La Fortuna Costa Rica GO HERE

There's no disputing that their is a TON of things to do in La Fortuna- rafting, ziplining, ATV, horseback, bike, rappelling, hiking, lake adventures, you name it, it's probably here for you to do. But prices vary. We found a place where you can get some hiking in, see some animals, waterfall and you're literally right next to the volcano and it's NOT expensive. So we think it's worth mentioning. And we do, in this video. ENjoY!



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La Fortuna Costa Rica Things to Do on Lake Arenal

TRUTH is, LOTS of things to do in La Fortuna Costa Rica. Here's a few things- Canyoneering, Ziplining, Hanging Bridges, Volcano hike, horseback riding, ATV's, night hikes, rafting etc, and those things don't even account for the activities available on Lake Arenal. Well, there's a NEW player in town and it's Flyboarding, which I'm attempting to do in this pic. Have you heard of it? Well, anyway, CHECK out the video to get the gist of flyboards and if you're ever in the La Fortuna area and want to try something different, give us a shoutOUT and we'll hook you up. *And yes, just about anyone can do it.



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Power Wheels ATV Tour La Fortuna Costa Rica

Power Wheels in La Fortuna is the BEST ATV tour in the area, maybe in all Costa Rica (we'll have to get back to you on that one). We take the places we recommend very seriously since it's pretty much our reputation on the line so we take great care in regards to what we say about who. Fact is, we've been on the other ATV tours in the area and Power Wheels is the best, simple as that. The biggest reason Power Wheels is the best is probably because of the area they use do run their tours- it's simply BEAUTIFUL.

I could write or you could just CHECK OUT the video we did....and I'm sure you'll get the picture.



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Costa Rica Descents- BEST Rafting Company?

Costa Rica has GREAT whitewater rafting- the Pacuare, Toro, Sarapiqui and the Balsa to name a few. And the scenery is crazy beautiful. Lucky for us, La Fortuna is BASE for a lot of major whitewater rafting companies who run these rivers. One in particular we really like- Costa Rica Descents. Young company with major, BIG league, rafting experience. All their guides have at least 15 years experience, speak English and are just plain fun. We're not saying Descents is the BEST rafting company in Costa Rica, but they might be.

Anyway, the video below was shot on the Upper Balsa (Class V) which no company runs except for Descents and truthfully, the Upper Balsa rivals, and many say is better, than the more popular Pacuare, in rapids and beauty. We'll let the video do the talking. For more INFO- Costa Rica Descents. And the music in this video is perfect if I do say so myself. ENjoY!



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Costa Rica Dominical Uvita Area

We love the Dominical - Uvita area on the South Pacific side of Costa Rica. Rustic,rugged, less touristy, kinda the way we think Costa Rica should be. Anyway, if you're interested in visiting the Dominical, Uvita area, check out these videos. They're short but informative. ENjoY!

Dominical



Playa Uvita

Playa Ventanas



La Cascada el Pavon



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Wild Animal Rescue Fortuna Costa Rica

Me and a parentless, baby howler monkey.
Costa Rica has animals, really cool, eXotic animals- sloths, macaws/parrots, iguanas, monkeys and about 135 species of snakes, just to name a few. Many people love exotic animals, so much in fact, they want to keep them as pets. These people usually have no idea as to how to care for them. Needless to say, as the 'wild' animals start becoming adults, they tend to act just how they are- wild. Most folks don't manage 'wild' very well. Luckily there's a few places around Costa Rica who take in these wild, semi- domesticated animals and try to acclimate them back into their natural habitat. La Fortuna has such a place.

D'Angelo and I recently visited it. Check it out.



And of course one of our favorite animal rescue centers- Jaguar Rescue Center in Puerto Viejo.



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BEST ATV Tour in Costa Rica

The BEST ATV Tour in Costa Rica has to be the one in La Fortuna and "NO", it's NOT La Pradera, (not that you've really heard of that one either) but La Pradera does happen to be the BIGGEST and the one you usually run into on the internet but just NOT the BEST. Obviously we haven't been on every ATV tour in Costa Rica and their could be other great ones, so yeah, 'BEST' might be a little overly dramatic but believe me, this one I just went on is about 5-steps above most. And the fact that many are just average is the reason we've never really endorsed one before.

