Arenal Hot Springs: Tabacón, Baldí and the Free River
Nine listings from 47 EUR, four resorts that are not remotely alike, and a hot river beside the road that costs nothing.
The hot springs are the one Arenal attraction that did not lose anything when the volcano went quiet in 2010. The heat does not come from eruptions. It comes from the body of magma still sitting under the mountain, and rain that falls on the flank, sinks, gets heated and comes back out on the north-western side at between about 37 and 40 degrees. The water arriving at Tabacón tonight is the same temperature it was on the nights people came to watch lava, and it will be for a very long time yet.
What follows is the part the listings leave out: which of the four resorts you are actually being taken to, what separates them, when in the day to go, and where the free water is. The volcano's own story is on the Arenal page above this one.
Afternoon Arenal Volcano Hike and the El Choyín Hot Springs River
The west-side trails walked in the afternoon, then a natural hot springs river rather than a resort pool. Meeting at the Sloth Park reception, free parking.
Arenal Full-Day Combo: 9 Hanging Bridges, Peñas Blancas Viewpoint and the Maleku Palenque
Nine bridges at canopy height, the 1968 lava fields at El Silencio and 45 minutes at the waterfall pool, with lunch at the Maleku village ecological park.
Arenal Full Day with Red Lava: the 70 m Waterfall, El Silencio Viewpoint and Termalitas
Red Lava's full day covers every entrance fee, a hot lunch, two breaks and a cocktail, and it climbs to El Silencio, the highest viewpoint around Arenal.
Arenal in One Day: Mistico Bridges, Waterfall, 1968 Trails and Baldi with Dinner
Fourteen hours from 7:30 am, four attractions on a fixed timetable, and both lunch and dinner in the price. The Baldi hot springs run from 5:30 to 8.
Arenal Northwest Hike over the 1968 Lava Flows, with Optional Hot Springs
The technical route: the northwest sector, the 1968 flows underfoot and guides who work through volcanology rather than scenery. Hot springs optional.
Arenal Volcano, La Fortuna Waterfall, Hot Springs Combo Tour with Lunch & Dinner
A day from Jaco with lunch and dinner both included: the waterfall for a swim, the 1968 lava trails at Arenal, and the Paradise Hot Springs at the end.
La Fortuna Waterfall, Arenal Ecological Park and a Hot River, at an Easy Pace
Short, gentle walks rather than a demanding hike: La Fortuna waterfall, the Arenal ecological park, and a natural hot river that is warm enough to sit in.
Morning Arenal Volcano Hike with Local Lunch and Hot Springs River
The morning slot, with a local lunch in the price and the warm mineral river left until the end. The guide covers the geology as well as the wildlife.
Private 500cc ATV Ride in La Fortuna with Rainforest Hot Springs
One rider per machine on genuine 500cc 4x4 quads, with routes set to your level, and hot springs in the rainforest instead of the commercial complexes.
Ratings collected by Viator and Tripadvisor
Four resorts, and they are not variations on a theme
Almost every hot springs listing in La Fortuna ends up at one of four places, and a surprising number of them do not say which until you are on the bus. The difference that matters is not the water, which comes from the same aquifer and arrives at much the same temperature. It is the number of pools, the noise, and whether a meal is inside the price.
Tabacón is the one with an actual thermal river running through planted gardens, which is why it photographs the way it does and why it costs the most. Baldí is the big one, with somewhere around twenty-five pools stacked up a hillside and water slides at the top; it is loud, it is popular with families, and the hottest pools there are genuinely hot. Ecotermales is the opposite proposition: small, capped, sold as timed sessions you have to reserve, quiet enough to have a conversation in. Los Lagos sits in the middle, with slides, a few pools and a small wildlife exhibit, and it is where a lot of the mid-priced combination tours end up.
| Tabacón | Baldí | Ecotermales | Los Lagos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The idea | A hot river through gardens | Many pools on a hillside | Small, quiet, capped numbers | Family resort with slides |
| Pools | Several, plus the river itself | Around 25 | A handful | Several, plus slides |
| Noise | Low | High | Lowest | High |
| Water slides | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Booking | Day or evening pass | Day or evening pass | Timed sessions, reserve ahead | Day pass |
| Usually paired with | The premium combination days | Four-stop days with dinner | Small-group and private tours | Mid-priced combinations |
| Go if you want | The photograph | A lot of pools for the money | Quiet and few people | Somewhere for children to be loud |
The free hot river under the bridge
On the road between La Fortuna and Tabacón, where the highway crosses the thermal stream, there is a place locals call the Río Chollin, also written El Choyín. You park on the verge, walk down the bank, and sit in the same hot water that the resort a few hundred metres away charges for. It is free, it has always been free, and no operator selling you a hot springs tour is going to mention it.
