Just a few hours from San Jose is La Fortuna, a small but vibrant town which sits right along Lake Arenal. This area is home to a few volcano’s, the biggest is Arenal. Here you will find tons of different activities from hiking through jungles, chasing waterfalls, and relaxing in natural hot springs. Although this area is much more touristy you won’t run out of restaurants, activities, or beautiful nature to explore.
We stayed here a total of 4 days and 3 nights. We filled our time with a jungle trek around Volcano Arenal, exploring local watering holes, finding exotic animals, and chasing waterfalls. We had an absolute blast here and got a chance to see some of Costa Rica’s most beautiful landscapes and stunning nature.
How to Get Here
The only way to get to La Fortuna is via bus and potentially ferry depending on where you are coming from. We came from Monteverde which was about 3 1/2 hours of travel total. We booked our travel through our hostel in Monteverde and spent about 2 hours on the bus and enjoyed a 45 minute ferry ride across Lake Arenal to reach La Fortuna, which was about another 20 minute shuttle ride into town. The ferry across the lake had awesome views of the volcano and its surroundings, I highly recommend going this route if you have the option.
- Cost for transport: $25 USD
Location
We stayed right in the heart of the downtown area of La Fortuna. Staying here made it very easy to walk to the center of the city for restaurants and shopping. It is also walking distance to the local watering hole and nearby waterfalls. I definitely recommend staying in this area, however there are some very nice resorts that offer more secluded accommodation if you are looking to stay near hot springs or in the jungle.
Accommodation: La Fortuna Suites
This place was by far the best accommodation we had on our entire trip through Central America. The location was great, just a couple blocks from the main strip of the center of town and had a beautiful view of Arenal Volcano. The suites were very spacious and also had A/C which was a big plus. The breakfast every morning was above and beyond any bed and breakfast and it was different every day. We definitely looked forward to it every morning. The guy who runs it is from California and extremely nice, he runs this place very well. When we wanted to make sandwiches he offered up his kitchen to use utensils and condiments and gave us extra towels when it was bucketing down with rain. We wouldn’t have wanted to stay anywhere else!
- Cost per night: $50 USD
Activities
Find the local swimming hole
Just a 15 minute walk from the center of town is this swimming hole right off the road, just off the side of a bridge. Here you will find locals and some tourists but its a great spot to relax and go for a dip. There is a rope swing and plenty of rocks to jump off of. I highly recommend it on your way to one of the hikes as a way to cool off and chat with the locals!
- Cost: FREE
Volcano Tour
This was definitely the highlight of our time spent in La Fortuna. It was a full day of activities from 10am-7pm and offered such a variety of the area. It started with a 12k hike around Arenal Volcano with a local guide. He took us up and down through canyons of the jungle, some areas quite challenging to maneuver through but awesome if you don’t care about getting a little muddy. Our guide had such an eye for nature, we got to see sloths, howler monkeys, frogs, bears, and unique insects. We ended the hike through a massive farm lined with eucalyptus trees and great views of the volcano.
From here we trekked to a nearby waterfall where we got to take a break from the heat and take a dip in the water. Our guide even took us behind the waterfalls to see the amazing view from behind. After the swim we went to the Arenal Observatory to see views of the lake and take a break with cookies and coffee.
The final stop was the natural hot springs, which was the highlight by far. Just off the side of the main road locals and tourists sit in the warm waters of a river overlooking the green jungle. This river hits a vein of the volcano making the water extremely warm, you can see the steam rising above the water. Our guide brought some mud as well and gave everyone on our tour a face mask which was lots of fun. He also brought some local alcoholic beverages made of cane sugar for us to drink while we basked in our spa session while the sun went down. Couldn’t have imagined a better way to end the day!
- Cost: $55 USD (Includes transportation and lunch)
La Fortuna Waterfall
There are two different ways to reach this waterfall, both charge the same price just owned by different companies. We entered through Parque Arenal – Mundo Aventura as it was closest to the local watering hole. Here you can trek through a rainforest walk and go over a hanging bridge. Unfortunately once we got about half way we got caught in a massive rainstorm so we didn’t get to take in as much of the views, however once it cleared we got a glimpse and it’s a spectacular hike if you are willing to spend most of the day walking.
The strange part about going this way though, however, is if you want to see the waterfall you have to get waist deep in the river to cross to the other side. I am not sure if it was technically legal for us to do since the other side is owned by another park you have to pay for but we did anyway. Wasn’t going to hike all that way soaking wet to not see it! The waterfall was beautiful but I would say it was the hike and journey to it that was the highlight.
- Cost for park entry: $15 USD
Whitewater Rafting
Conveniently for us the river for whitewater rafting was on the way to San Jose so we booked a whitewater rafting tour and shuttle to San Jose all in one at the end of our trip. It was a nice way to break up the long bus ride back but the rapids felt like a Class II and didn’t offer much excitement considering they told us it was going to be a Class IV. But the tour did offer some pretty amazing views and a chance to cool off in the river. At the end of rafting you got a beer and lunch as well so hard to complain.
- Cost: $92 USD
Food & Dining
Restaurante La Parada
We stumbled upon this place while getting lost trying to find another and it was a great local find. It was buffet style and you got to choose a massive plate of food for very little money. Lots of locals seemed to stop here on their lunch break so you can’t wrong.
- Cost per plate: 2600 colon ($4 USD)
Lava Lounge
A more touristy spot but overall great vibe. It offers a ton of variety of food options and is located right downtown.
- Average cost per dish with alcoholic beverage: $15 USD
Pollo Fortuneno
Awesome chicken joint that offers a great variety of dishes. We loved it so much we went here twice!
- Average cost per dish with alcoholic beverage: $15 USD
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