So, here's the SC@@P- When D'Angelo returns from visiting relatives in New York we will make the video and you'll see why we say what we do. In the meantime, if you're going to be in La Fortuna and are interested... let us know. Pura Vida!

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Eco Termales Hot Springs UPDATED

We like to say Eco Termales Hot Springs in La Fortuna is like a baby Tabacon.
I've written about Eco Termales before and likewise, we also did a video on them a couple years back (see below). The 'couple years back' video is informative but we shot it at night and it's pretty dark so we decided to update and show Eco Termales in the daytime. Although technically, on a side note, we like to go to the hot springs at night, we think it much more beautiful.

But anyway, without further ado our UPDATED video of Eco Termales in La Fortuna.



The Eco Termales video from a couple years back-



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PARTY BOAT Lake Arenal the VIDEO

Things to do in La Fortuna Costa Rica- Party Boat on Lake Arenal.
I first wrote about our friend, Erick's, party boat on Lake Arenal, back in May- Lake Arenal Party Boat. If you want a little more insight, it's there. We've been out on Erick's boat many times since and finally have put together a video from all the footage we've shot. Really it's just a short little video to show how much fun an afternoon on Lake Arenal can be so if you're going to be in the area and it's something you'd be interested in doing...email us at info@TravelCostaRicaNOW.com.

CHECK it OUT, L@@KS FUN!



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Horseback Ride to Fortuna Waterfall VIDEO

Riding horses in La Fortuna Costa Rica under the shadow of the Arenal Volcano.
D'Angelo and I hadn't been horseback riding since we first came to La Fortuna about 7 years ago, so when we got the opportunity last week to check out one of the horseback riding tours here, we jumped at the chance to saddle up again... of course with cameras in tow.

Check it out, nice little video I think. Especially like the shot of the horse 'yawning'.


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Lake Arenal Party Boat

Lake Arenal in La Fortuna Costa Rica is one of the most under utilized lakes in the world. I said it and I'm sticking to it.
It's always been strange to me how little use Lake Arenal actually gets. It's freakin' beautiful, 26 miles long, surrounded by rolling hills and jungle where capuchin monkeys, aka white-faced monkeys, often can be seen on the shore quenching their thirst. And HELLOOOOO, all in the shadow of the Arenal Volcano, this is ONE SWEET lake. But with the exception of Tico holidays, and few small ferry boats that shuffle tourists from La Fortuna to Monteverde and vice versa, Arenal really doesn't get the PLAY you would think it would.

Kayaking on Lake Arenal- Beautimus.
Personally, I think this is a good thing, NO, a GREAT thing, as Lake Arenal could easily be turned into a water park of sorts, boats of all shapes and sizes cruising about, jet skies water-weaving at 600mph around everything that floats- alive and otherwise, parasailing for those people who haven't actually done it yet, really, those people exist? And of course a BIG FUCK ALL marina. I say NO THANX. I like Lake Arenal just the way it is. Nice to know there's a few things in nature that haven't been capitalized on yet.

That's not to say you can't ENjoY the lake if you want. There's tours that take you out fishing, kayaking, skiing, windsurfing, wake boarding etc. Just not a lot of them and if the last 7 years are any indication, business runs extremely HOT or extremely Cold, not a whole lot of warm going on.

Me, chillaxin on an island beach in the middle of Lake Arenal.
My friend, Erick, is throwing his tour into the MIX. His tour is like the ULTIMATE combination of boat tours- Part, Booze Cruise/Party Boat/Sunset-Volacno Tour/Beach Time/Fishing etc. pretty much anything the people want to do is made available. There's talk their will be a second boat for skiing and wake boarding activities, but as he's in the early stages of working his tour, not sure about the 'second boat'.

Imperial vs. Pilsen
If anyone can make this tour work, it's Erick. He's a go-getter, friendly, personable and understands the importance of marketing. Good thing too, since he's going to need those skills in order to make this tour successful- it's not like it hasn't been tried before.

