tyrak33

Hi,
I was wondering, should we book all of our tours before we leave or do it there? Cana Negro river tour, eco termales and hanging bridges are the ones we are primarily looking at. Is there any we shouldn't miss? I was wondering also if eco termales is something you do even if it is raining. We want to do it after the river tour as some have suggested, but wasn't sure if we should book ahead if it is the rainy season. We are prepared to go in the rain!

Also, how far is eco termales from Arenal observatory lodge? If we go there after the river tour it will be getting dark by the time we are done. Do we take the rental car or is there easy to come by transportation back to AOL?

Keith

I may be in the minority on this. but I recomend booking the tours that you most want to do in advance. It would be a shame if it was fully booked.

The ones you are less certain of, sure wait until you get there.

If you have already driven the road in daylight, I wouldn't worry too much about driving it again after dark.

Keith

Andrea_loves_travel

You should definitely book Eco Termales ahead of time. We booked it already for Feb 15th evening, we got the last spot. It was already sold out for Feb 14th evening.... I'm not sure when you're travelling but I have heard it sells out 2-3 weeks ahead. Feb 14th might have booked up especially early since it's Valentines day and a Saturday night this year.

From what I have read, Arenal Observatory Lodge -> La Fortuna is half an hour ($25 cab ride) so it would be almost that much to go to Eco Termales. Make sure you book the hotel far ahead too - we wanted to stay there but it's sold out.

We haven't decided our other excursions and may wait until we get there but definitely did not want to miss the more exclusive (100 people max) Eco Termales and I have heard the food is good there too.

volcanogirl

I booked Cano Negro and Eco T ahead just because those are a don't miss in my book. For the Hanging Bridges, you can just go there the day of; they usually have guides available to book, or you can do it on your own. It rained part of the time we were at Eco T, and it wasn't bad. The dinner area is covered.

cmerrell

As the others have recommended, you should pre-book Eco Thermales to make sure you can get in.

Several companies offer a Cano Negro tour so you might be okay to wait providing you don't have a specific day you need to go, and aren't traveling during Easter or Christmas weeks. Most of us here on the forum highly recommend Sunset Tours for the Cano Negro trip. They do a really nice job.

As VG says, you can probably just show up at the Hanging Bridges. You don't have to do an organized excursion there unless you want to. Just grab a guide at the entrance and enjoy!

As Keith mentions, driving around the area after dark isn't bad after you've gotten your bearings during daylight. The road to AOL is gravel and very bumpy, but the main road into La Fortuna (and the hot springs) was in really good repair when we visited 2 years ago.