Best Things to Do in La Fortuna Costa Rica for the Adventurous Traveler

It’s no wonder La Fortuna is called the adventure capital of Costa Rica…with lush jungle, rapid-filled rivers, hiking trails, mysterious wildlife, and, oh yeah…that giant volcano that sits right smack dab in the middle of it all… you’re bound to find some adventure in this fun Costa Rican town.

Situated in the northwest part of the country at the base of the giant Arenal volcano, La Fortuna is one of the most popular places in Costa Rica for all kinds of travelers. Just about two and half hours from the capital city of San Jose, it’s very accessible, tourist-friendly, incredibly scenic, and best of all, there’s tons of fun things to do in La Fortuna and the surrounding area.

What exactly is there to do? You’ve come to the right place! We spent three awesome days here during our trip along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, and we’ve rounded up the best things to do in La Fortuna, enough to keep anyone busy from two days to two weeks…if you’re lucky enough to be in La Fortuna for that long! Plus, we’ll go over some other details to make your trip planning even easier, so you can focus more on all the awesome activities that La Fortuna has to offer.

Article Contents

How to get to La Fortuna
Where to stay in La Fortuna
Where to eat in La Fortuna
How much time do you need in La Fortuna?
Best things to do in La Fortuna

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How to Visit La Fortuna

La Fortuna is located in the northwest region of Costa Rica, just three hours from the capital city, and right at the base of the famous Monteverde Cloud Forest.

How to get to La Fortuna

The best way to get around in Costa Rica is to rent your own car. It’s not overly expensive in Costa Rica, and it gives you the freedom and flexibility to go wherever you’d like without relying on public transportation or being limited on where it can get you. From San Jose, it’s a three hour drive and doesn’t require driving on any dirt roads requiring a 4x4. For the most part, anywhere you need to go in and around La Fortuna can be done with a regular two wheel drive car like we had.

That said, if you’re on a tight budget, public buses do run from San Jose to La Fortuna several times a day. They are super cheap, but it could almost double the time that it takes to get to La Fortuna. But if time is on your side, then this is a good option to get around that won’t break the bank.

Where to stay in La Fortuna

La Fortuna has accommodations for every type of budget and style, from backpacker’s hostels to fancy hotspring resorts. We searched on booking.com for all the options.

In addition to budget, here are some things to consider when choosing your accommodation:

Location: Some places, especially budget stays, are located directly downtown. Downtown La Fortuna is bustling with people and can get loud. We stayed at an Airbnb that was located in a quiet neighborhood, but was just a 5-10 minute or so walk from down town and anything we needed, including grocery stores, restaurants, and ATMs.
Inclusions: Some places offer free or discounted meals (usually breakfast), and some even work with local tour operators to book tours at a discounted price.
Style: There are accommodations that offer just a single room, to those that have buffets, pools, spas, and even more eco-based lodging with hiking trails along the property.

The earlier you book your accommodations the better, but we were able to book ours just a few weeks in advance. There are likely to be many last- minute budget stays available…but if you’re looking for a higher end place, you’ll want to book further out.

Where to eat in La Fortuna

This small touristy town is filled with places to eat, with ranging from standard American cuisine to hole in the wall local dining. Simply walking through the streets will present all your options.

We ended up choosing the Yellow Bark for some reasonably priced and absolutely delicious local cuisine.

During our time in Costa Rica, we also did a lot of our own cooking. The Maxi Pali in La Fortuna is a great place to go grocery shopping, with a relatively good selection and reasonable prices.

How much time do you need to visit La Fortuna?

In theory, you could plan your whole trip to Costa Rica centered around La Fortuna and the surrounding area. But most people visit La Fortuna as just one stop on a bigger agenda. We stopped in La Fortuna as part of a 10 day trip along Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast.

We originally planned for two days in La Fortuna, and on our second day, we made a last-minute decision to spend one more night and day here…because that’s how awesome it was.

The activities we list here can easily eat up one jam- packed week or a more relaxed two weeks. If you only have a couple days like us, pick your favorite 4 or 5.

With some extra time, there are also a few good day trips that you can take, using La Fortuna as your base.

Shorter trips include:

Tenorio National Park – 1.5 hours from La Fortuna, home to the famous Rio Celeste waterfall with beautiful turquoise water in a jungle setting
Bajos del Toro – 1.5 hours from La Fortuna, home to the Blue Falls Tour and Catarata del Toro, Costa Rica’s tallest waterfall located in an old volcanic crater.

Longer trips include:

Rincon de La Vieja National Park – 3 hours from La Fortuna, home to hiking trails, bubbling mud pots and thermal baths, water tubing and horseback riding.
Monteverde – 3 hours from La Fortuna and home to Costa Rica’s famous cloud forest. Hike on the trails yourself or take a guided day or night tour to spot hidden wildlife.

