arenal (La Fortuna), CR

— Not going to be much to this at all. I would just like to point out a really cool tourist thing and town to go check out in Costa Rica. The Arenal Volcano. This is a massive and stunning active volcano, located in central Costa Rica. It's a great excuse to go and check out an inland town as compared to the much more popular Costa Rican coastline. The Volcano is located about equidistant from Liberia and San Jose, outside of the town of La Fortuna. La Fortuna is the town that you are going to want to go to if you are trying to see the volcano. La Fortuna, in and of itself is a nice place to visit. I didn't visit on this trip, but I went with my family when I was a kid. I know, very typical kid from the US stuff. From the town you can do hikes up the volcano, see waterfalls, check out sloths, hang out in hot springs, check out Lake Arenal which is also amazingly impressive, and many many other touristic things. If you like nature and want to find something amazing to do off the coast, look no further than the Arenal Volcano and lake. It's an easy trip. It's well traveled and all set up. It won't be cheap or anything but it's going to be a beautiful thing to do. In addition to Costa Rica's coastline, the inland jungle and mountains stun as well.

GENERAL OVERVIEW

LOCATION - The Arenal Volcano is right outside of the town of La Fortuna, which if you are trying to get here should be your point of interest. That's where a lot of the accommodation — especially the stuff that's not crazy expensive and right on the volcano, is going to be. La Fortuna is about equidistant from both San Jose and Liberia. So if you are flying in, it's going to be about 2 hours in a car to get to either of them. But regardless, even if you don't have a car it's really easy to find a public bus to get to the popular La Fortuna.

ACCOMMODATION - I never stayed here as an adult, but in La Fortuna you are certainly going to be able to find hostels and stuff for the travelers coming to see the volcano. It's going to be a little bit cheaper around these parts as well because you are off the coast.

EATS - Not sure.

NIGHTLIFE - Probably not a whole lot.

SIGHTS - Tons. Mainly surrounding the volcano and the lake. Here is a blog from someone else who spent a lot of time there that looks helpful.

SURFING - No surfing, but you can white-water raft and that's maybe kind of similar?