La Fortuna
La Fortuna is adventure in the morning and hot springs in the afternoon, and the town is built around exactly that. Rappel down a live waterfall, walk the hanging bridges, then sit in a river the volcano heats.
La Fortuna in a nutshell
La Fortuna: what to expect
Every figure here is drawn from 87,000+ stops planned in Costa Rica on Stippl.
The things to do in La Fortuna all happen around Arenal, a volcano you can look at but never climb. You walk the Místico hanging bridges through the canopy and hike the 1968 lava fields at Arenal 1968 or Mirador El Silencio. You climb down to La Fortuna Waterfall and swim at its base, rappel down live waterfalls or raft the Balsa, and end the day in hot springs the volcano heats, free in the river beside Tabacón. Most travellers give La Fortuna 3 nights on Stippl, and the Bogarín Trail in town is where the sloths are.
Almost nobody passes through La Fortuna. Only 1.6% of La Fortuna stops on Stippl carry no night, the lowest rate of any destination we measure in any country. La Fortuna is also the 2nd most-planned stop in Costa Rica on Stippl, behind only San José.
Split each of your days in half. Adventure in the morning and hot springs in the afternoon is what almost everyone ends up doing, and the cone is clearest early. Río Celeste is ninety minutes each way and caps its visitor numbers, so book it before you fix the dates. You will want a car, because most of this is fifteen to thirty-five minutes out of town. Monteverde usually comes next, by jeep, boat and jeep across Lake Arenal, so leave the ziplining for there. Skip La Fortuna if you came for a beach: it pairs with the Pacific coast rather than replacing it.
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Adventure travellers
La Fortuna is where the canyoning, rafting and ziplining are, first and foremost, and it is on 15.2% of Costa Rican stops on Stippl.
Families
The waterfall, hanging bridges, hot springs, chocolate tours and sloth walks all work with children, and one zipline operator takes them from age three.
Wildlife travellers
Sloths, toucans, monkeys and the red-eyed tree frog turn up on the night tours with unusual reliability.
Anyone who likes a full day
The pattern here is adventure in the morning and hot springs in the afternoon, and the town is built around it.
Maybe not for you: beach travellers, since this is inland and pairs with the Pacific coast rather than replacing it; and anyone without transport, because most attractions are a 15 to 35 minute drive out and the town centre only makes sense with a car.
The best time to visit La Fortuna
Dry season
December to April
The marketing definition; the genuinely dry months are February and March. Hot by day all year, and Christmas, New Year and Easter week are the price and crowd peaks.
Green season
May to November
Wet most afternoons, fewer people, lower prices and more persistent cloud on the cone. The hot springs are the same in the rain, and the waterfalls run harder.
- January is the month most travellers plan La Fortuna for on Stippl, about 77 days ahead. The town has more hotel stock than most stops in Costa Rica; the lead is for the hot-springs resorts, not the hostels.
- Cloud on the volcano cannot be predicted in any season. A week here brings clear mornings that cloud by afternoon and the reverse on consecutive days; early morning has the best odds, and a second morning doubles them.
- The temperature barely moves here; what changes is rain, and it changes enormously. March is one of the driest months in the country and July one of the wettest, at the same daytime warmth.
- Christmas, New Year and Easter week are the peaks, and the resorts price them separately. The hot-springs hotels sell those weeks as packages months out; the rest of the dry season is busy but bookable.
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Things to do in La Fortuna
The Místico Hanging Bridges
Walk the 3.2-kilometre trail across six hanging bridges and ten fixed ones, up to forty-five metres above the forest floor, for about €28 to €32 self-guided. A guide stretches it from ninety minutes to two and a half hours, and is the point.
The 1968 lava fields
Hike the private reserves at Arenal 1968 or Mirador El Silencio, whose trails cross the 1968 lava flow with the cone above, rated above the national park's own. El Silencio is the cheaper, and early morning gives the clearest cone.
La Fortuna Waterfall
Climb down five hundred steps on a cement path with railings to the seventy-metre fall, twenty to thirty minutes each way, for €17. Arrive at the 08:00 opening, before the tour buses, and swim downstream of the fall, where the current is calmer.
