Tabacon Spa - when to go?
 

I hear mixed reviews about when to go visit the spa? I am not staying there, staying at Arenal Lodge instead, which has a shuttle service to Tabacon (supposedly). Is it better to go in the morning, afternoon, or evening? I was thinking about getting a massage service there to relieve my tired & aching muscles after I hike around Arenal Volcanos. Suggestions??

It a tropical climate so hot springs & noon sun is not too good. Sun sets ar 6h pm, much cooler after that.

By the way, did you see the risk zone stuff on this page: http://www.arenal.net/tabacon/hot-springs.htm

I agree the climate in Arenal in June when we visited makes visiting hot springs much better in the evening when it's cooler. We skipped Tabacon because of it being in the risk zone and went to the more low-key Ecotermales hot springs...we had our hotel front desk make us a reservation for dinner and hot springs...we went in the last 2 hours before they closed, it was nice and not crowded at all.

My family went in the evening to the hot springs. We felt that we did not experience the full benefit or atmosphere of the springs. I had heard about the beautiful gardens there but in the evening it is quite dark with VERY dim lighting so you could not see the gardens or flora. It is also very slippery and rocky in the springs so one could quite easily twist an ankle or scrape oneself. Many of the pools and springs were closed the evening we went. (not sure if that is typical or not). Overall, we were glad we went but we feel that if we ever got the chance to go again we would try it during the day. That was just our experience so just do your research and choose what would best meet your interests. I can understand others' concern about it being too hot during the day though. A massage would probably feel great after a day of hiking. Enjoy!

Everyone is giving you good advice, different pieces of the puzzle, to complete your picture. We didn't worry about seeing the gardens at the hot springs because we had beautiful hikes in rainforests and cloud forests nearly every day of our trip. Didn't try Tabacon but as I mentioned we tried Ecotermales in the evening. It wasn't slippery at all, but you need to walk carefully in the water day or night, the bottom is intentionally bumpy, to prevent slipping is what I think. While you could stub your toe if you weren't careful, that could happen in daytime as well. We thought the hot springs were kinda romantic in the evening.