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See the Best of Costa Rica
with
Paradise Tours, Costa Rica
Unique personalized tours since 1991 |
For our Trip Advisor Reviews click on our name below
ARENAL VOLCANO
Arenal Volcano has not
been
active since late November 2010. But it is still a nice and impressive place
to visit with many attractions such as the several Hot springs, Rainforest Canopy Tours
with scenic lake views etc., and
volcano activity can change.
Tour is
generally from 8:00 AM to 7:30PM
With
us Arenal is reached by
way of 3 Optional Routes:
- Scenic
Direct Route; 8.00 am – 7:30
pm From $95*/person
- Scenic Sightseeing Route;
8:00 am - 7:30 pm From $100*/person
- Waterfalls Route.
8:00
am - 7:30 pm From $100*/p Subject to road
conditions
- Sarapiquí River Route;
7:30 a.m. - 7:30 pm.
From $125*/person.
-
OR with Tram up into the rainforest
and down,
with Arenal Lake views via either route
except via Sarapiquí;
7:30 am - 7:30 pm. From
$130*/person
- OR with The "Tranopy Combo" (Tram up and Canopy Cable Zip-line down) at Arenal; From $155*/person.
All include lunch and refreshments.
All prices quoted
are: per adult, based on the tour operating with
4 or more paying aged people, include lunch on all full day tours unless otherwise
stated and are subject to change without notice; as are Tour
descriptions and itineraries due to changes beyond our control such as changes
in entrance fees, road conditions etc.
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RED HOT LAVA at night and
Arenal Lake & Volcano views by day.
Currently not
active since late November 2010.
But still a nice and
impressive place to visit
and activity can change.
· TABACON HOTSPRINGS RESORT
(optional) at the base of Arenal Volcano.
· TROPICAL RAINFOREST at
Arenal & CLOUDFOREST
on direct route.
· SCENIC DRIVES though quaint
colorful towns on either the Sightseeing Route
through the oxcart factory and souvenir shopping town
of Sarchi or on the Direct
Route.
·
WILDLIFE; MONKEY, TOUCAN and COATI
sightings are possible around Arenal.
· LUNCH. REFRESHMENTS ALL DAY; from
BEER to bottled water, sodas and fruit.
Visit Arenal
Volcano to see RED HOT LAVA in one spectacular day tour from your San
José area hotel. From San José we’ll turn off the Pan-American Highway on to
either of the 5 routes to Arenal. (Sarpaiqui River
and Aerial Tram Routes share the same route.)
The
“Direct Scenic Route”, $95*, gets
you to Arenal Volcano sooner and takes you through a more rural scenic non-stop
route climbing up through beautiful rolling landscape of dairy and fern farms,
cloud forests, in addition to typical small towns with well kept homes. We’ll
stop in the town of La Fortuna near Arenal Volcano for a delicious typical lunch
before continuing on to Arenal Volcano, Arenal Lake and then the optional Tabacón Hot Springs Resort,
EcoTermales or Baldi Resort or other hotsprings.
Continue reading the “Common description of Arenal for all routes” below.
The
optional “Scenic Sightseeing Route”,
$100*,
to Arenal turns off the Pan-American Highway for a brief stop in the town of Grecia
(Greece) to visit its unique double steeple metal church imported from Belgium
in 1894 that your knowledgeable guide will tell more about. You’ll then travel another 20 minutes to the town of Sarchi
to visit its 1903 oxcart factory and many souvenir shops. After lunch we’ll continue another ½ hour through dairy and
vegetable farms to the lovely town of Zarcero, with its cool mountain air, & unusual topiary gardens of
juniper shrubs sculptured into wonderful enchanting figures, all in the
beautiful Central Park in front of the town’s church. We'll then continue on a
scenic drive for about 1.5 hrs, at first through more highland dairy and
vegetable farms, then as we descend into the Northern Plains we’ll see more
diverse agricultural land for beef cattle, sugar cane and other crops. By 4:00
p.m., as we get closer to the small tourism boom town of La Fortuna the imposing
view of Arenal Volcano begins to
dominate the landscape. Continue reading further below "Common description of
Arenal for all routes".
The Toro Waterfall Route
to Arenal. $95*
CURRENTLY NOT OFFERED due to road closure.
Begins with same
route as the ‘Sightseeing Route’ described above,
except after Sarchí we omit Zarcero
and turn off the beaten path up onto a little known
scenic mountain road to a hidden valley
called "Bajo de Toro"
where after lunch we'll visit the spectacular
Toro (Bull) Waterfall.
This
impressive waterfall surrounded in rainforest cascades some 500 ft down an extinct volcanic crater to continue as a pristine
river towards the northern plains. As we continue for about 1½ hours on
a scenic drive through typical towns and farm land towards the small tourism
boom town of La Fortuna, the imposing view of Arenal Volcano begins to
dominate the landscape. Continue reading further below "Common description of
Arenal for all routes".