The hot springs
Soak in water the volcano heats to 35 to 38 degrees: free in the river beside Tabacón, about €43 at Baldi or Eco Termales, about €85 at Tabacón and €110 at The Springs. Bring cash for the parking attendant at the free river.
Canyoning or rafting the Balsa
Rappel down live waterfalls, the highest single drop about seventy metres, or raft the Balsa at class 2 to 3 for beginners and 3 to 4 for the experienced. Operators differ in intensity, so ask which drop you get, and book a morning.
The Bogarín Trail and a night walk
Walk the Bogarín Trail in town for sloths, about €8.50 on a wristband valid 24 hours, so go late afternoon and again next morning. After dark, a two-hour night tour finds red-eyed tree frogs, armadillos and snakes.
The neighbourhoods of La Fortuna
The town centre
Church, park, sodas, hostels
The walkable grid around the church and the park: hostels, sodas, tour desks and the cheapest beds, the best-connected part of the area and the only one that works without a car. For budget travellers and first visits.
Everything on foot and every tour pickup, and no volcano view from the room.
The volcano road
Hot-spring resorts, the cone
The road west toward the park, lined with hot-spring resorts and lodges facing the cone, where the views and the prices are. For first visits with a car and for couples who want the springs at the hotel.
The volcano from the bed and the springs, and a car or a taxi for every meal in town.
Lake Arenal
Cabins, lakeshore, quiet
Cabins and small lodges on the lake twenty-five to forty-five minutes west, quiet and scenic, with the wind and the water. For couples with a car and for a night away from the tour buses.
The lake and the quiet, and a pain without a car.
El Castillo
Village, butterflies, volcano views
A village on the lake's south side about thirty minutes out, with the butterfly conservatory, volcano views and a handful of lodges. For quiet stays and families with a car.
The view without the resorts, and a gravel road to reach it.
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Where to stay in La Fortuna
Stay on the volcano road, in a hot-spring resort with the springs included in the room rate: a night there can cost little more than a day pass at the same place. The town centre holds the hostels and is the only area that works without a car. Most people give La Fortuna 3 nights on Stippl, which matches the advice more closely than anywhere else we cover.
The town centre
Hostels with pools from €15 a bed and cabinas and small hotels, €40 to €80, on the walkable grid.
The volcano road
Hot-spring resorts and lodges facing the cone, €120 to €300, and the five-star tier from €450.
Lake Arenal
Cabins and small lodges on the water, €70 to €160, quiet, scenic and windy.
El Castillo
A handful of family lodges with volcano views, €60 to €140, thirty minutes out.
What to eat in La Fortuna
National default plate: rice, beans, salad, plantain and a protein
Rice and beans fried together, the standard breakfast
Coffee dripped through a cloth sock, tasted on farm walks
Cacao grown locally, tasted and ground on farm walks
Tex-Mex-style burrito, plus smoothies
Fruit bowls and smoothies
Fresh fruit blended with water or milk
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La Fortuna customs and what not to do
1968 made this town
The eruption is its founding event: it destroyed the villages on the west flank, created the lava fields the reserves are built around, and started the tourism the town lives on.
The waterfall is the town's
It is run by the town's own development association and the ticket money, about €17, goes into local schools and community projects rather than to a private operator.
The Maleku are from here
The indigenous people of the northern lowlands; a cultural presentation is offered at the Ecocentro Danaus reserve and the crafts sold there are made by them.
The hot springs are shared
The free spring by the road is the town's own bathing spot and the families there are not on holiday; no glass, no music, and take the rubbish with you.
Do
- Book the waterfall and the bridges online; both cap entry
- Tip the parking attendant at the free hot spring
- Ask for the Maleku presentation at Danaus rather than a roadside souvenir version
- Carry colones for the small reserves
Don't
- Leave anything in the car at the waterfall car park
- Take glass to the free hot spring
- Expect the volcano after noon; it clouds over
- Buy a Maleku mask from a shop that cannot say who made it
What a La Fortuna trip costs
Budget
€47–75
Dorm bed or basic cabina, sodas for most meals, public buses with the occasional shuttle, one paid park every other day, free beaches and the free hot-spring river.
