did our practice lines and were ready to go. It was a blast, but I'm not going to lie - it was scary! And not just scary at first - it was scary each time I went. But it is so worth it. You can see the lake and the volcano from up there. The guides were fantastic, and we met some great people in our group. I definitely recommend doing this.
<b>Cerro Chato:</b> This was a hike from the AOL property up to the top of dormant crater next to Arenal. It was probably one of the toughest hikes we have done. It didn't help that the weather wasn't so great that morning - rainy and foggy. We set out and quickly realized that it was entirely straight up hill.
About 1/3 of the way up we heard a loud roar and stopped dead in our tracks. We retreated a little bit to try and figure out a game plan. We didn't have a weapon or any sort of protections so we debated for several minutes about what it could be and what we should do. We decided to go back down part ways until we ran into the guide who was way behind us with an older couple. They finally caught up to us the the guide totally cracked up when we described what we heard. Yep - it was a howler monkey! This was our 2nd day in CR so we hadn't yet seen or heard the howlers. We seriously though it was a mountain lion or something, but he said we wouldn't have heard the mountain lion until it was on our backs
Anyway, so we continued up to the top and ran into a couple coming down who said they couldn't see the lake from the top due to the fog and that it looked too dangerous to climb down to the lake. We checked it out for ourselves and decided the same once we saw how steep and slippery the downhill to the lake was. As disappointed as I was, I think this was the right decision given the weather conditions. AOL estimates 4 hours for this hike round trip. I think we got up there in just over an hour (including our little stop) and climbed back down in about 30 minutes. You must wear proper shoes and be in fairly good shape to do this hike.
<b>Cano Negro:</b> I am so glad I researched this forum before the trip because this is where I learned about the Cano Negro wildlife refuge tour. We booked with Canoa Aventuras. The bus ride to the river was a little long - about 2 hours. We had some snacks when we arrived and then headed out on the boat. There were about 8 of us with 1 guide and the boat driver so it was nice and small. Pedro our guide was awesome. He was this sweet, 19 year old Tico who was such a fantastic wildlife spotter. He showed us iguanas, caimans, lizards, exotic birds, and three species of monkeys - howlers (yep - definitely the same noise we heard on the Cerro Chato hike), white faced and spider. The only thing we missed seeing was a sloth, but the baby albino howler monkey more than made up for that. It was a long day but a day well spent.
<b>Arenal Hanging Bridges:</b> After the tough Cerro Chato hike we needed an easy activity for the afternoon. The price of $22 per person was a little steep, but we really enjoyed the bridges. We got up there mid afternoon and had a pretty good lunch at the cafe (casados of course). The view of the volcano was great from up there. We decided not to use a guide, but there was a guide leading a tour group in front of us so we just looked wherever he was pointing. We didn't see too much wildlife, but we did get some great views of monkeys (our first monkey spotting in CR!), especially from the really high bridge. The monkeys were in the trees literally just a few yards away from us...talk about cool.
<b>Eco Termales:</b> This was another highlight, especially after the long, strenuous hike in the morning. We arrived at the hot springs right at 5pm, and there were only like 2 cars in the parking lot. We weren't even sure if we were in the right place. It was fabulous - so peaceful and quiet and we could see monkeys in the trees above us. We enjoyed a few cervezas and let the warm water soothe our aching muscles. Funny enough, we ran into the two other couples there that we met on the Cerro Chato hike. I guess everyone had the right idea. Dinner there was great - I had the chicken and my husband had the beef.
There was so much to see and do in Arenal that we found 5 nights to be a nice amount of time.
<b>La Fortuna waterfall:</b> We were told you could hike to it (4 km), but we realized the "hike" was just a walk along a flat, dirt road so we drove up to it instead. Then you have to walk down a little ways to the waterfall. Wow, talk about a powerful fall. My husband got in and swam around a bit in the chilly water.
<b>Sky Trek:</b> This was one of the highlights of our trip. It was a beautiful and cool morning so we decided to do the 10:30am trip. We were pleased to find that Sky Trek's location is very convenient to AOL. We took the tram up to the top of the canopy did our practice lines and were ready to go. It was a blast, but I'm not going to lie - it was scary! And not just scary at first - it was scary each time I went. But it is so worth it. You can see the lake and the volcano from up there. The guides were fantastic, and we met some great people in our group. I definitely recommend doing this.
