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La Fortuna was my first stop in Costa Rica. I had come from San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua, crossing the border by foot and taking a bus to La Fortuna. The bus actually dropped me off in Tanque, about 7 kilometers (4 miles) east of La Fortuna. The bus driver told me to wait for another bus that would take me to La Fortuna. A light drizzle fell and I waited in the bus shelter along with two other guys. Some of my first impressions of Costa Rica were here in this bus shelter. Maybe it was the warm drizzle, but the sleepy town of Tanque felt cozy and clean. Everything seemed to be more developed, the cars were nice, the people were chill.
No one was whistling at me, there were no borrachos sleeping on the sidewalks, they actually had sidewalks. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved Nicaragua and Guatemala, in some ways more than Costa Rica. Costa Rica is kind of Americanized. I mean, there’s a Smashburger and Cinnabon at the airport, and you hear English everywhere. I like to call it the Disneyland of Central America. But there’s a reason so many tourists come here. It’s a beautiful country, with great people and amazing nature (Costa Rica is said to contain almost 6% of the biodiversity in the world, home to almost 500,000 species), and La Fortuna is one of the highlights.
If you’re flying into San José’s international airport, La Fortuna is about 114 kilometers, or 70 miles, away. A popular tourist destination, it is best known for its volcanoes, Arenal and Chato (although Arenal is the better known, larger, and more prominent of the two).
Although it is a very popular destination, La Fortuna still retains a charming, small-town feel, especially in the off-season (I went at the end of June). It rained a bit but mostly at night. The days were mostly dry and left me free to explore and do awesome activities.
Things to do in La Fortuna
Two Volcanoes Tour
My first day, I tagged along with a girl from my dorm room at the Arenal Container Hostel (which is a fairly new, cool little hostel with rooms made from old shipping containers). She had signed up for the Two Volcanoes Tour through our hostel (through Jungle Tours). This is either an all-day or half-day tour, we chose to do the all-day.
For $55 we had an all day (9am-7pm) excursion to Arenal National Park where we did a moderate hike, saw cool plants and wildlife (my first time seeing a red-eyed tree frog), swam in a lagoon, and ate a delicious lunch. We also had the chance to swing into the lagoon on a rope swing. It was actually a rubber grip attached to a rope. I tried it twice, and the second time was worse than the first, as my hands were wet. Combined with my lack of arm strength, I slipped off way sooner than expected. (Yes, I deleted the video footage LOL)
After that, we headed to the free hot springs (which you could do on your own) across the street from the Tabacon resort, where we were given a bit of guaro with Squirt. Finally, we ended the day with a short hike starting from the Arenal Observatory Lodge, near Cerro Chato. We crossed a couple of hanging bridges and walked to a waterfall where some people chose to swim (it was getting dark and it was a little drizzly, so I opted out).
Ride A Bike
Our hostel had bike rentals for $3/hour, so the second day my new friend and I rented bikes in the afternoon after she did a chocolate tour in the morning (while I relaxed in the hammock outside our room). My friend wanted to bike up to the Arenal letters sign, on the main highway, which she had heard was 6 kilometers away (a little less than 4 miles). We started up the road and quickly realized we were on a steady incline. Also, after about a mile the sidewalk disappears and in many places, the shoulder of the highway does too.
After burning our quads, trying not to get hit by cars, and getting attacked by fire ants on the side of the road (my fault for wearing flip-flops), we found the sign, which turned out to actually be less than 3 miles away. Hallelujah! We snapped our pics and then turned around and coasted down the hill (but not before a pit stop for some guaro).
There are also several mountain bike trails and guided mountain bike tours you can do as well if you don’t want to spend your bike ride dodging cars.
El Salto (Rope Swing)
This free activity is about a mile from the center of La Fortuna. It can be reached by car, but it’s normally recommended to take a cab, apparently because of all the break-ins that happen. Or if you’re feeling active you can walk. It’s underneath the third bridge on highway 702, which runs off the main highway 142 in La Fortuna by the Arenal Hostel Resort. If you pass Arenal World Adventure, you’ve gone too far.
We were still on our bike ride, so we had to carry our bikes halfway down a dirt trail and lock them to a tree with the help of a local. We almost locked them to the guardrail up on the highway, but the two cops who were patrolling the area advised against it.
This rope swing was much better than the one we had done on the Two Volcanoes tour. For one, it was an actual rope, so this time I didn’t slip off and land in the water on all fours like a cat falling into a bathtub. I did it twice, and I even saved the video footage this time.
La Fortuna Waterfall
You can’t go to La Fortuna and not go to the La Fortuna waterfall. There is a $15 entrance fee, but it’s worth it. There’s a nice restaurant and gift shops and a view of the waterfall inside the entrance. But the real reason you are there is for the 600m hike and 500 steps DOWN to the waterfall. That’s right, down.
Once you’ve made it to the bottom, you can take pictures and swim either near the waterfall itself or on the other side, which is much calmer and more inviting. You can see people whizzing by on zip lines way up above the waterfall. Once you’re nice and relaxed, you get to make the climb back to the top. Yes, it would be nice to climb up TO the waterfall so you can swim after all those steps, but you can always cool off with a cocktail or a fresh juice at the restaurant. The ceviche was pretty amazing too.
A cab is about $10 each way, or if you really want to test your endurance you can bike up here (it’s almost a 900-foot elevation gain over about 3 miles).
Other Things To Do
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Sloth Trail (Bogarin Trail) – this 2-kilometer trail is walking distance from the center of town. You can see a ton of local wildlife here, including, you guessed it, sloths. There is a $10 entrance fee, and an additional option to purchase a guide who will have a telescope because those sloths like to stay ALL THE WAY UP. Or you can just eat at the Restaurant La Perla next door and ask your server to help you spot one, but he’s not going to have a telescope, and you’ll have to resort to your camera lens, which for me, meant a bunch of digitally zoomed-in iPhone pics.
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Zip lining, hanging bridges, chocolate tours, white water rafting, you name it, it’s here. Check your hotel/hostel, they will usually have the hook up with tour companies.
Where To Stay In La Fortuna
Arenal Container Hostel – $10 a night (in the low season), small but clean, nice bathrooms, delicious $5 breakfast at Soda Mima next door, great staff. Very helpful for organizing tours.
This is the only place I can personally recommend for obvious reasons, but there are a bunch of other highly-rated hostels and hotels on booking.com
What To Eat In La Fortuna
- Soda Mima (behind Arenal Container Hostel) – can’t beat the $5 breakfasts
- Al Paseo Ricas Pupusas – Great pupusas
- Restaurante La Perla – Decent food, moderately priced. I had the shrimp and chicken fajitas for $15
- Anch’io Pizzeria – Amazing Italian food
- Restaurante Nanku – Great food and drinks and live music
If you have any recommendations or favorite places to go in La Fortuna, leave a comment below!
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