Top Things to do in Arenal Volcano National Park
Top Hotels in Arenal Volcano National Park
- 1. Chachagua Rainforest Hotel & Hot Springs
- 2. Nayara Gardens
- 3. Arenal Manoa Resort Hotel & Hot Springs
- 4. Hotel Amor Arenal
- 5. The Royal Corin Thermal Water Spa & Resort
- 6. Tabacon Thermal Resort & Spa
- 7. Hotel Amor Arenal
- 8. The Springs Resort and Spa
- 9. Noah"s Forest by Tifakara
- 10. Hotel El Silencio del Campo
What to do and see in Arenal Volcano National Park, Province of Alajuela: The Best Photography Tours
If waterfalls, hot springs, wildlife and volcanoes are your thing, then Arenal Volcano National Park will take your breath away. One of the world’s most active volcanoes burps tufts of smoke in the background as you make your way through forests and old lava fields. Take a rafting tour or hit the beach, then retire to a comfy hotel.
Restaurants in Arenal Volcano National Park
1. Arenal Volcano Hike: Best tour for Families with kids| Small Groups 8 Max
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1 reviews
Come with us in our Nature Tours. Arenal 1968 trails are the best option to try a nice hike while we are enjoying the breath taking views of the volcano the Tilaran mountain range and the Arenal Lake, the tour guide will explain you all about the 1968 eruption and the history behind it. At the same time we`ll visit the 1968 lava flow that has a very particular vegetation and from its summit the view gets even better. This tour includes transportation, naturalist guide, entrance fee and bottle of water.
Inclusions: Professional guide, Hotel pickup and drop-off (selected hotels only), Spotting Scope, All Fees and Taxes, Bottled water, Tropical Fruits
Exclusions: Gratuities
Reviewed By 718aleck
We were only in La Fortuna for two days and wanted to experience the most we could. Costa Rica Nature Guide specifically Angelo was absolutely amazing. He makes you feel comfortable right when you meet and will go out of his way to provide the best experience he possibly can. Overall the tour was an amazing experience we will never forget. Thanks Angelo, Costa Rican Nature Guide, and Arenal Expeditions!
2. 2-in-1 Arenal Combo Tour: Hanging Bridges + La Fortuna Waterfall
Overall Ratings
4.9 based on 20 reviews
Our experienced, top of the line, certified guides are the best! They will treat you like family since they are all locals and will take you on a journey that you won't forget! Tell them what you are hoping to see or do and they will do their best to make your wish come true. Also, you will have a cultural experience by visiting the Rodriguez Family which is where lunch will be provided, you can seat with them, eat together, talk and make new, amazing friends, always in company of nature!
Inclusions: Snacks, Lunch, Local guide, Hotel pickup and drop-off only from La Fortuna/Arenal, All Fees and Taxes
Exclusions: Hotel pickup and drop-off outside La Fortuna/Arenal
Reviewed By shannonwE5057TA
Without a doubt, the highlight day of our first trip to Costa Rica was our 3-in-1 tour with RainForest Explorers. We had Carlos as our guide and driver for the first two stops - Mistico Hanging Bridges and hiking at the base of the Arenal Volcano. Carlos was truly an amazing guide and such a fun person to spend the day with. He was excellent at spotting animals and super knowledgeable about everything we saw. Mistico was beautiful, but I think without Carlos we would have walked through it in half an hour and not seen a single animal. Instead, we saw two different troops of monkeys (Spider and Howler), a tarantula, a viper, bats, Blue Jeans Poison Dart Frogs, many birds and butterflies, and on and on. It was a wonderful tour! He used his Swarovski scope to give us a great look at the animals, and also took photos and videos through it with our phones. At the end of our walk through the Hanging Bridges, Carlos cut up a fresh pineapple to snack on before we got back in the van. Even the pineapple came with a lesson, where we found out that pineapple is a multiple fruit. Next, we drove to the base of Arenal Volcano to hike up some of the old lava rocks. We got our geology lesson for the day, saw some more beautiful animals, and took some great photos. Apparently Arenal rarely shows her full face, but we had an absolutely clear view of the Volcano throughout the entire day. After Arenal, Carlos drove us to the private restaurant owned by RainForest Explorers. Yuliana, the founder of the company (who does a great job running the scheduling and customer service), and her mom Ileana welcomed us warmly to the restaurant. Ileana taught us how to make tortillas, but our results shouldn’t be representative of her teaching skills, ha! After we made tortillas, we were fed a delicious lunch of casado tipico (protein, salad, gallo pinto, avocado, and plantains - amazing), guanabana juice, and coffee made in a chorreador. It was our favorite meal of the entire trip. We hung out for a little while after lunch (and got up close and personal with a sloth that was hanging out on a fence on their property), said a sad goodbye to Carlos, and then Yuliana’s brother Edgardo drove us to Eden Chocolate Farm for a tour. After the chocolate tour (also a great tour), Edgardo picked us up and drove us back to our hotel. It was the perfect day! We would recommend RainForest Explorers for anyone looking for a touring company in the Arenal region.
