Nikki Solano

Hey Omar!

Thank you so much for reporting about your experience! Quick question: were you stationed primarily in San Jose for your trip? Or did you use Uber to travel outside of the capital city too?

Pura vida! 🙂

Hello International Living – Costa Rica!

Thanks for the great tips! Also, you’re absolutely right—tips are an important source of income for many Costa Ricans. It’s wonderful that travelers supply them, whenever and however much they can. 🙂

Pura vida!

Hi Colley!

This one is tough to estimate. It depends on a lot of factors, including whether the trip is an overnight one, whether it’s an inshore or offshore fishing trip, whether the staff prepares meals for you during the trip, and obviously, the quality of service you receive. Normally, I’d recommend tipping 5-10% of the tour cost, but chartered fishing trips can be wildly expensive, so that approximation may not work for you. Would you feel comfortable reporting back with the cost and of the fishing trip and its inclusions? That will give me a better idea of a ballpark for tipping.

Pura vida! 🙂

Hey Eric!

Great question! El Silencio is a separate experience. While the Arenal Volcano National Park is a government-protected site, El Silencio is a private reserve. They are near each other (both are located west of La Fortuna, near Arenal Lake), but the entrance to El Silencio is off Road 142 whereas the entrance to the Arenal Volcano National Park is off the road to El Castillo. Both provide hiking trails around the foothills of the volcano as well as a vehicular trail that permits access to a volcano viewpoint by car. You’ll need to pay the entrance fee at both sites if you wish to tour them both; payment of the entrance fee at one does not permit entry to the other.

Pura vida! 🙂

Hey Preeti!

Welcome back! 🙂 Unfortunately, there aren’t any beaches located close to La Fortuna since the destination doesn’t near either of Costa Rica’s coasts. The closest beach (at 2.5 hours away) is Playa Puntarenas, but it isn’t a great beach. More beautiful beaches are located along the northern Pacific coast, the Nicoya Peninsula, the central Pacific coast, and the Caribbean coast, each of which is accessible from La Fortuna via a multi-hour drive. For more information about Costa Rica’s many beaches, don’t miss our blog post: 66 Costa Rica Beaches (In Photos) And Where To Find Them. For more specific help with respect to determining which particular beach town would be the best for you to visit, don’t miss our Costa Rica Destination Tool, which is available on our sister site, DIY Costa Rica. The tool filters 66 destinations by nearly 150 criteria in less than 1 minute to help you quickly and easily decide where to go in Costa Rica according to your unique preferences, wants, and needs. If you want to focus on a beach destination, be sure to click on the “Beach” checkbox (under the “Ecosystem” category); doing so will limit the recommendation(s) you receive to towns/communities at a beach.

Pura vida!