Nikki Solano

Hi hokiecarynX!

You can cover a lot of ground at the Arenal Observatory Lodge in only one day. Make sure you give yourself the afternoon on the day of your arrival to check out the little on-site volcano museum and hike to the Danta Waterfall, then the morning on the next day to participate in the lodge’s complimentary morning walking tour. Since you mentioned you might spend one night at the Arenal Observatory Lodge and then “head towards town to access other activities for a couple of days,” I should mention that a lot of La Fortuna’s tours and activities take place on the outskirts of town (many to the west of downtown La Fortuna, in the direction of the Arenal Observatory Lodge), so you may find it’s not necessary to switch hotels. Road construction in the area has made the drive to the lodge much better, so that shouldn’t be a major concern. The primary downside to staying at the Arenal Observatory Lodge, however, is that if you don’t plan to have a rental car, tour operators will charge you extra pick-up and drop-off fees to provide transportation to/from the lodge given that it doesn’t qualify as a “La Fortuna hotel.” You can learn more about those fees by reading our related blog post Costa Rica Tour Transportation: Hotel Pick-Up And Drop-Off Fees.

Pura vida! 🙂

Hey dweezer19!

The Peace Lodge at La Paz Waterfall Gardens is lovely, isn’t it? Glad to know that you had a chance to visit Poas and fit in a coffee tour at Doka too. 🙂

Pura vida!

Awesome! Hope to see you here one day, Pooja! 🙂

Pura vida!

Hi All Graduates!

Thank you so much for your very kind comments! 🙂

Pura vida!

Hi Miguel!

Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us and our readers. I hope you had a wonderful time here in 1974 and that you make it back again one day soon. 🙂

Pura vida!