Area Highlight - La Fortuna
La Fortuna is Spanish for “The Fortune”. It is a charming and quiet town that sits at the base of one of the most spectacular volcanoes in all the world – the Arenal Volcano and is a place that we love to visit whenever we come to Costa Rica. La Fortuna is the place many go to for adventure, to visit the hot springs, and see the volcano.
Volcano
If you’re looking for the classic cone shape that everyone thinks of when they think of a volcano, Arenal is that picture perfect volcano. In almost any location you stay in La Fortuna you’ll have panoramic views of the Volcano and surrounding forests.
Until December 2010, the Arenal Volcano was Costa’s Rica’s most active volcano. The volcano is just over 6 miles (10 km) away from town, making it a beautiful sight from the town square as well as almost every hotel in the area. The volcano has not had any lava eruptions since December 2010 but is still considered active.
Hot Springs
Second to the volcano, people visit La Fortuna to enjoy the hot springs. There are many hot springs located throughout the area, and most hotels will have hot springs on their property for you to relax and enjoy. Most guests choose to enjoy their scheduled adventure activities and then enjoy the hot springs after they return back to the hotel.
Due to this, it is likely that your hotel will not be near the center of the city. Most hotels are about a 10-15 minute drive from the actual city. But the hot springs are certainly worth clearing a morning or afternoon for to relax at the start of your trip to decompose from the stress of life, or to put at the end of your trip so rest up from your adventure before you head home refreshed.
Adventure Activites
La Fortuna has a great mix of nature and low impact activities as well as high adventure. There is truly something for everyone here.
We love the Hanging Bridges where we can walk high in the jungle and see the animals in the treetops. We also love the Safari Boat tours where we can drift down the river seeing the animals that live in and on the rivers edge. We also love the wildlife rescue centers where we can see and interact with animals. Also, if you come to La Fortuna, don’t miss out on the amazing chocolate tour. This is one of our favorites.
If you are looking for more adventure, we love the waterfall and to ride horses to visit the Maleku tribe. We really like riding ATV’s through the jungle or around the volcano. You can SUP the lake near the volcano and visit volcanic caves.
For more adventurous spirits we love the zipline and to raft, kayak or SUP the nearby river. There truly is something for everyone and we have so many ‘don’t miss’ things in La Fortuna. So no matter what you are looking for – you are likely to find it here!
So make sure to add a stop to La Fortuna on your trip. It’s about 2 1/2 to 3 hours from San Jose and is a great spot to start or end your vacation to Costa Rica! If you haven’t been to La Fortuna, come back and check out all that it has to offer!
One Response