The trade is real, though, and worth stating rather than romanticising. There are no changing rooms, no lockers, no lifeguard and no security, so you go in what you are wearing and you take nothing you mind losing; break-ins on the verge are a known problem. The riverbed is rounded stone and slippery, the depth is knee to waist and uneven, and after heavy rain the flow rises fast and the temperature drops. It is busiest at the end of the afternoon, when it can be shoulder to shoulder. Go in daylight, take a friend, and treat it as a river rather than a spa.
The resorts are selling gardens, towels and a bar. The water is the same water that runs under the bridge for nothing, and both statements are true at once.
When in the day, and what to bring
Late. Almost every well-built combination day in La Fortuna puts the springs last, between about 17:00 and 20:00, and that is not scheduling convenience. Hot water in the middle of a humid tropical afternoon is unpleasant; hot water after dark, when the air has dropped several degrees and you have walked eight kilometres, is the point of the exercise. The evening pass is also the cheaper one at most resorts.
Bring a swimsuit that you have already put on under your clothes, because the changing rooms are the bottleneck. Flip-flops, because the paths between pools are wet stone. A towel, since several places charge for one. A dry bag or a plastic bag for a phone, and a little cash for a locker. Two things to leave behind: silver jewellery, which the sulphur will tarnish in an evening, and white or pale swimwear, which the minerals will stain.
One practical warning that applies to the hotter pools at Baldí in particular. The top pools run well above body temperature, and going into them straight after a large dinner, or after a day of dehydration and a beer, is how people end up sitting on the edge feeling faint. Work up through the temperatures, drink water, and give it twenty minutes.
What the nine listings actually contain
Not one of the nine is a hot spring on its own. The cheapest, at 47 EUR, is an afternoon volcano walk that finishes in a natural thermal river rather than a resort, which makes it the closest thing here to the free option with a guide attached. At 54 EUR there is the morning version with lunch. Around 70 to 93 EUR you are buying a volcano walk or the La Fortuna waterfall with the springs at the end, and that band contains the most reviewed products in the area.
Above 130 EUR the pattern changes: you are paying for a fourth attraction, a longer day and usually dinner. The 192 EUR listing runs 07:30 to 21:30 and contains bridges, waterfall, volcano walk, Baldí and dinner. It is a lot of Costa Rica for the money and it is also fourteen hours. The 141 EUR private ATV and springs combination is the other end of the same logic: fewer stops, your own guide, one machine per person.
If what you want is simply to be in hot water, the honest answer is that you do not need a tour at all. Buy an evening pass at whichever resort your hotel can book, or walk down to the river. The tours are worth their price when they solve transport and add a guide, not when the water is the whole product.
Questions people actually ask
Are the hot springs still hot now that Arenal is dormant?
Yes, and they will be for a very long time. The springs are heated by the magma body under the volcano, not by eruptions, so the end of the eruptive period in October 2010 made no difference to the water. It emerges on the north-western flank at roughly 37 to 40 degrees, which is the same range visitors were bathing in when the volcano was still throwing rock.
Which hot springs in La Fortuna are the best?
They answer different questions. Tabacón if you want the thermal river through gardens and do not mind paying for it. Baldí if you want the largest number of pools and do not mind noise and slides. Ecotermales if you want quiet and are willing to reserve a timed session in advance. Los Lagos if you have children. The water is comparable at all four; the atmosphere is not.
Is there a free hot spring near Arenal?
Yes. The Río Chollin, also called El Choyín, runs under the road bridge near Tabacón and is fed by the same thermal source. There is no charge and no gate. There are also no changing rooms, no lockers and no supervision, the stones are slippery, and vehicles parked on the verge are a known target for break-ins. Go in daylight, take nothing valuable, and expect company at the end of the afternoon.
When should I go to the hot springs?
After dark, or at least after five. The evening is when the air cools enough for hot water to be pleasant rather than oppressive, it is when the well-designed combination tours schedule it, and at most resorts the evening pass costs less than the day pass. Going at midday in the tropics is the single most common way to be underwhelmed by a hot spring.
What do I need to bring?
Swimsuit already on under your clothes, flip-flops for wet stone, your own towel because several places charge, a dry bag for your phone and some cash for a locker. Leave silver jewellery in the room, since sulphur water tarnishes it in a single evening, and avoid white swimwear, which the minerals stain. Nothing else is needed and nothing technical is involved.
Can I visit the hot springs without booking a tour?
Easily. Every resort sells passes at the gate or through your hotel, and they are on the same road out of La Fortuna towards the volcano, so a taxi is short and cheap. A tour is worth paying for when it bundles transport, a guide and two or three other attractions into one day, which is what all nine listings here do. If the water is the only thing you want, buy a pass.
Data verified on. Prices, inclusions and ratings read from the nine hot springs products on this site. Resort details and water temperatures from operator descriptions and local sources, checked August 2026.