Taking the Waters

We’re not strangers to Costa Rica, nor are we experts — not at all. We’ve traveled here for a month or so four times in recent years. We’ve found areas that draw us back year after year (around Potrero, in Guanacaste and Monteverde). And we visited areas that we enjoyed — just not enough to return to year after year when there is so much more to be seen. For such a small country, Costa Rica has so much variety.

This trip we decided to spend a few days in La Fortuna on the base of the volcano, Arenal. We had passed through the area five years and been intrigued.

La Fortuna is the most heavily touristed areas of Costa Rica, according to the guide books. The main attraction is Arenal, the volcano. Before 1968 the town was just another agricultural crossroads and then the volcano erupted, putting on a show until 2010 for the tourists who soon arrived. The town isn’t much to look at today, except almost everywhere you look, you see the big cone.

And where there are volcanoes, there are often hot springs. Today, along with the main attraction, hiking, zip-lining, horse back riding and various water sports lure tourists. No zip lines or horses for us — we were there for the hot springs spas. The roads in and out of La Fortuna are filled with everything from modest to ultra-swanky to middle of the pack spas like the one we found — Los Lagos.

Our initial impression of Los Lagos Hot Springs Spa and Resort was simply “wow.” An impressive entry, lush vegetation, streams crisscrossing the grounds and cascading small waterfalls. A restaurant, a swim up bar adjacent to the largest of the hot springs pools, a spa and a series of walking paths through a “jungle.” The resort also has lockers and changing rooms for day visitors. The hotel rooms are a little dated—you have real keys to open the doors—and are need some upgrading. But still very nice.

Our primary focus was the hot springs. While a little cheesy with their faux rock appearance, the pools did not disappoint. Varied in temperature from a cool mid-70’s to almost too hot for us—100+. Each hot springs pool had a sign indicating water depth and temperature.

Some pools were built for two. Most were bigger. A few had jacuzzi jets and reclining couches built in.

We started at the top and wandered from pool to pool down the hill until we, like Goldilocks, found the pool that was just right for us. Most of the time, we had the pools almost to ourselves. Our fellow soakers were largely locals; gringos seemed outnumbered.

Of course, we had to try the swim up bar. Yes, tacky, but still great fun. Sitting on the submerged stools was harder than it looked, but highly entertaining. And in this family friendly pool, the water was cool enough for the kids to enjoy.

The resort also had a couple regular swimming pools (fed from natural spring water, the resort info said) with water slides for the kids and a wading pool for the littlest with a fountain shaped like a volcano.

We drove to the upper reaches of the resort to the lookout point and we almost saw the top of Arenal. Apparently, you can be here weeks, even months, and never see the top of Arenal.

From that high view point there are a series of zip lines, and we saw folks harnessed in for the ride, and watched them end their trip zipping along above the swimup bar far below.

We certainly enjoyed our indulgent dips into the hot springs. With more time, we might have found the energy to explore more of what the area has to offer. Next time. But then, those hot springs are awfully tempting.