Nikki Solano

Hey Light Project Stories!

Great question! There is no official parking in the form of a parking lot or secured spaces, so parking is tricky. There is a stretch of land (south of the bridge) that can fit a few cars, and there’s sometimes a local stationed there who promises to watch cars for tips. If you don’t go on a weekend (when El Salto tends to receive more visitors), you may get lucky and capture a spot. When driving out of downtown La Fortuna to the south toward El Salto, just after you pass the road on your right that leads to the waterfall, the road you are traveling on (Road 702) will curve to the right and dip down a bit (this is where the bridge and El Salto are). There aren’t many places to park on either side of the road before the bridge, but if you pass the bridge, turn around, and come back, you may be able to find a spot on the flat, right-hand side of the road. For turning around, you can do this at the entrance to the Arenal Mundo Aventura Ecological Park, which will be on your right shortly after driving over the bridge; the entrance is wide enough to turn around in. As a heads up, be careful! Road 702 around El Salto is not very wide and drivers speed in the area. We don’t typically recommend driving to/from El Salto because parking is unreliable and not overly safe, but if you plan to arrive by car, just be extra cautious getting into and out of your vehicle, and remember to lock its doors. 🙂

Pura vida!

Hi again theitinerary1!

That’s amazing! I didn’t know because I didn’t spot any Costa Rica posts on your blog. If you ever make it back, or if you ever write about your experiences from years ago, let us know and we will most certainly check them out! All the best to you throughout your continued travels. 🙂

Pura vida!

Estate un rato!

Thank you for stopping by and commenting! 🙂

Pura vida!

betunada –
It is great to hear from you again! Hope things have been well with you and the family. Itching to come back to Costa Rica yet? Or should I instead ask, has that itch yet gone away since the moment you departed from the country a while back? If not, I’m sure Andres would love to see you back in Conchal! 🙂
Pura vida!

Hey that travelling nurse!

Got it! How sad, no? That some people would play games like these to manipulate others? I’m not sure you could avoid this problem. Bringing maps with you wouldn’t be a solution because it would be impossible to know in advance each and every route (down to the street) that you’d be traveling throughout your trip. You are also correct: Uber drivers, too, could scam travelers the same way as taxistas. So, we agree: honesty would be hard to come by in either case. Fortunately, we haven’t experienced many taxi/driver-related problems, and we wish the same for you throughout your trip. Once you’re back home, we’d love to hear how everything went, and which service you went with: taxi or Uber.

Pura vida! 🙂