Our Sarapiquí River Route $125 to Arenal Volcano option is an
aggressive combination tour that no else offers offers. Only a ½ hour
after leaving San José we'll begin a 30 minute drive through the impressive and
scenic Braulio Carrillo Rainforest National Park on a good paved highway en
route to the Sarapiquí River for a total of 1.5 hour drive from San José. Once
there you'll enjoy a pleasant relaxing covered motorboat cruise for about 1.5
to 2 hours either up or downstream and back, on the calm flowing waters of the shaded
jungle lined banks of the Sarapiquí River, and if we go upstream we will
explore the forest lined banks of the tributary river of Puerto Viejo where the
world renowned Research Station of the Organization of Tropical Studies (OTS) is
located. This is a pleasant and relaxing way to see
MONKEYS, colorful tropical BIRDS,
IGUANAS, CROCODILES OR CAIMANS, SLOTHS and other tropical animals that your
knowledgeable guide will help find and point out to you in addition to
interesting facts about these animals. You’ll also see what life on a tropical
jungle river is like, with children swimming, people fishing in the river,
farmland, banana plantations and the occasional home on the banks. We carry a
full compliment of refreshments, from cold beer to sodas & bottled water on our
boat trip, as we do in our vehicle, available all day long at no extra cost.
Immediately after the boat trip we’ll drive a couple of short blocks to a
souvenir shop to make use of their restrooms where you’ll also have the
opportunity to purchase beautiful art, woodcrafts and souvenirs at economical
prices before continuing on to lunch and Arenal Volcano on scenic 1½ hour drive
on excellent highways through several small towns. Lunch may be taken en
route to Arenal or once we get to the town of La Fortuna near Arenal Volcano
around 1:30 pm.
Arenal with The Arenal Tram in rainforest with Arenal Lake views.
Available via either route except (for obvious reasons)
The Aerial Tram route below. From
$130*/person. As previosuly qouted above
Arenal after The Rainforest Aerial Tram
Canopy tour ; 7:30 am - 7:30 pm.
From
$150*/person. Includes $60 Aerial Tram ride.
Only we offer this combination tour and is possible only with morning entrance
into the Aerial Tram . As in the beginning of the Sarapiquí Route
above, a ½ hour from San José you'll begin a mountainous drive 20 miles through
the scenic Rainforest of Braulio Carrillio National Park where the world famous
and first Rainforest Aerial Tram is located deep in the jungle. After arriving
at the Tram entrance around 9 am a shuttle will take you into the property where
you'll first watch a video about the tram before taking a 1.5 hour ride in a 6
man gondola for 3/4 of a mile (or 1.2 km) in through the tree tops of the forest
and the same 3/4 mile back. This gives you a unique view of the forest canopy
that few ever get to see and where 60% of the life in the forest is. After the
tram will stop for lunch before continuing for 2 hours through farmland and
small towns to Arenal for a aprox. 3 pm arrival. See the Common description of
Arenal below. Though occasionally
wildlife is seen here, this is
not a wildlife tour but rather a chance to learn about the rainforest canopy
which few ever get to see. Later down the road we will stop for nice lunch,
before continuing on to the town of La Fortuna near
Arenal. This is not the tour for those
wanting maximum time at Arenal.
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Common description of Arenal for all routes
follows:
After a few miles past the town of La
Fortuna near Arenal we'll drive west past stunning views of the volcano from the
base of its northern side and then later the western side were we'll stop
at the earthen dam of Arenal Lake Reservoir to get out of the
vehicle to take in the views of the impressive lake scenery and surrounding
rainforest in addition to the panoramic view of the volcano in the near
distance. (Almost all other tour operators do
NOT take you to the lake.)
After some refreshments, and depending on other activities planned for the day, we'll continue on around the lake for a couple of miles
into the dense tropical rainforest that borders the lake to look for wildlife
and to take in more spectacular views of the lake and of the volcano in the
distance. We then turn back the few miles to the hot springs resort to
decide if you want to pay the optional $35 - $60 depending on which hot springs. From the base of Arenal Volcano at
night it’s (currently not) possible to SEE
RED HOT LAVA
(Currently
not
active since late November 2010, but still a
nice and impressive place to visit and activity can change) rolling
down the slopes of this classic cone-shaped volcano considered one of the most
active in the world set next to Lake
Arenal, the largest man-made reservoir in Central
America, surrounded by dense tropical rainforest where it's possible to spot
wild howler monkeys, coatis and toucans among other birds and wildlife, which we will first visit after lunch. The optional Tabacón Hot Springs Resort is also located near the base of the
volcano which for a $60 entrance fee you can bathe in naturally hot
spring water that flows from the base of this spectacular volcano into stream
and several swimming pools.
This resort has beautiful tropical flower
gardens with pathways through it, several large concrete swimming pools of
ever-flowing hot mineral water in addition to more natural rock-lined pools in
the hot mineral streams that transverse the resort.
It also has a waterfall you can sit under for a wonderful water massage, a water
slide toboggan, 2 restaurants and a wet bar in the largest pool, all set in a
tropical garden surrounded by tropical rainforest within view of the volcano.
It also has showers & dressing rooms with lockers for your belongings and
for the towels they provide for a deposit. Another optional hot springs is $35. We can tailor the tour times to your needs for an earlier return. Also
available as an optional 2 day overnight excursion.
Price depends on the hotel chosen.
Contact us for details. All
Prices are subject to change without notice. |