I know we had a GREAT time. Couple kinks need to be worked out but that's to be expected. Actually, we'll be taking the tour again in a few days and I expect it will be even BETTER. But honestly, this boat tour isn't geared for everyone, especially those folks who expect 1st class 'cruise' conditions- Erick's tour is for PARTY PEOPLE, younger peeps who don't mind there's not a bathroom on the boat but understand that nature will provide *wink* or for those who want to experience the beauty of Lake Arenal without paying an arm and leg to do so.

And of course we shot video which will put together in the near future. pura vida.
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Pure Trek Canyoning in La Fortuna a MUST DO!

Pure Trek Canyoning in La Fortuna Costa Rica.
Pure Trek Canyoning in La Fortuna Costa Rica is bar none, ONE of the BEST adventure tours around. Our Video Review below.

There's plenty of adventures in La Fortuna Costa Rica that probably shouldn't be missed, from Zip lines to Costa Rica Cooking Classes and Canyoning aka canyoneering, is yet another 'must do'.

Me and D'Angelo racing to the bottom of the canyon...I've got a little catching up to do.
We've done the Pure Trek tour a few times and there's a couple reasons we really ENjoY it. One, the owner is a 'gringa' from the United States, her name is Cynthia Crummer. Being from the U.S., Cynthia understands what us Americans want and need- to feel SAFE while participating in Xtreme adventure tours and especially while in a foreign country. With Cynthia and Pure Trek, it's definitely SAFETY FIRST.... and SECOND for that matter. From the get go it's apparent the Pure Trek guides are professional, knowledgeable and extremely safety conscious when working with inexperienced or first time rappellers. And we should know, the first time we ever rappelled was about 7 years ago with Pure Trek.

Felt safe then - felt safe now.

Pure Trek is SAFE enough for ALL ages, so it makes for GREAT FAMILY FUN.
The fact Pure Trek is so safety conscious is probably one of the reasons they accept and encourage kids and families to participate in this tour. Most Xtreme tour companies are not comfortable working with kids under 14 and won't usually touch them with a 10-ft pole, not so for Pure Trek. Anyway....

...lets just cut to the VIDEO, it's good, I promise you won't be bored.



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Ceviche Recipe with VIDEO

It was worth moving to Costa Rica for the Ceviche. Yummy!
Admittedly, I didn't know what Ceviche was until I visited Costa Rica for the first time back in 2004. Gene Conti, owner of Palo Verde Resort in La Fortuna, and who subsequently totally dicked us over, introduced us to the tasty fish dish. *Don't know our 'Gene' story of making the move to Costa Rica, it's HERE. But anyway Gene, thanx for the introduction.

Ceviche- personally, I can make a meal out of it.
To me, Ceviche is Costa Rica's sushi. Made with various types of raw fish (tilapia, sea bass, marlin etc.) marinated, or should I say cooked, in lime juice (Costa Rica doesn't really DO lemons), it's really, REALLY good. Funny, when Gene Conti first said we should give ceviche a try, I think we were like a lot of stupid Americans when we asked, "Is this safe to eat...?" We've come a long way thank god.

Let's get to it, here's our friend Scott, explaining how to make ceviche. ENjoY!



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FUN Things to do La Fortuna Costa Rica

Arenal Volcano aside, there's TONS of things to do in La Fortuna Costa Rica.
Here's just a few of the adventures and tours you can experience in the La Fortuna/Arenal area. There's many more and we'll be posting videos of those as we do them, but these are a few of the more POPULAR tours in the La Fortuna/Arenal area. And if you want to take it easy one day and do something a little different, check out the 4th video down which is a Costa Rica Cooking Class- informative and YUMMY!

And if by chance you'd like to do these of other adventure tours in the La Fortuna area, check out the last video, it will tell you how to book them.

Canyoneering/Rappelling-



Canopy Tour aka Zip line-



The Arenal Hanging Bridges-



Cultural Costa Rica Cooking Class-



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La Fortuna has a Costa Rica Cooking Class

La Fortuna Costa Rica, NOW offers a Cultural Cooking Class.
With all the ADVENTURE tours to experience in La Fortuna, a cultural cooking class is a perfect addition, especially since there's nothing like it in the area. *Don't want to read... SKIP down to the VIDEO we made.

