Eco Thermales - Volcano Hot Springs!!

Daivin enjoying our wonderful dinner spread at Eco Thermales
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We taxied back into town and were starving from our long day of hiking. We walked to the centre of town and found a Mexican Grill restaurant called Antogeria. Actually it started to rain and it was the closest and driest place available! We both decided to have the fare of choice...Daivin had a chicken taco and Leah had beef nachos. We poured on the Salsa Lizano with a reckless abandon...yes, we were hooked on the stuff by day 2! We enjoyed our relaxing lunch and the rain was long gone and the sun shining bright for us to walk back to our hotel. We jumped into our bathing suits and lounged on our balcony as we came up with a gameplan for the rest of the day. Our backdrop was the beautiful Arenal volcano.

The very simple, unassuming main entrance of Eco Thermales
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Volcano Update: Fast moving clouds revealed many small peaks and valleys of the volcano. More of the base of the volcano was visible however Arenal's peak still remained elusive.

Our plan was to enjoy an evening in the one of the hot springs that surround the volcano. There are many hot spring sites offered to tourists however most of them are very touristy and do not embody what a "natural" hot springs should be. From our research we found Eco Thermales which was a smaller and more private hot springs site that is owned by a local Costa Rican family. Eco Thermales limits the number of individuals that they let into their hot springs so that it is not overcrowded. We had read that we should make a reservation so we got Oscar from the front desk to call and reserve a "dinner and hot springs" timeslot from 5pm - 9pm.

Goldfish swimming in the Eco Thermales fountains
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After volcano watching until about 4pm we got dressed and took a taxi into the town of Arenal where the hot springs is located. The taxi pulled up to a non-descript large wooden gate just off the main road. We pulled past the gate and into the property and looked at each other and thought "wow, this really is exclusive!" Funny enough right across the main road was another hot springs that was loud, had flashing bright lights and numerous tour buses parked outside. We were happy that our research had guided us to this Costa Rican gem!

The beautiful ambiance of Eco Thermales
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The taxi made it's way down the winding driveway and we eventually got dropped off at the front desk of Eco Thermales. At the front desk we paid for dinner and our entry fee. The attendant asked us what time we wanted our dinner at and we arranged to be back in the restaurant for 6:30pm. We each got to choose our main course: Daivin had the chicken and Leah chose beef.

We left the reception area and walked onto the grounds. It was beautiful..plain and simple. Lush greenery and flowers were everywhere. Paths lit by little mushrooms guided us to the actual hot spring pools. The restaurant was in the middle of the grounds and it was open aired, thatched roof and rustic but beautiful. The grounds were immaculate however not so much so that it looked unnatural. As it was already dark at this point, simple twinkle lights were everywhere. We approached the change rooms which were seperated by a beautiful fountain filled with peaceful goldfish. We both changed and dropped our bags in our lockers and met on the path to the hot springs! The great part about Eco Thermales is that everything, drinks included is on the honor system so you don't have to walk around with your wallet...very convenient.

The beautiful ambiance of Eco Thermales
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We walked to the hot spring pools. There were approximately six pools of varying degrees and sizes. Some were piping hot with steam surrounding it and others were slightly cooler but still warm. There was one with a stunning waterfall and faux rainshower spray...it was wonderful! We were told that you should stay in the hot springs for a maximum of 15 minutes before we had to cool off with a cold shower, which were located all around the pools. We were surprised that there was not that many people there although we had heard that they were fully booked for the night. It's nice to see an establishment that doesn't try to maximize profit by cramming in as many people as possible.

Leah testing the hot hot water!
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Our muscles were sore and tired from our long hike to the waterfall and the springs offered us a perfect way to soothe and re-energize our bodies. It was amazing to soak in these springs and look out all around you and see actual rainforest. Similarily when we would look up, there was the clouded and starry night sky. It truly felt like we were in an artificial environment but we soon realized how real it was when warm raindrops started falling from the sky. What a beautiful and surreal experience...

Very romantic dinner at Eco Thermales
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Just before 6:30pm we changed into dry clothes and met outside the restaurant for dinner. Our first thought after seeing each other was "wow, your skin looks great!" Seriously our skin was glowing from the steam and natural vitamins provided by the springs. We wondered why we didn't live in a place where we could do this all the time! We were shown to our table and dinner was brought to us right away! It was great how personal they made dinner as it seemed like they had been waiting for us all night! We were famished and the food was delicious! It was definitely a homemade style Costa Rican meal as it was all served in brown clay-like pots that added to the rustic feel of the meal. Fresh salad with steamed broccoli and cauliflower and fresh avocado. Fried black beans, rice and tortillas. The main course was beef in a brandy sauce and chicken in a orange sauce. We were given fresh passion fruit and pineapple juice which was so refreshing! The meal was topped off with raisin and rice pudding for dessert! It was a really romantic and intimate dinner. We could not stop talking about how amazing our trip had been to this point and it was only day 2!

Lovin' life and each other at Eco Thermales
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We decided to go back into the hot springs after dinner for the last hour and a half. We relaxed and tried out all the different pools before the end of the night. At one point we heard a loud, growling howl...we can't even descibe how primitive it sounded...nothing like we had ever heard! It came from the bushes and as soon as we heard it everyone just stopped what they were doing and looked at each other with wide eyes! We later figured out that we had heard our first Howler monkey. We were excited and wanted to hear it again!

Leah and her glowing skin at Eco Thermales!
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We reluctantly handed in our towel and locker keys and headed back to the hotel at 9pm. We got back and were exhausted from our long day so decided to get ready for bed. It would be another early morning on day 3...