3. Wild Life Safari Float
Overall Ratings
4.8 based on 11 reviews
Come lets Float Down the Peñas Blancas river, trying to see any type of wildlife and mother nature will fulfill all of our needs, in the land where we are "Pura Vida".
Inclusions: Snack, Driver/guide, Professional guide, Hotel pickup and drop-off (selected hotels only)
Exclusions: Alcoholic drinks, Gratuities
Reviewed By Experience9976
Fun but full day in La Fortuna! Well organized, varied, and enjoyable! We saw great wildlife during the hanging bridges tour and go amazing pics thanks to our guide (Erica?) who was super knowledgeable! The waterfall hike is the best part of the tour but you also need to be able to do 500 steps up and down to get there! Worth it! The volcano hike is cool, but it was hard to top that waterfall view :)
4. Photography Tour at Natura Eco Park
The photography tour is a hike of approximately 3 hours, where small group of photographers, in the company of a naturalist guide, will walk around the park to look for different species of amphibians and reptiles, such as the famous Red Eye Tree Frog, toads, snakes and more. Have the chance to observe birds, insects or mammals.
Inclusions: Snacks, Professional guide
Exclusions: Gratuities, Hotel pickup and drop-off
Reviewed By 229conyv
Brandon, our guide was fantastic. We had an exc time and even saw a sloth in the top of the trees and drunk fresh coconut water. The online reservation is super efficient, the bio care protocols are applied and they gave us water at the end of the tour.
5. Ecocentro Danaus Maleku Indigenous Ceremonial Presentation
Best way to learn Maleku Art & Culture. Our Presentation includes Earth & Sun Prayer / Maleku traditional songs / Traditional ¨Chicha¨drink degustation and Painting Jicaras.
Inclusions: All Fees and Taxes, Entrance fees, English Traductor
Exclusions: Mouth cover required
Reviewed By StevieT43
We had booked a night walk but had to cancel at the last minute as one of us was feeling under the weather. Elias suggested we drop by the next morning if we felt up to it, even though our time was limited (we were heading on to our next location). We appreciated the gesture (he could have easily just pocketed our money), and we're so glad we took up the offer! We arrived the next morning and were given instead a private tour of nearly 3 hours. The centre is fascinating, very well laid out and managed, and Elias is a brilliant host and guide. La Fortuna has tons of options and attractions - we felt so pleased to have picked this one.
6. Hike & Nature (Hanging Bridges and Fortuna Waterfall)
This experience is designed for nature lovers. You can visit 2 of the most popular attractions in just one day and learn a bit about their natural history.
Inclusions: Bottled water, Air-conditioned vehicle, Fruit, Naturalist Guide, Lunch, Entrance tickets
Exclusions:
Reviewed By Hershbar
We really enjoyed our horseback riding experience at the foothills of the Arenal Volcano. Jarvin was our guide, and he was fantastic! 10 minutes into the ride and he spotted a sloth at the top of a tree. He was very knowledgeable about the wildlife, the biodiversity and the history behind the famous volcano. He was an excellent guide, very attentive and kind. The horses were calm. I can't think of a better way to get up close and take in that breathtaking view of that majestic volcano. Highly recommend this tour and Jarvin. Thoroughly enjoyable!
