Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Trip Report Volcano and Beach Trip Review

Hello Everyone,
Thanks to everyone for their Finally recovered from a 9-day trip to Costa Rica. Overall, my partner and I felt it was a great combination of activities and relaxation. Almost everything went exactly as planned and we were very happy with the choices we made for places to stay.

After a very early morning flight into San Jose, we were picked up by Xandari for a one-night stay in their Allajuela location. The driver was waiting for us and very friendly. We stayed in the palm-thatched bungalow and it was very nice. It definitely didn’t have all the amenities or updated furniture one might expect for the cost in the US, but it was still beautiful. We thought the grounds were very beautiful although didn’t get to walk to all the waterfalls. We also had an appointment at the spa but were just too tired to go! The staff was extremely helpful, kind and welcoming. It was a great start to our honeymoon. The food was the best we had in Costa Rica; the orange juice tasted like an orange and nothing else! I’d say if you really want to get the most out of the place, two nights is probably better than one (if you have the money and the time), but we were ready to move on to the volcano. We rented a car from Mapache because they were willing to drop off the car and fill out all the paperwork at the hotel. We also got the GPS. Definitely get the GPS! One complaint about Mapache is that they didn’t have cell phones for rent, so we had to get a separate company for that. They also were willing to drop off the phone to the hotel. Jury’s still out on both companies since all of the costs are still pending on my credit card.

We chose to stay at the Arenal Observatory Lodge for our three nights in Arenal. I really enjoyed it and was blown away by the view. The volcano was very active while we were there and we managed to get a view of the top every day we were there. We stayed in a Smithsonian Room, but it was attached to the main building and not across the hanging bridge. Some people have complained that the staff just calls any room a Smithsonian, but we were happy with ours and had a great view of the volcano from the room and balcony, just as they had promised. The accommodations are basic—no phone, tv or even clock. But if you’re there for the view, you’ll love it. The walls were very thin and on Friday night it got a little loud. As expected, the food was not good and we only ate there once for dinner and picked at the breakfast buffet. We drove into town one night for dinner and ate at the Lava Lounge, which was very good. I personally didn’t think the road was that bad—I mean it was terrible, but in an exciting kind of way. I had lots of fun driving on it!

Activities: We got up on our first full day and did the two things we knew we definitely wanted to do—the Hanging Bridges and Sky Trek Zip Line. We really enjoyed both and would do it again! We went to the Hanging Bridges first thing in the morning and on our own without a guide. There was a group in front of us with a guide and we kind of followed along with them for the first half. They pointed out lots of stuff to us that we never would have seen on our own! I would say if you really want to see wildlife, bugs, etc, go with a guide or cheat like we did. We say monkeys, lizards, dart frogs and lots of cool bugs. We then drove to Sky Trek, had lunch and went on our adventure. The group was kind of big—at least 15 people, but it was really fun and safe. No complaints. The second day we got up and went to the free morning walk offered by the hotel. Our guide was very knowledgeable and we were really glad we did it. The walk was on the grounds of the hotel and we went to the waterfall. He also gave us a lot of history about Arenal, some of the other volcanoes and the country in general that we never would have known otherwise. You should be forewarned that some of the trails on the grounds were closed when we were there. We hired our guide (Edwardo) to take us on a late afternoon Lava hike, which I thought would be in the National Park, but he actually took us to a privately run place called 1968. We never got to go, though, because it was pouring for an hour while we waited in the tent on the grounds. He gave us all our money back, which I thought was nice, so I gave him half of it back. To recover from the rain, we went to Tabacon to try out the hotsprings. I know everyone on here recommends EcoTermales, but we didn’t want to lock into reservations and honestly just thought—let’s do the cheesy over-the-top springs. We got the evening rate and had a blast sitting in the springs in the rain. I would never be able to sit in the hotsprings during the day, but we would’ve liked to be able to see where we were going! We didn’t get the expensive buffet (ate before we went) but I honestly didn’t think the beer was expensive at all. Since we didn’t do the original hike, we got up early the next morning and hiked in the National Park on our own on the trail that leads to the 1992 flow. It was really great and I was so glad we got to do it before we hit the road. Saw some wildlife (coati, lizards, a snake) and had great fun climbing around the old rocks. We never did get to do the canyoning we had planned on doing but we wound up being happy we didn’t try to run around doing a million things. We got to spend some downtime on our balcony just watching the volcano and hummingbirds.

We drove around Lake Arenal towards Samara for the relaxing part of our vacation. We stopped at Toad Hall for Lunch (delicious!) and enjoyed the drive. We stayed at the Tree House Inn, which we really enjoyed and I was so happy I made that choice. I didn’t see anywhere else in town that I’d want to stay. Samara is a very small town and really gives you the local flavor. We didn’t want to do any of the resort, all-inclusive type places, so we were really happy with this. T

he best place to eat in town was El Lagarto—we went there twice. There were a few other places on the beach to eat at that weren’t bad either. It was nice to be able to walk everywhere. We mostly walked on the beach, hung in our hammocks, relaxed in our lounge chairs, strolled around town, followe the horses around at night (they often cruised the beach or the town square) and went to the mini-super across the street! We kayaked out to Isla Chora with Carillo tours for what was supposed to be a snorkeling trip. Be forewarned if you aren’t experienced in kayaking in the ocean, it can be an adventure! But the kayaking portion was fun. Once we got out to the island, the snorkeling got a little complicated. You have to swim through the channel and around the reef to get to the correct area for snorkeling. We honestly just weren’t up for it. Neither one of us had ever snorkeled before and weren’t that comfortable swimming through the waves in the channel. Unless you’re experienced, I’d save the snorkeling for the Caribbean. But kayak out to the Island for a picnic or something! We also went horseback riding with Carillo and really enjoyed this. We did it with another couple we met at the Tree House. We rode through some forest, to the beach and then up to the cliffs overlooking the beach. The view was beautiful! We saw lots of monkeys. And our guide Louis was very nice (although didn’t speak English). I recommend this. We meant to rent a scooter or bikes and ride to Carillo beach, but never got around to it. It looked very beautiful, though. We also thought about doing the night-time turtle tour but didn’t. Overall, a great place to stay. Be prepared for no air conditioning and no screens on the windows. You have to decide between bugs and fresh air at night! Staff was hit-or-miss.

I highly recommend renting a car and staying at a couple different local places as opposed to the resorts. We really enjoyed this and felt we had such a different experience than friends of ours who did the more upscale, resort thing the year before. They loved it, too, but it was definitely a different experience than ours. We really appreciated getting a glimpse of the local life in Costa Rica. Hey, it was just voted the happiest nation, and I can see why! I also recommend flying into San Jose and out of Liberia if you are traveling west.