Our friend Scott, (pictured above, middle),who also happens to own one of the more popular restaurant/bars in La Fortuna, Lava Lounge, has decided to offer a cooking class that combines all the elements- history and background on Costa Rican cuisine, step-by-step preparation and instruction, hands-on, local chefs, english-speaking presenters, relaxed atmosphere, and let me tell you, B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L surroundings. 'Rustica', as Scott calles it, is just a few minutes walk from the La Fortuna waterfall, so it sits atop a hill overlooking parts of La Fortuna and is surrounded by lushness which attracts a wide variety of wildlife and of course, has a GREAT view of the Arenal Volcano. Scott's, Costa Rican Tropical Cooking Class has it all. He even starts things off with a beverage or two, alcohol or virgin, your choice. Whoo Hoo! That's what I call starting things off RIGHT.

michael alan and D'Angelo chefin' up some Costa Rican cuisine.

I love, Love, LOVE, ceviche. Looks good right?
Well, we just had to do a video and I think it came out good. I believe you'll get a good sense of what Scott is doing. So CHECK it OUT and if you happen to be in the La Fortuna area and are interested in learning about local Costa Rica cuisine while preparing it, or hell, maybe it's just raining and you don't feel like whitewater rafting in the rain, Scott's, Costa Rican Tropical Cooking Class, just might be for YOU.



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IT'S TRUE! Our Tours are the CHEAPEST! yeah.

We sell tours in La Fortuna Costa Rica SO CHEAP, you can do them TWICE!
Hey Everyone! Just wanted to share a nice email we received this morning. It speaks for itself. *I took out the 'other' website he was referring to, since we have to live here.

Dear michael alan and D'Angelo

Prior to you guys doing excursions, we were going to book with a site 'site name was here' to give you an idea of what we would have spent with them, you will see I have no complaints about your prices:

90.00-Canyoneering
73.00-Sky Trek
55.00-Hanging Bridges
65.00-Cano Negro
80.00-Rafting
Total= $363/person before taxes&fees!!!!!

With you guys, we are paying $275/person which includes all fees. That's a savings of at least a $100/ person!!!! Can anyone say Pura Vida ;) Not sure if you're allowed to tell people about my comparison, but I did a lot of my homework. Prior to you guys, that 'site name was here' site was cheaper than others I saw. I am almost afraid to tell you how much you guys saved me, you might realize how much of steal this is for us, lol.

Pretty nice letter I think since we just started selling these tours. Here's the VIDEO that started the ball rolling in case you missed it.



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Arenal Hanging Bridges

Arenal Hanging Bridges in La Fortuna Costa Rica.
I gotta admit, I wasn't super excited to go to the Arenal Hanging Bridges... I mean, I knew they were beautiful and all ,,,its just that we've done the hanging bridges before (in Monteverde) but I knew we had to go because we needed to make a video...

BOY! Am I glad we went.

Tourists ENJOYING the Arenal Hanging Bridges.
The Arenal Hanging Bridges are located about 20 minutes outside of La Fortuna close to Lake Arenal with a beautiful view of the Arenal Volcano as well. It really is a beautiful location and foto ops are about every 10 feet. Seriously!

We had a guide and again, am I glad we did.

*Our guide's name was Erick Guzman. Speaks better than average English, very knowledgable and has some nice write-ups on TripAdvisor. Here's his website if you're interested:

The BIGGEST complaint we hear about the Hanging Bridges is that you don't see any animals. Now, personally, even if you didn't see one creature on your hike, it's still a beautiful hike and SO worth it...the rain forest and the surrounding area is stunning to say the least. BUT, since we had a guide, we saw stuff we NEVER would have seen- snakes, like the eyelash pit viper, birds like the Motmot, the Juvenile Ornate Hawk Eagle, yup, this is him on the left, seeing this eagle was a TOTAL SCORE, so needless to say, a guide was totally worth it.

