fluffnfold

If I have time to visit just one (or possibly two) volcanos in Costa Rica, which would you recommend? Arenal seems like the obvious choice, since it is active, but others sound worthwhile as well (Poas, Irazu, Rincon). Any advice?

Also, is the Los Angeles Cloud Forest any match for Monteverde?

Tess_Durberville

NO QUESTION ABOUT IT ... if you've got time for only one volcano, then Arenal is your choice. Admittedly, I've been lucky on my two trips to CR; the first time, heard rumbles and saw a bit of lava (red glow) at night; then last year, I was fortunately to see the entire cone (often shrouded in clouds) and snap a picture with gas emissions coming out of top. I've also been to Poas; it's an easy visit from San Jose. But it doesn't match the volcano experience that Arenal can provide. I've not been to Irazu or Rincon.

jdla

Fluff:

We visited Los Angeles Cloud Forest on our recent CR trip. Stayed at Hotel Villa Blanca (a working ranch, hotel, and preserve) just one night to shorten the drive from Arenal and Manuel Antonio. We haven't been to Monteverde.

We found the cloud forest to be amazing, dense, and beautiful. And, judging from remarks from fellow travelers, our drive to Villa Blanca was much, much easier than the drive to Monteverde. Villa Blanca and the cloud forest is only 10-15 minutes from the main road between Arenal and San Ramon, maybe 45-60 minutes from San Jose.

Villa Blanca was nice...the casitas are charming. Our breakfast was awesome....cheese from the onsite dairy, milk from the dairy, homemade bread, homemade torillas, gallo pinto, eggs, and plantain / bean tacos. The horseback ride was nice but not as good as others we've done (goes through some back-of-house ranch areas).

One aspect of our stay that was both a positive and a negative was that we were virtually the only ones there. Felt a bit deserted....

So, if you are short on time and want a cloud forest to yourself, LACF probably works.

Jim

Suzie2

Hi Jim,
What about the cloud forest itself? Was there much to see in regards to birds and wildlife?

Suzie2

Hi Fluff,
My vote for what it's worth goes to Arenal too. Rincon would be second although it isn't really near anything so it is kind of out of the way.

jdla

Suzie

We were in the forest a short time and didn't see the numbers of animals that we've seen in longer tours (Tortaguerro and Manuel Antonio). It was late in the day so....

We did see boatloads of hummingbirds of various kinds.

Jim

nbrods

If you have time (two nights), consider staying at Arenal Observatory Lodge. It's up the mountain from La Fortuna and the hot springs but the new rooms are well worth it. Stefan at the front desk does a great job.

Wednesday

Seen Arenal and I still get comments on the photo I have on my fridge. Seeing red lava moving atop an active volcano less than a mile away while eating dinner or basking in a hot springs is hard to beat. One of the coolest things I have ever seen.

SFRIEDMAN

I just returned home from CR last night. We stayed in guanacaste and went to both Rincon and Arenal. You must do Arenal and the Tabacon Hot Springs!!! It was very rainy and cloudy all day but the grounds of Tabocon is the most amazing thing I have ever seen, it was like Fantasy island, and I am not exagerating. We went to Rincon because it was only 2 hours from where we were and the scenery is beautiful....mountains, trees, we saw a monkey, a crocodile, got to hold a monkey at someone's home because our tour guide knew about it, and enjoed a mud bath and hot srpings as well. There is a fabulous waterfall and that is where we did our canopy tour. It is shorter thna most, 11 platforms, but you get the effect. Arenal let out a smaill burst of lava a s we were leaving and it was awesome and the day after we were there it fully erupted and everyone had to be evacuated, so we were lucky. I will be downloading my digital pictures later and I can send you pix of both if you like so you can see what you get!!! The whole trip was awesome, great people, good food, and just plain fantastic!!! Feel free to email me at [email protected] if you want some pictures!

Tess_Durberville

Read about the latest activity at Arenal at www.arenal.net.

fluffnfold

We ended up visiting Irazu and Poas. They are very different. Irazu is really barren, while Poas has lots of foliage. Both were worthwhile trips, but if I had to recommend just one, I would definitely say Poas. It is a larger park, with better facilities (museum, cafe, gift shop, restrooms). Irazu has the cafe/souvenier shop/restrooms also, but on a much smaller scale. Irazu is a quicker trip because there isn't as much to see. You drive almost to the volcano, where at Poas more hiking is involved. They are expanding the viewing areas at Poas (building wooden platforms).

Whichever you visit, be sure to go early before the clouds roll in. We had two amazingly clear days!

marthag

Fluff....did you visit Los Angeles Cloud Forest, and if so, please describe your experience. I am leaning toward going there instead of Monteverde,due to time constraints.
Thanks.
Martha

Iza

I have not been to Los Angeles cloud forest but drove through that area twice and are strongly considering it for our next trip. It was one of the most scenic drives of our trip. It would be a much easier destination to get to than Monteverde.

shillmac

I agree with Iza. We, too, have driven through there several times and it is a beautiful area. I would definitely check it out. I can't speak for Monteverde, but I agree with Neta Talmor that it might possibly be overrated. I have spoken with many who have been there. They all liked it, but really no raves. I have heard people wish they had spent their time elsewhere. But, still, it is on my list of things to do. . .sometime when I have WEEKS of time to spend a few days at Monteverde will probably appeal!

Joanel

paos volcano - how much hiking?

TAGriffin

Joanel: Less than 1/4 mile on a paved road.

Suzie2

There are lovely small cloud forests in lots of places in CR. Los Angeles is probably the most convenient because it is near a popular tourist spot and easier to get to.
Monteverde will always be dear to my heart because I have spent a good bit of time there. A few years ago it would not have been considered "over rated" It always had a wonderful sense of community there as well as having the beautiful cloud forests. Unfortunately, it has become a bit of a zoo with more hotels more zip lines, more trails and more tourists.
Quite a few of the people who used to be up there would tell me the road wasn't paved because they didn't want it to get too touristy. They figured it would discourage people from day trips which it did but didn't discourage people from staying there. I don't particularly want to go back there because it has gotten so crowded. I might sometime during the quieter months. The views of the Nicoya are breathtaking from there and sometimes there are so many rainbows you can't help but feel that there have got to be a pot of gold somewhere.

RufusTFirefly

We were in Monteverde and Arenal in January. Monteverde wasn't at all crowded--I had worried about that from some things I read here at Fodors. I had envisioned swarms of tourists crowding the Cloud Forest trails. No such thing.

Arenal definitely--if you have never seen a volcano erupting with lava flowing down the sides, it is definitely worth seeing Arenal. Even though some people are disappointed because it's clouded in when they are there, you have to take the chance to see it. We stayed at Arenal Paraiso which is in the perfect location to see the current flow area--the hotel will wake you up to see eruptions and lava flows if you ask them to. And you should definitely ask them.

From Arenal, we took the day trip to Cano Negro--superb for seeing animals. The boat trip is interesting, and we saw more monkeys and other animals up close than the entire rest of the trip combined.

Suzie2

Jan is definitely a good time to go to Monteverde. It is in between the holiday crush and the school breaks. It starts getting busy from what I have seen in Feb.