7. Volcano Hike and Night walk with free Hotsprings
We run small groups in order to get a better taste of the Volcano hike and Night walk. You will be lead by a Local nature guide who will be offering interesting info about the volcano and also wildlife
Inclusions: All Fees and Taxes, Round Trip Transport, Nature Guide, Water, Spotting Scope
Exclusions: Tips
Reviewed By mewcool
We booked our entire Costa Rican vacation to the Arenal area through Angelo! He was amazing!!! He drove us everywhere and stopped wherever we desired. He also pointed out places along the way that he thought we might enjoy. His vehicles are very comfortable and accommodating. If you are planning a vacation to Costa Rica this is definitely the group you want to book with. You can book everything including other excursions for different companies such as the Arenal Rafting Company or PureTrek for Waterfall repelling. I recommend doing both, but the rafting was definitely my personal favorite. Booking everything through Angelo was so much smoother than booking everything individually. Plus, if you book everything through him then all your tours with him are private! Angelo is definitely a professional, he is very prepared he also brings along his high powered binoculars, his scope, and professional camera (which he is very happy to share with you)! Here is what we did on our Costa Rican Adventure. Day 1 - Hiking through Mistico Park where there are many hanging bridges. Then we went to La Fortuna Waterfall. After, we enjoyed a lunch at a local spot called La Tiqueria which was wonderful. Last we did a hike up the Arenal Volcano. Day 2 - Arenal White Water Rafting. I highly recommend doing this, even you are not athletic or a little scared. The rafting team are highly experienced and do a great job of accommodating for everyone's skill level and the experience they are looking for. Day 3 - PureTrek Waterfall Repelling. If you are afraid of heights this one might not be for you. This was a super thrilling and adrenaline pumping experience. Prepare to get wet! In the evening we did a night hike with Angelo which was phenomenal! We saw so many different animals, especially frogs as it was mating season. Day 4 - Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge. This is an authentic and unique experience as Angelo is the only one that does tours to this wildlife refuge. If you are booking through a different group they are likely not taking you to the actual wildlife refuge, but rather another area close to it. So beware of scammers, and just book through him. Day 5 - Monteverde. We did the café, cacao, and sugar can tour at Don Juan. This was a really cool experience, and not to mention yummy! We also went to the cloud forest which is very appropriately named. This was my other favorite thing that we did. The forest was very majestic and we saw a lot of wildlife. Moral of the story, book your Costa Rica vacation through Angelo at Arenal Expeditions!!! You won't regret it ;) His English is great, he knows the area very well, he is well educated on all the different plants and animals, and is eager about making your experience the best it can be. We will definitely be back and booking through Angelo! :)
8. Hanging Bridges-Volcano Hike and Night walk with free Hotsprings.
We run small goups in order to keep high standards.Best way to enjoy La Fortuna in 5 hours with a free visit to a free hotsprigs.
Inclusions: Transport, All Fees and Taxes, Snacks, Water, Nature Guide
Exclusions:
Reviewed By mewcool
We booked our entire Costa Rican vacation to the Arenal area through Angelo! He was amazing!!! He drove us everywhere and stopped wherever we desired. He also pointed out places along the way that he thought we might enjoy. His vehicles are very comfortable and accommodating. If you are planning a vacation to Costa Rica this is definitely the group you want to book with. You can book everything including other excursions for different companies such as the Arenal Rafting Company or PureTrek for Waterfall repelling. I recommend doing both, but the rafting was definitely my personal favorite. Booking everything through Angelo was so much smoother than booking everything individually. Plus, if you book everything through him then all your tours with him are private! Angelo is definitely a professional, he is very prepared he also brings along his high powered binoculars, his scope, and professional camera (which he is very happy to share with you)! Here is what we did on our Costa Rican Adventure. Day 1 - Hiking through Mistico Park where there are many hanging bridges. Then we went to La Fortuna Waterfall. After, we enjoyed a lunch at a local spot called La Tiqueria which was wonderful. Last we did a hike up the Arenal Volcano. Day 2 - Arenal White Water Rafting. I highly recommend doing this, even you are not athletic or a little scared. The rafting team are highly experienced and do a great job of accommodating for everyone's skill level and the experience they are looking for. Day 3 - PureTrek Waterfall Repelling. If you are afraid of heights this one might not be for you. This was a super thrilling and adrenaline pumping experience. Prepare to get wet! In the evening we did a night hike with Angelo which was phenomenal! We saw so many different animals, especially frogs as it was mating season. Day 4 - Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge. This is an authentic and unique experience as Angelo is the only one that does tours to this wildlife refuge. If you are booking through a different group they are likely not taking you to the actual wildlife refuge, but rather another area close to it. So beware of scammers, and just book through him. Day 5 - Monteverde. We did the café, cacao, and sugar can tour at Don Juan. This was a really cool experience, and not to mention yummy! We also went to the cloud forest which is very appropriately named. This was my other favorite thing that we did. The forest was very majestic and we saw a lot of wildlife. Moral of the story, book your Costa Rica vacation through Angelo at Arenal Expeditions!!! You won't regret it ;) His English is great, he knows the area very well, he is well educated on all the different plants and animals, and is eager about making your experience the best it can be. We will definitely be back and booking through Angelo! :)
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