Arenal

Travel to La Fortuna, a community that lies in the shadow of the looming Arenal Volcano, one of the world’s most active volcanoes and Costa Rica’s most active volcano.

After lunch, hike through the rainforest on the El Silencio Trail. This path takes you to a lookout across from the base of the volcano, where your vantage point gives you an amazingly up-close look at the boulders that have been spewed from Arenal’s crater.

Take a dip in hot springs near the volcano, and at night, be amazed by the glowing lava and incandescent rocks.

Hot Springs Resort

With Arenal Volcano looming above you, relax at Baldi Hot Springs. Enjoy a luxurious dip (or two or three or four!) in therapeutic, naturally heated waters while you are awed by Arenal’s glowing pyroclastic show. Relax in different sized pools hidden among lush gardens.

You can also take a horseback ride to the Río Fortuna waterfall, a lush jungle cascade that falls 260 feet to the river below.

Take a swim, but beware – the force of the turbulent water at the base of the waterfall has been known to catch swimmers by surprise!

Selvatura Canopy Tour

Thrill to the sights and sounds of the Monteverde tropical cloud forest as you zip along a cable suspended in the treetops. Around two-thirds of a typical rainforest’s species live in the canopy, so be prepared to come face to face with a great variety of flowers, vegetation, insects and animals that you will only see from this vantage point.

Attached to a high weight cable, you’ll zip between platforms and tree canopies for two and a half hours, and you’ll have the opportunity to go on the Tarzan Swing, where you can swing through the forest attached to a high security rope.

Manual Antonio National Park

Located on the Central Pacific coast, Manual Antonio is a lush beachside community that offers its visitors breathtaking ocean views and unexpected visits by white-faced capuchin and squirrel monkeys. A morning hike to the protected beaches might turn up sloths, monkeys, iguanas, agoutis and a magnificent view from Punta Catedral, a one-time island now connected to the mainland by a thin land bridge. Take a horseback ride into the jungle where you’ll have lunch beside a 420-foot waterfall and be able to swim in a natural pool surrounded by the flora and fauna of a tropical rainforest.

La Paz Waterfall Gardens

See the world’s largest butterfly garden, marvel at the aerial acrobatics of numerous species of hummingbirds, and be wowed by the snake and frog exhibits at this exciting wildlife and nature park. Go hiking among the five spectacular waterfalls of the gardens: El Templo, Magia Blanca, Encantada, Escondida and La Paz.

A traveler’s newspaper, Costa Rica Today, claims that the 4,500 foot drop of water through vegetation and rocks combined with the natural sunshine produces ionized air that promotes well being and reduces stress.