<b>Cerro Chato:</b> This was a hike from the AOL property up to the top of dormant crater next to Arenal. It was probably one of the toughest hikes we have done. It didn't help that the weather wasn't so great that morning - rainy and foggy. We set out and quickly realized that it was entirely straight up hill.
About 1/3 of the way up we heard a loud roar and stopped dead in our tracks. We retreated a little bit to try and figure out a game plan. We didn't have a weapon or any sort of protections so we debated for several minutes about what it could be and what we should do. We decided to go back down part ways until we ran into the guide who was way behind us with an older couple. They finally caught up to us the the guide totally cracked up when we described what we heard. Yep - it was a howler monkey! This was our 2nd day in CR so we hadn't yet seen or heard the howlers. We seriously though it was a mountain lion or something, but he said we wouldn't have heard the mountain lion until it was on our backs
Anyway, so we continued up to the top and ran into a couple coming down who said they couldn't see the lake from the top due to the fog and that it looked too dangerous to climb down to the lake. We checked it out for ourselves and decided the same once we saw how steep and slippery the downhill to the lake was. As disappointed as I was, I think this was the right decision given the weather conditions. AOL estimates 4 hours for this hike round trip. I think we got up there in just over an hour (including our little stop) and climbed back down in about 30 minutes. You must wear proper shoes and be in fairly good shape to do this hike.
<b>Cano Negro:</b> I am so glad I researched this forum before the trip because this is where I learned about the Cano Negro wildlife refuge tour. We booked with Canoa Aventuras. The bus ride to the river was a little long - about 2 hours. We had some snacks when we arrived and then headed out on the boat. There were about 8 of us with 1 guide and the boat driver so it was nice and small. Pedro our guide was awesome. He was this sweet, 19 year old Tico who was such a fantastic wildlife spotter. He showed us iguanas, caimans, lizards, exotic birds, and three species of monkeys - howlers (yep - definitely the same noise we heard on the Cerro Chato hike), white faced and spider. The only thing we missed seeing was a sloth, but the baby albino howler monkey more than made up for that. It was a long day but a day well spent.
<b>Arenal Hanging Bridges:</b> After the tough Cerro Chato hike we needed an easy activity for the afternoon. The price of $22 per person was a little steep, but we really enjoyed the bridges. We got up there mid afternoon and had a pretty good lunch at the cafe (casados of course). The view of the volcano was great from up there. We decided not to use a guide, but there was a guide leading a tour group in front of us so we just looked wherever he was pointing. We didn't see too much wildlife, but we did get some great views of monkeys (our first monkey spotting in CR!), especially from the really high bridge. The monkeys were in the trees literally just a few yards away from us...talk about cool.
<b>Eco Termales:</b> This was another highlight, especially after the long, strenuous hike in the morning. We arrived at the hot springs right at 5pm, and there were only like 2 cars in the parking lot. We weren't even sure if we were in the right place. It was fabulous - so peaceful and quiet and we could see monkeys in the trees above us. We enjoyed a few cervezas and let the warm water soothe our aching muscles. Funny enough, we ran into the two other couples there that we met on the Cerro Chato hike. I guess everyone had the right idea. Dinner there was great - I had the chicken and my husband had the beef.
Jan 24th, 2009, 12:55 PM
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It sounds like a really wonderful trip, sessa!
We had 3.5 days in Arenal a couple of years ago and quickly decided there was way too much to do in the area for our time to do it justice. I really want to get back there to pick up the things I missed.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
We had 3.5 days in Arenal a couple of years ago and quickly decided there was way too much to do in the area for our time to do it justice. I really want to get back there to pick up the things I missed.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
Jan 24th, 2009, 02:06 PM
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Sessa,
Have you noticed, are non-guests allowed on the AOL property? We will be staying at Iguana Lodge and would like to walk the AOL trails and watch their feeders (Iguana Lodge does not feed the birds). Thanks
Have you noticed, are non-guests allowed on the AOL property? We will be staying at Iguana Lodge and would like to walk the AOL trails and watch their feeders (Iguana Lodge does not feed the birds). Thanks
Jan 24th, 2009, 02:09 PM
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XYZ: You can contact them through their website and ask. But, when we stayed there last year, we had to go through a gate who had a list of all hotel guests, so that may not be possible. But, I'd try to confirm.
