mccarty33

My wife and I will be staying at Hotel Mountain Paradise near the Arenal Volcano at the end of May. Our hotel offers some package tours, but we would like to do tours on our own. Where is the best place to sign up for tours like Hanging Bridges, Sky Trek/Skytram, Water Fall, etc.? Do you recommend vendors in town or going through hotels?

Also, we will be in Arenal for 3 days. What do you think are the "must see" parts of Arenal/La Fortuna?

Thanks!

sylvia3

None of those mentioned are tours: you just call SkyTrek and make the reservation yourself, then show up. Same for Hanging Bridges (or just show up and buy the ticket, it's not that crowded). The waterfall is just a park and walk down, and back up thing, unless you want something like a horseback ride excursion to the falls.
Of course, if you have to add transportation, that would be an additional cost. But you can easily take a taxi to the waterfall and the Hanging Bridges (whether you choose the one near the dam or the one at SkyTrek). You can also get picked up by SkyTrek from your hotel: http://www.skyadventures.travel/Arenal_En/Sky_Trek.html

sylvia3

http://www.hangingbridges.com/rates/

mccarty33

Thanks! What about the Cano Negro reserve?

sylvia3

You could drive to Los Chiles and hire a boat for a private tour, but you'd probably be better off just getting a tour from town; there are lots of companies. http://www.arenal.net/tour/Cano-Negr...ife-refuge.htm
If Volcanogirl is lurking, I think that's an experienced voice for Cano Negro.

volcanogirl

Yep, we've done Cano Negro several times. I'd recommend going with Sunset Tours; they do a great job. We've seen several varieties of monkeys there, as well as sloths, water birds, and caimans. I'd recommend bringing your own binoculars. For Sky Trek, we just booked our tour online for a specific time, and they came and picked us up at our hotel and dropped us back off. We did the Hanging Bridges on our own, but if you want to up your chances of seeing wildlife, I'd recommend hiring a guide; we didn't see anything there but ants, although it was a pretty hike. We did the waterfall on our own - took a taxi there, got the driver's phone number, and called him when we were ready to be picked up. If you want to look at organized tours, both Sunset Tours and Desafio have good websites. We've used both, and they're both great. The Penas Blancas river float is nice too, as is the Proyecto Asis animal rescue center, and rafting with Rios Tropicales. Lots of great activities in this area.

james572

Nowadays, the mighty Arenal Volcano is still active, but its eruptions are now much less severe and occur in an almost daily basis. Surrounding lands are rich in hot spring waters warmed by the volcano’s volcanic veins.Some tour operator in Arenal are really good, I think is bored make plans by yourself , you are in vacation´s time , do not complicated .
check more info about tours : http://www.valledoradotours.cr/en/wh...l-volcano.html
hope this helps!

sylvia3

"occur in an almost daily basis. "

This is not true.

incabod

Hands down the best tours IMO are run with Desafio - http://www.desafiocostarica.com/ they run many of their own tours so contacting them you are going direct in most cases.

Volcano has been quiet with no lava flow now for going on almost 2 years. Still vents gasses from the crater, and still IMO worth seeing, the whole area is nice.
Cheers

volcanogirl

James, that's not really accurate information.

sylvia3

Yup, volcanogirl, he's been trolling on several CR threads; just a booster!

mccarty33

Thanks for the information, everyone!

Pat_Hewitt

I agree with Incabod. We use Desafio for many of our tours. They run their own, and broker some others. But I have always found them to be very dependable and reputable.

I was at the annual tourism convention last week, and had a long chat with Lee Banks. He is the owner of both La Paz Waterfall Gardens, and The Springs Resort and Spa. I always enjoy bumping into Lee. He is perpetually high energy and enthusiastic.

This time, he was very excited about the new Club Rio outdoor center at The Springs. For $99.00, you get a two day admission to the Springs, a meal, and a visit to the Cat Rescue center.

The rescue contains several species of wild cats that can't be released back into the wild. The shelter that once held them went broke. Lee and his wife stepped in at the eleventh hour before they were euthanized. They are now well cared for, and visits by humans are limited.

But wait! There's more! You also get to choose two activities at the outdoor center. They have tubing, kayaking, mountain bikes, horseback riding, and (soon) a climbing wall. We were already recommending the springs. I think this new offer is a great value, and one I plan to recommend to my own travel clients.

Hope this helps! Let me know if I can offer any more advice.

Warm Regards,
Pat Hewitt
Travel Professional