Costa Rica - The Northern Zone - Volcanoes, Lakes, Mountains, and a Cloud Forest! Pura Vida!
In Northern Costa Rica you’ll find a vast countryside with miles of plantations, cattle pastures, and cowboys. The Northern Zone is the agricultural center of Costa Rica, however, it's a great place to visit for adventure seekers and nature lovers.
Nature lovers will enjoy the great spots for wildlife and bird watching while marveling at natural wonders like a perfect cone-shaped volcano, a neon blue river, and a mountain where you can touch the clouds.
Adventure seekers will stay active on the miles of hiking trails, cruising around on a mountain bike, windsurfing on Lake Arenal, rafting down a river, taking a zip-line tour through the forest canopy, and/or canyoning (rappelling down the face of a waterfall). We didn’t do all of this, shoot, we didn’t do most of this. This is why we’ve had many discussions about returning to this area. Although you won’t find any beaches, once you become immersed in the nature and beauty of the Northern Zone and find one of the incredible spas around the Arenal Volcano, you’ll forget all about the beach. Pura Vida!
How to Get to the Northern Zone
You can get to most destinations in the Northern Zone from either International Airport, San Jose, or Liberia. From here you can take a public bus, a shuttle bus, a private transfer, or an inter-country flight. Or, you can rent a car. As mentioned above, we have driven a rental car to our destinations in the Northern Zone. We drove to Monteverde on a day trip from Playa Herradura, drove to Arenal/La Fortuna from Playa Herradura and drove to Rio Celeste from Playa Avellana in Guanacaste. The road we took to Monteverde wasn’t very well developed, so look into that before making a plan to drive to Monteverde.
Where We Stayed in the Northern Zone
There are dozens of boutique lodges near the Arenal Volcano, in and around Santa Elena, and near the Rio Celeste. Near Arenal, we stayed at the Lost Iguana Resort, and near the Rio Celeste, we stayed at the Rio Celeste Hideaway. Both were awesome, smaller lodges with lots of amenities, great service, lodging that blended into the environment, and both had showers that were at least partly outside. At each of these places, we heard howler monkeys in the nearby trees getting ready each day. Such a cool soundtrack to hear while getting ready for the day ahead. If you are driving to the Rio Celeste Hideaway, you’ll need a 4-wheel drive. It’s not an easy drive, we felt a big sense of relief once we actually made it to the hotel grounds.
What We Did in the Northern Zone
Arenal Volcano is one of the country’s most famous destinations. Arenal is about 50 miles northwest of San Jose and 4 miles from the town of La Fortuna. At over 5,300 above sea level, the Arenal Volcano was a nearly perfect cone-shaped, rainforest blanketed volcanic mountain considered by many to be extinct. However, in 1968, the dormant Arenal Volcano suddenly and violently erupted with a tremendous explosion, burying over 9 square miles with rocks, lava, and ash. When it was finally over, the eruptions had killed 87 people and destroyed three small villages, damaged forests, and killed livestock. For over 40 years, Arenal Volcano was Costa Rica's most active volcano with a daily/nightly show of flowing lava. The volcano became one of Costa Rica’s most visited natural attractions, and hotels in the region touted their views of the lava flows and red hot boulders ejected from the volcano glowing in the darkness. We stayed at the Lost Iguana while the lava was still flowing and received a "lava wake-up call" at 2 a.m. to alert us to an opportunity to see an active lava flow.
Since 2010, Arenal Volcano has been in a passive phase with very little activity as a part of its natural evolution and visitors are unable to watch the much-loved explosions, although that could change within a matter of months or years. We can't know when this quiet cycle will end and the glowing red-orange cone will once again dominate the night sky but even when it’s not erupting spectacularly the peak is still an imposing and beautiful sight.
Even without volcanic activity, there are countless tours that take place in the area surrounding the volcano. There’s the rainforest, waterfalls, hot springs, mountains to hike, fishing in the country’s largest lake, rivers for floating, lots of hiking trails, and oh yeah, the volcano.
At the Lost Iguana, there was a trail that led to the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges. This was a fantastic, easy hike, with views of the Arenal Volcano and Lake Arenal. We also saw white-tailed deer, giant curassow, and amazingly bright blue morpho butterflies. There weren’t any guides here, so we have no idea how much wildlife we missed.
La Fortuna Waterfall - Just outside the town of La Fortuna, this 200-foot waterfall is the perfect spot for a picnic, hiking, refreshing swim, or taking photographs. The falls emerge from a thick jungle before plummeting into an emerald green pool below.
Hot Springs - After your daily activity, take some time to soak your adventurous muscles in thermal pools of water. Arenal is home to several hot springs and these mineral waters have been used as therapeutic baths for more than two hundred years to treat rheumatism and other ailments. While a hot tub at the gym is great, there isn’t anything better than a relaxing warm bath, surrounded by jungle and in the shadow of a volcano after a day of adventure.
There are many hot springs resorts in this area, our favorite is TabaconThermal Resort and Spa. While this is on the more expensive side, the mineral pools at different temperatures (the hottest spring we entered was 46 Celsius, or about 106 Fahrenheit), beautiful gardens, swimming pool with a swim-up bar, and wonderful service make this a great splurge. After all our hiking, diving, etc., this was a nice way to relax. We sat at the pool bar for a bit, had some Imperials, and watched the lava runs during the day.
Monteverde/Santa Elena is home to the Monteverde Cloud Forest. From the beaches of Costa Rica, you'll feel like you're on top of the world, but really, you've reached the central point of the nation's continental divide. In the pleasant town of Santa Elena, you’ll see the warm smiles of farmers, artists, naturalists, and outdoor enthusiasts. At over 4,600 feet above sea level, you may feel like you’re in the US Pacific Northwest. In an evergreen environment, due to the precipitation and moisture-filled clouds which hover over the horizon on an almost daily basis, the Monteverde Cloud Forest is the byproduct of fog and heavy, low clouds sitting among the forest canopy. It feels like a high elevation rain forest, with mammals and over 500 bird species, including the green and red resplendent quetzal.