Mid-range
€105–170
Mid-range hotel or small eco-lodge double, a share of a rental car with its mandatory insurance, a paid activity most days and restaurant dinners.
High-end
€300+
Resort or signature lodge, private guides, hot-springs day passes, private transfers and the higher-end adventure operators.
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Fun facts about La Fortuna
Arenal erupted continuously from 1968 to December 2010. It is one of the longest continuous eruptions on record, and the town's whole tourism economy was built during it and now runs without it.
The waterfall is owned by the community. The local development association runs La Fortuna Waterfall and reinvests the gate money in the town's schools.
The national park protects two volcanoes, not one. Arenal at 1,633 metres is the famous cone, and Chato, its dormant neighbour with a crater lake, sits inside the same park.
A ceiba over 400 years old stands in the park. The tree is on the El Ceibo trail, and it was already old when the Spanish arrived in the region.
Climbing the cone is absolutely forbidden. The volcano is a backdrop and not an activity; what people do is hike the lava fields, raft, rappel, soak and look at it.
Advice and behaviour match exactly in La Fortuna. The guides say three nights, and on Stippl 39.1% of stays are exactly three, the tightest single value in the country.
Local tips for La Fortuna
Rent a car
The road from San José is paved the whole way and the attractions sit fifteen to thirty-five minutes out; a car for about €45 a day beats the tour buses by going early.
Jeep-boat-jeep to Monteverde
The lake crossing is a scenic route rather than a transfer, about €30, and both faster and nicer than the road. Seven in ten La Fortuna trips go on to Monteverde.
How long to stay
Most people give La Fortuna 3 nights on Stippl: canyoning or the bridges, the waterfall and a lava trail, and the hot springs every evening. The volcano clouds over by noon.
Safe and walkable
The town is easy on foot, including with children, and the guesthouses arrange every tour. Book the canyoning for a morning; the afternoon rain is real.
Downstream at the waterfall
The pool has a strong current directly under the fall; the calmer water is downstream. Five hundred steps down and back, and closed-toe shoes for the wet stone.
The free hot spring is bare
No changing rooms, no toilets, no lockers, and litter is a recurring complaint. Go early with nothing valuable, and tip the parking attendant.
La Fortuna questions, answered
Three nights covers La Fortuna's main things to do: the hanging bridges, a lava-field hike, the waterfall, one adventure morning and a hot spring every evening. Most travellers plan 3 nights in La Fortuna on Stippl, and 39.1% of La Fortuna stays there are exactly three. Give it five to seven if Río Celeste or Caño Negro are going in too.
La Fortuna usually comes early, after San José and before Monteverde, reached by jeep, boat and jeep across Lake Arenal. La Fortuna is the 2nd most-planned stop in Costa Rica on Stippl. Lay your stops out in Stippl to see what the days allow, then show the route to people who have been, and say how you travel when you ask.
You can hike around Arenal from La Fortuna, but never up it: climbing the cone is forbidden. The eruption is over, so there is no lava to see either. The hiking is at the base, on the national park's Coladas and El Ceibo trails, and across the old lava flow at the private Arenal 1968 and Mirador El Silencio reserves.
Río Celeste is the classic day trip from La Fortuna, about ninety minutes each way to Tenorio Volcano National Park. The trail runs five to six kilometres, with 250 steps down to the waterfall. The park caps visitors per hour and per day and tickets sell out, so book yours before you fix the date, and bring colones for parking.
Pick a La Fortuna hot spring by what you want from it. The free river beside Tabacón is hot water and nothing else, with no changing rooms or toilets. Baldi suits families with its slides, Eco Termales is quiet at a middling price, Tabacón has the most natural setting and The Springs has the volcano view.
La Fortuna usually is. 58.0% of the trips that include La Fortuna stay inside Costa Rica on Stippl, well above the national figure, because the town sits in the middle of the country rather than near a border. It is a stop for people doing Costa Rica properly rather than passing through.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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