The Arenal area is north of San Jose in the interior of the country. It is about a 3-½ hour drive from the capital city (San Jose). Arenal is known for the active volcano, Arenal. At different times of the day you will hear the rumbling of the volcano. This region is a tropical, mountainous area with a wide variety of activities.  One of the highlights of the area is the Tabacon Hot Springs & Spa. This is a natural, outside hot springs that are enjoyed by all visitors to the area. It is very lush and tropical with plenty of opportunities to see birds and perhaps some monkeys.

Other popular activities are horseback riding trips  either to the volcano or to La Fortuna waterfalls.  There are also Canopy tours, nature walks and day   trips to Monteverde Cloud forest, Mountain bike  tours, river rafting and much more. Or, you can  spend some time in the town of La Fortuna and  enjoy some of the local cuisine.

Probably to be less than 3,000 years old, the Arenal volcano is a geologically very young volcano.

The Arenal Volcano had remained silent for more than 410 years. In fact the population and authorities were considering this volcano extinct. The local population was calling it a mountain: Cerro Arenal. Of course, it trembled often and sometimes in some places it was feeling hot under the feet but nothing more than that.