You can hike forest trails, zipline through the forest (The Original Canopy Tour), and walk across the Sky Walk suspension bridge. While here, other excursions include the Monteverde Butterfly Gardens and the Bat Jungle Museum.
The weather was terrible the day we were here. There was a slight drizzle with the hurricane-strength wind (according to the locals), which knocked out the power in Santa Elena and closed the cloud forest for the day. We had breakfast in Santa Elena and then we kept our appointment with the Original Canopy Tour for a zip line adventure. The weather caused all the other bookings to be canceled, so we were the only guests on the tour, and were accompanied by two guides. We were wet but had a blast.
The drive to Monteverde and Santa Elena is very bumpy, as large sections of the road were still unpaved and the terrain is not friendly to any vehicle that is not a 4x4 or lacks good ground clearance. As you are climbing or descending the mountain roads, be aware that in many curves the road is very narrow and you will often encounter semi-trucks. While the views are impressive, the driver needs to stay focused on the narrow road and the oncoming traffic. The road is often referred to as a "Costa Rica massage.” On the way back to the Central Pacific coast, we had plenty of daylight left so we made many stops at different places to enjoy the views.
While it isn’t the easiest place to access, a visit to Monteverde is well worth the trek.
Volcan Poas is one of the major attractions in the Central Valley and one of the country’s most visited national parks. We’ve visited Poas twice, once we couldn’t see anything and the other time, although cloudy, we had a nice view of the craters. Ideally, the best time to visit the volcano is in the early morning before the clouds roll in and cover it. Each of our visits was our first stop after landing in San Jose. It’s about 90 minutes from the San Jose airport to Volcan Poas. It’s also a good way to get accustomed to driving in Costa Rica.
Volcan Poas National Park consists of nearly 15,000 acres that encompass at least four different habitats, another testament to Costa Rica’s amazing biodiversity! The park is over 8,800 feet above sea level and is home to two craters. The Poas crater is one of the largest active craters in the world, over a mile wide and over 900 feet deep, and emits boiling sulfurous gasses. The color of the lagoon varies from aquamarine to green. The other crater is called Botos Lagoon which contains cold water and is home to many birds including Costa Rica’s national bird the clay-colored robin, and the area’s most famous avian resident, the resplendent quetzal. The park is full of dense vegetation and small wildlife, including birds, coyotes, squirrels, rabbits, snakes, and frogs. Due to the higher elevation, larger mammals are not typically found here.
Poas is above the frost line and is often windy and temperatures below freezing are possible. Wear layers for your visit here, this isn’t the beach! Poás is active, but don’t expect to see an eruption or any lava flow here. The last major eruption was in 1910. However, you are likely to see steam and gasses coming from the crater and occasional geyser-like eruptions. In 2017 an explosion caused park officials to close the park to visitors.
Rio Celeste is within Tenorio National Park, which is also home to the extinct Tenorio Volcano. Tenorio Volcano National Park is one of the five most visited parks in Costa Rica. Rio Celeste is in the jungle here and this enchanted river is notable because of the color of the turquoise-blue waters. It’s also home to one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Costa Rica. The colors of the water look like it’s a piece of artwork or a filtered photograph. Legend has it that as God was painting his gorgeous blue skies, he dipped his paintbrush in the river creating the brilliant blue waters.
We were told the water has this distinctive turquoise coloration due to a chemical reaction between sulfur and calcium carbonate and other minerals present in the water from the nearby Tenorio Volcano. However, the colors are actually an optical phenomenon of a combination of minerals that cover rocks lying along the bottom of the river which can’t absorb the color blue, thus reflecting the blue in the sunlight. While we don’t understand the science of creating the appearance of the spectacular blue water, we were in awe once we reached the river.
The National Park has hiking trails that can reach the river. These trails are very muddy. Plan accordingly! Rio Celeste Hideaway had rain boots for us to use for our hike, which was much appreciated! From the ranger station at the National Park, the hike to the waterfall was about an hour and a half, with the last part being 258 steps down (which you had to hike back up too). Wow, the waterfall was stunning. It’s very hot and humid hiking through the jungle to the river. Bring mosquito repellant! Also, keep in mind that Costa Rica bans the use of single-use plastics in their National Parks, so make sure to bring a filled reusable water bottle.
Night Jungle Hike - We did a night jungle hike that was offered by the Rio Celeste Hideaway. This was exciting, we saw three kinds of frogs, a toad, a poisonous snake (it was small but poisonous), and lots of insects.
Tubing in Rio Celeste - We did a tubing tour down the Rio Celeste with Onca Tours. We were picked up at Rio Celeste Hideaway and transported to the tubing area, on the way we stopped at a tree that was over 600 years old. We passed by huge pineapple plantations on the drive. Our guide Odir gave each of us our own tube and helmet to tube down the river in calm areas along with some class 1 and 2 rapids. It was about a 90-minute ride and so much fun. Before we reached the water we saw a few howler monkeys and while tubing we saw some white face monkeys and a three-toed sloth!!! At the end of our tubing, there was a cliff you could jump or swing off. We also had a snack of fresh pineapple, papaya, juice, and plantain chips before heading back to the lodge.
Where We Ate in the Northern Zone
We ate at a few places in La Fortuna and Santa Elena and stopped at some Tico sodas while driving from place to place. Due to its remote location, all meals we ate around Rio Celeste were at our lodge.