Jan 25th, 2009, 02:25 PM
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RAC - The stairs down to the fall are fairly steep, and they were slippery the day we were there since it had rained in the morning. There are chains and rails to hold on to, though.
AOL has lots of nice paths and trails. The Cerro Chato hike was accessible from the lodge, and we also did a short hike to another waterfall from the property.
xyz99 - There is a gate, and each time we passed thru we had to tell them we were guests. Once they checked our name and once they asked for our room number. I would think that non-guests would be allowed since I believe we met a few people who had gone up there for a day trip.
The put fruit out every morning which was fun for bird watching. We also got to see a kinkajou that had climbed up to feast on the fruit.
AOL has lots of nice paths and trails. The Cerro Chato hike was accessible from the lodge, and we also did a short hike to another waterfall from the property.
xyz99 - There is a gate, and each time we passed thru we had to tell them we were guests. Once they checked our name and once they asked for our room number. I would think that non-guests would be allowed since I believe we met a few people who had gone up there for a day trip.
The put fruit out every morning which was fun for bird watching. We also got to see a kinkajou that had climbed up to feast on the fruit.
Jan 25th, 2009, 02:29 PM
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<b>Food, etc.</b>
I almost forgot to mention the most important part of any tip - the food!! I had read before we went that the food in Costa Rica is nothing to write home about, and we found this to be pretty accurate.
We did love the casados, but we both love rice and beans. We had a nice typical lunch at <b>La Choza de Laurel</b>. I already mentioned the lunch at the cafe up by the hanging bridges. We also had lunch at <b>Don Rufino</b> on our way out of town and that was a nice place with a huge menu.
Our favorite dinner was at <b>El Novillo</b> so a big thanks to whoever posted about it on here. The steak was delicious!!
The food at AOL was definitely mediocre and overpriced, but the two nights we ate there were worth it just so we didn't have to drive back down that horrendous road in the dark.
We would go back to Costa Rica in a second. The ticos were so friendly and we met lots of great tourists along the way. The moquitoes weren't at all as bad as I thought, and the weather was perfect...nice and cool in January.
None of the hotels had blowdryers so my hair struggled for 6 days. I would also recommend bringing your own soap and shampoo since the places either didn't have any or had the multi-purpose soap/shampoo stuff.
We were able to use US dollars just about everywhere. We did get colones out on our first day to use at some small, local places. We also had no trouble at all using our Capital One Visa card.
Hope this is helpful to those planning trips, and thanks again to all of you who helped us make this trip a big success. I hope to post pictures soon...
I almost forgot to mention the most important part of any tip - the food!! I had read before we went that the food in Costa Rica is nothing to write home about, and we found this to be pretty accurate.
We did love the casados, but we both love rice and beans. We had a nice typical lunch at <b>La Choza de Laurel</b>. I already mentioned the lunch at the cafe up by the hanging bridges. We also had lunch at <b>Don Rufino</b> on our way out of town and that was a nice place with a huge menu.
Our favorite dinner was at <b>El Novillo</b> so a big thanks to whoever posted about it on here. The steak was delicious!!
The food at AOL was definitely mediocre and overpriced, but the two nights we ate there were worth it just so we didn't have to drive back down that horrendous road in the dark.
We would go back to Costa Rica in a second. The ticos were so friendly and we met lots of great tourists along the way. The moquitoes weren't at all as bad as I thought, and the weather was perfect...nice and cool in January.
None of the hotels had blowdryers so my hair struggled for 6 days. I would also recommend bringing your own soap and shampoo since the places either didn't have any or had the multi-purpose soap/shampoo stuff.
We were able to use US dollars just about everywhere. We did get colones out on our first day to use at some small, local places. We also had no trouble at all using our Capital One Visa card.
Hope this is helpful to those planning trips, and thanks again to all of you who helped us make this trip a big success. I hope to post pictures soon...
Jan 25th, 2009, 02:49 PM
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I could use a steak from El Novillo about now myself! They are tasty aren't they?
You've posted a lot of good recommendations (and favorites here on the forum) that should be helpful to others who are in the trip planning stage.
Looking forward to your photos!
You've posted a lot of good recommendations (and favorites here on the forum) that should be helpful to others who are in the trip planning stage.
Looking forward to your photos!
