La Fortuna - Arenal - Tamarindo
Costa Rica
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May 16 - May 23, 2026
We stayed our first four nights at the Springs Resort and Spa at Arenal. The accommodations were stellar. The hot springs were great and the food was delightful. We took several guided nature hikes. The hanging bridges and the volcano hike were the highlights. We saw monkeys every day we were in the rain forest/volcano area. The town of La Fortuna was a short uber trip away (uber was less expensive than having the hotel arrange for the ride). There we found a couple of great restaurants and plenty of shopping. The last 3 nights we stayed in the surfing town of Tamarindo at the Diria resort. Our room was small but it had a great view of the ocean. We took a catamaran cruise one night that was very nice. The last day before our departure we arranged for a fishing trip (we booked this outside of KimKim). We fished with Coyote Sportfishing and caught two great sailfish as well as some fish we kept and had Walter’s Restaurant cook up for us (ceviche and fish tacos). All of the transfers were on time with professional drivers. This vacation was a 10 out of 10. We saw all of the wildlife we could hope to see. It was an active vacation but relaxing too.
Hotel Reviews
Spectacular views and great accommodations. We saw monkeys in the trees from our deck.
Activity Reviews
This was in the heart of the rain forest….so it rained of course. We saw plenty of wildlife. The hanging bridges were slightly unnerving but the views were incredible. The lunch that was included was above expectations.
Beautiful hike with a very informative guide. We learned a lot about the area.
We saw many different animals. It felt a little contrived though as we were in a preserve that was between a couple of farm fields. The guide was great and we did see a sloth as well as an owl.
Instead of doing this we went ahead and booked our own fishing trip through the hotel. I tried to book fishing with KimKim but they didn’t offer any fishing trips. This is the only disappointing part of dealing with KimKim. They should be able to set you up with a fishing trip too.
Better than expected. It wasn’t obnoxious like other ‘booze cruise’ experienced I have had. Pretty views. Relaxing time.
Love hearing that it was a 10 out of 10 experience! 🎉 Thanks so much for sharing.
La Fortuna has it all, hot springs, volcano hikes, hanging bridges, and it's so great that you get to see monkeys every day there! 🐒 And that Tamarindo ending sounds incredible. Catching sailfish and then having Walter's turn the rest into ceviche and fish tacos? That's the dream last day right there.
So glad everything ran smoothly and hope to see you on another kimkim adventure! :)