Pura Vida in Costa Rica – La Fortuna Uno

Eight Days Exploring Costa Rica with Two Young Kids

After an eventful day, visiting La Paz Waterfall Gardens and the Blue Falls, we completed our drive from San Jose to La Fortuna, ready to continue the adventure!

Pura Vida in Costa Rica – La Paz & Blue Falls

Our AirBnB was located just outside the town of La Fortuna, at the base of the Arenal Volcano. Arriving in the late afternoon, we drove through town on our way to the AirBnB. La Fortuna was a cute town that you could tell catered to a busy tourism industry. Lots of restaurants along the main road as well as plenty of places for souvenir shopping. We made a quick stop at one of the grocery stores before checking into the AirBnB.

The house was absolutely perfect! We had plenty of room for our family, and the house was surrounded by a gorgeous, lush garden. We could see the base of Arenal from the house, and we hoped that the cloud coverage would dissipate eventually so we could get a full view. One of the best features was a wrap around porch overlooking the scenery and a large patio off the kitchen for outdoor dining. The caretaker of the house lived in a separate building on site, so she was there for anything we needed and even cooked us a delicious breakfast every morning. We wrapped up our busy day with dinner at a local Italian place. We figured the kids would appreciate the comfort of one of their favorite foods for dinner – pizza! Needless to say, we all slept great that night!

Day 2

On our first morning in La Fortuna, we woke up in great moods. Our view of the rainforest stretched out before us, we could hear the tropical birds chirping and see them swooping from tree to tree. We even caught some brief glimpses of monkeys in trees in the distance. The skies were overcast, but that didn’t dampen our spirits as Scott and I sipped coffee on the balcony while the kids played around. Thanks to the house caretaker, we all enjoyed a home cooked breakfast, complete with local fruit, fresh juice, and pancakes made to order. Heaven! This was what we needed to rejuvenate for another busy day.

Mistico Hanging Bridges

We started the day with a visit to the Mistico Hanging Bridges, a short drive from our house. We also got some views of Lake Arenal during the drive! Hanging bridges are a popular activity in Costa Rica because it gives you the chance to explore the rainforest at eye level, and it is a unique experience. The Mistico Hanging Bridges in La Fortuna are one of the biggest hanging bridge parks in Costa Rica. Since we we this was a popular attraction, we booked our reservation in advance online, for mid-morning. After checking in at the front desk, getting prepared with sunscreen and bug spray, we started our hike along the main trail.

The main trail is about 2 miles long, with 16 bridges, some of these are fixed structure bridges, but the fun ones are the suspended bridges that sway and bump as you cross. The trail between the bridges cuts through the dense, green rainforest, and the view from the bridges allows you great views of the surrounding scenery. On a clear day, you can see Arenal Volcano from some of the bridges. The view with clear skies from this park would have been amazing, but we can’t plan for the weather, and it remained overcast our entire visit.

We had a blast on the hike! Walking across the swaying bridges was a strange sensation at first, but it was fun to bounce around and see how the motion rippled all the way down the length of the bridges. I never felt unsafe, but out of an abundance of caution, we usually let groups in front of us finish their crossing before we started ours. Besides the bridges, the scenery was stunning. There was helpful signage around the trail to point out certain vegetation and potential wildlife nearby. We caught some quick glimpses of monkeys high in the trees above us but really only saw birds and insects. We crossed several streams and even took a little side trail to see a waterfall right next to the path. The 2 mile hike went by in a flash, and this was definitely a memorable experience of us all!

Arenal Volcano National Park

Next on our agenda was a quick visit to the Arenal Volcano National Park. With the volcano dominating the landscape of La Fortuna, we definitely wanted to explore the area close to the volcano. We were hoping to have lunch at the house and let the kids take naps, so we had to really narrow down our focus on this visit. The park is split into two sectors: the Main sector and Peninsula sector. The Main sector boasts views of the volcano, a hiking trail to the old lava fields from the 1968 eruption, and a trail that highlights a giant Ceibo tree. The Peninsula sector includes hiking trails closer to Lake Arenal for view of the lake and the volcano. It was a no-brainer for us… our kids are obsessed with volcanos and lava, so we HAD to take them to see the lava field, which meant focusing on the Main sector.

The hiking trail to the old lava flows is Sendero Las Coladas. There is an ample parking lot at the trailhead, but before we parked for the hike, we drove up to the Mirador principal (Main Lookout Point). This was just a small pavilion with unobscured line of sight to the volcano… that is, if the weather was clear. We could see the base of the volcano, just not the peak yet. Fingers crossed the clouds would clear out at some point on our trip. We drove back to the trailhead and started on the Coladas trail.