This is just one of those days we're glad we forced ourselves to go... know what I mean?Wasn't really a bird enthusiast before, but since moving to Costa Rica I have a whole new appreciation. This is a Motmot.
We'll be posting a new video here on my blog and on our other sites in the next couple days with more INFO and great footage of the Arenal Hanging Bridges, so don't miss it. If you happen to be in the La Fortuna/Arenal area and you want to do THIS tour or any other tours in the La Fortuna/Arenal area,,we SELL them ALL for a BIG SAVINGS to you. Here's the LINK.

Again, if you're interested here's the VIDEO about CHEAP tours we offer in the area:



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Big ASS Tree in Nuevo Arenal

All you really need to know is, Ceiba, basically means BIG ASS TREE.
This Ceiba tree is located about 10 minutes from Nuevo Arenal if you were heading to La Fortuna, which makes it about 35 minutes away from La Fortuna. There is a sign but you could miss it if you weren't looking or didn't know about the tree beforehand.

Truthfully, from a distance, this Ceiba tree doesn't appear that impressive. For one, it sits atop a hill and appears smaller, being somewhat swallowed up by the surrounding sky. And even within a 50 yards you're thinking, ...doesn't seem all that BIG.

But when you get right up on it,,,you can feel its MAGNIFICENCE.
Trust me, this tree is impressive and if you're not taken by it's size, you'll be taken by its aura. This is a tree Robert Frost or Thoreau would write about. You can definitely FEEL its presence. For me, this tree stirs some serious emotion and it's almost a little too much...

Anyway, if you get a chance, check it out and experience its presence, if you're into things like this, it's worth a stop.

Here's our VIDEO:



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La Fortuna- Danaus Eco Reserve

Danaus Eco Center is a couple miles outside of La Fortuna, Costa Rica.
Technically it's called, Ecocentro Danaus, but for us gringos it's also known as, Danaus Eco Reserve. It's located only a couple miles east of La Fortuna Costa Rica.

Initially, Danaus was going to be a butterfly garden, but one thing led to another, and Danaus quickly became a small oasis smack dab in the middle of pasture and cattle land... really, Danaus is surrounded by cows. Before La Fortuna became a popular tourist destination due to the Arenal Volcano, it was just like many parts of Costa Rica, a lush forest, but with deforestation, the entire area became farm land. Danaus created a small reserve in order for the wildlife to have a place to call home.

We did this video because we love helping out the 'little guy', the people trying to give back, and aren't always the most publicized places to go in the tour books.

We think Ecocentro Danaus is worth a look. Especially if you got an hour or two to spare before going on your next adventure.

CHECK it out- Ecocentro Danaus



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Tabacon FREE Hot Springs- Backpackers Delight

Tabacon Hot Springs located just outside La Fortuna, Costa Rica is considered fairly pricey to most. But Tabacon isn't just any hot springs- Tabacon is 'THE' hot springs... and they know it. Tabacon does have a little competition with the newer and maybe more luxurious The Springs Resort and Spa but just comparing hot springs, Tabacon is still #1 in my mind, but then again, I still prefer Michael Jordan over Kobe, there's just those hard to explain intangibles... know what I mean? Tabacon doesn't care if you can afford them or not, because plenty of people can and DO on a daily basis so they keep their prices 'pricey' and keep the little people wishing. Unfortunately, the locals who live in and around La Fortuna ARE the little people and the closest most will ever come to Tabacon is by working for them, other than that Tabacon offers NOTHING in the way of 'discounts' for people in the area. It's their right, but something just seems WRONG... but I digress.

Chillaxin at Tabacon's FREE Hot Springs.
That's why all who live in the La Fortuna area go to the
FREE hot springs at Tabacon. It's like our very own, 'fuck you' to 'the man'. So as the tourist pays upwards of $100 bucks per person for the privilege of drinking high priced umbrella drinks in hot water, us little people take a cooler of beer and some greasy chicken and soak up the hot water for FREE. The best part- not an alligator skinned, saggy-titted, blue hair from Florida in SIGHT and trust me, that's a good thing, because during high season, they often arrive by the bus loads and turn Tabacon into a series of huge geriatric jacuzzis.

Here's our VIDEO about the FREE Hot Springs at Tabacon



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