This trail combines with Sendera La Cieba to form a large loop. That portion of the trail is the one that takes you to the famous giant Cieba tree. We decided to go straight for the lava field, so when the trail split off, we kept to the Coladas trail. The hike was easy, mostly flat, just rocks, tree roots, and some muddy patches to navigate. Once we approached the lava flow, we had to climb a steep staircase and then climb up the rocks to get onto the old flows.

We finally reached the impressive lava field, with the black lava rocks stretching around us. You could see nature staking back its claim as vegetation is already starting to grow over the rocks. I imagine in a couple more decades, the lava rocks will be surrendered to the rainforest. Unfortunately Arenal Volcano was still hiding behind the clouds, but from the top of the lava flow, we had a great view of Lake Arenal. The landscape was stunning! We took time to enjoy the area (and feed the kids some snacks) before heading back to the trail.

Our original plan was to take the Cieba trail back, but we were unsure how much extra distance that would add and the kids were getting frustrated with the hike. We decided to go back our original path since we knew that was just about 1 mile. Carrying the kids on our shoulders much of the way, we hustled back to the car as fast as we could manage. Despite skipping the Ciebo tree, our visit was a success! The trail was interesting – we saw the ground become more rocky as we approached the lava flow, the vegetation was unique, the lava field was magnificent, and then – at the end of the hike, we spotted a Magpie Jay in the tree right above our car! What a gorgeous bird and an exciting sighting at the end of our visit. The cherry on top of our morning was that by the time we got back to the house, we caught some glimpse of the top of the volcano!

Baldi Hot Springs

After a busy morning, we had a low key afternoon planned. An easy lunch at the house, followed by naps for the kids, and then the rest of the day splashing around in one of the many hot springs in the area. Thanks to the Arenal volcanic eruption in 1968, thermal hot springs are now a major attraction around La Fortuna. There are several hot springs resorts in the area, and also one free hot springs access point in a river nearby. After looking at the options, we decided to visit Baldi Hot Springs.

Baldi Hot Springs resort has about a dozen different pools, all fed by the natural thermal spring water. The pools have varying temperatures, included one cold plunge pool. There is a hotel onsite, but visitors can also purchase a day pass for the resort, which is what we did. Our deciding factor in choosing Baldi was that they have a kids section. We knew this meant they would be kid-friendly, which we noticed in some of the other resort websites, they seemed to discourage young visitors. Check in was smooth. We got our wristbands and locker keys. The wristbands were connected to our credit card info, so we could order at any of the several pool bars. We quickly stored our belongings in the lockers and were ready to play!

There was so much to explore… the thermal pools and the resort grounds were gorgeous. We kept marveling at the beauty we were immersed in. The kids were a little weirded out by the warm water at first but quickly adapted. They love swimming after all. We moved around to various pools, played in the different waterfall features, the kids (and only the kids) loved the cold plunge pool. The only negative was that the service at the pool bars was astonishingly slow. Like, 45 minutes for a drink order. The area we were in was not very crowded either, so hopefully this was jut an off day for them. Eventually I took the kids to the kid area while Scott waited at the pool bar.

The Baldi Kids area was super cute! The water was shallow and only lukewarm to make it suitable for youngsters. There was a play structure with a few small slides, and an overhead tipping bucket that would pour a cascade of water over the play area when it reached its tipping point. The kids played here for ages. I was happy that they were happy but honestly wished I could be soaking in the warmer pools instead. The sacrifices we make as parents, ha. At least right next to the kid pool, there was one of the adult slides that shoots you into a spiral drain before you eventually fall into the pool below. It was highly entertaining to watch people go down that slide!

Eventually we convinced the kids to go play in other pools, so we got to explore a bit more. There were a few other adults slides. Based on Scott’s face after he came down one of them, I decided I wasn’t brave enough. Apparently they were quite rough. We also saw that there was a natural sauna area, with the steam coming from the natural geothermal activity. As evening approached and the sky got dark, we noticed that the music and lighting in some of the pools started to reflect more of a party atmosphere. It was honestly so fun! Under different circumstances, it would have been great to stay longer, but we were getting hungry for dinner, and it was starting to seem like kids were not as encouraged anymore.

We changed into regular clothes in the small locker rooms, and checked out at the front desk, which unfortunately was not as smooth as check-in. Overall we had a blast at Baldi! However, if we come back to La Fortuna, I think I’d want to try one of the other hot springs instead. The service at Baldi was so spotty that it really left a bad taste in our mouths. Checking in was about the only thing that was easy. Maybe it was just a fluke, but there are lots of other options for a future visit so might as well try a new experience next time. After the hot springs, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at a restaurant just down the road – Bongos – and came back to the house for the night. We were ready to sleep after all of the day’s adventures!