Best Things to Do in La Fortuna

Alright, let us try to convince you why La Fortuna should be added to your Costa Rica itinerary!

1. Take an adventure tour

You can’t visit La Fortuna without doing at least one adventurous activity that the town is known for…it is the adventure capital of Costa Rica after all. Ziplining across the jungles for birds-eye views of Arenal, canyoneering down waterfalls, or white- water rafting along class IV rapids are some of the best things to do in La Fortuna if you’re looking for a thrill.

Choosing a tour operator in La Fortuna

There are tons of tour operators in La Fortuna, as a quick google search will prove. Sky Trek, Costa Rican Descents, and Desafio are some of the major ones. Many offer similar packages for similar prices, but it’s always good to comparison shop before making your choice. Check to see if the price includes things like lunch and transportation from your accommodation, and make sure you know how long the tour lasts (usually half a day).

In our experience, we found that because there are so many options available, we didn’t have to book in advance (although if you know there is something you really want to make sure you do, booking in advance is never a bad thing!). Simply walking down the streets of La Fortuna, you’ll be greeted by tons of operators trying to sell a tour to you for the very next day. There is pretty much guaranteed to be something available if you want to book a last- minute adventure.

Tip: Your accommodations may also be able to help you book a guided tour, as many lodges and hosts have deals with local tours. Make sure you ask your host if they offer anything!

White water rafting in La Fortuna Costa Rica

Of course, all these adventurous activities can add up, so we budgeted for one guided activity in La Fortuna. Since we already both have been ziplining, and we are climbers who are used to repelling down cliffs, we decided to skip on ziplining and canyoneering. What we were interested in was white water tubing. Yes…tubing! We had both been rafting, but tubing sounded next level. Hey, we were in Costa Rica…why not?!

We ended up booking a half tubing/half rafting trip through our host for the very next day. Our trip was with Costa Rica Descents, and we had a great experience with them. The guides made the trip really fun, and we could tell that safety was a top priority for them.

white water rafting La Fortuna Costa rica

We started our day rafting through Class IV rapids and then transitioned to the tubes, and let me tell you…tubing through white water on your own is much scarier than rafting! I was in the tube for no more than 60 seconds before I got flipped!

On the calm parts of the river, they served up snacks and pointed out hard to spot wildlife for us, including a couple of sloths, some iguanas, and a colorful frog.

After rafting, they fed us an amazingly delicious local dish (a casada) and gave us a tour of their organic farm which included a sugar cane demonstration. Overall, this experience is highly recommended!

2. La Fortuna Waterfall

La Fortuna Falls is a breathtaking waterfall in the rainforest of La Fortuna, but located just ten minutes outside of town!

best things to do in La Fortuna Fortuna Falls

Though its popular and commercialized, we’d say this waterfall is still a must-do during your time in La Fortuna. It’s beauty in person really does live up to the hype!

How to get to Fortuna Falls

To get here, you’ll head south out of town on route 702 for just a few minutes before making a right turn on Diagonal 301. Follow this to the very end to get to the parking lot for the waterfall. Super easy!

How much does it cost to visit Fortuna Falls?

The parking is lot is large, and there will be attendants guiding you in. The entry fee is $18 per person…quite a hefty fee which we debated over for a bit, but, every little activity costs something in Costa Rica, and in this case (in our opinion anyway) it ended up being worth it. You’ll pay this at the ticket counter and on your way you go!

Visiting Fortuna Falls

Beyond the ticket counter, you’ll walk over a small footbridge which will take you to bathrooms, a gift shop, and a café. Not too far past this is an absolutely gorgeous overlook of the waterfall in its jungle setting.

And then, it’s down you go…down a set of about 500 stairs to be exact! The entire path down is all stairs, so be prepared for going back up when you’re done!

The stairs will bring you out right to the base of the waterfall.

Good to know: Once you get to the base of the waterfall it’s essentially all just wet slippery rock, so make sure you have good shoes that can get wet and have good grip when visiting Fortuna Falls.

We arrived about midday to a decent crowd at the bottom, mostly due to a large tour group that had just arrived right before us. But people can generally spread themselves out, so it’s not too bad.

Tip: If you want to try and avoid these types of crowds, come either very early or in the evening, when the big tour groups aren’t there yet!

While you’re here, you can wade through the water and admire the falls, which requires lots of hopping over slippery rocks, or, if you’re brave, you can jump right in the pool and take a swim! Just fyi, that water is absolutely freezing! I speak from experience here. It took me a while to work up the courage but it’s one of those things where you have to just jump in fully committed and get the shock over with.

Good to know: There is a lifeguard on duty, which is reassuring. He was keeping people from swimming too close to the base of the waterfall or too close to the cliff walls for safety reasons. In fact, when we were there, a huge chunk of rock from about midway up the cliff walk broke off and fell into the water below! Apparently this is not uncommon. So stay clear of those walls!

Besides this main area right in front of La Fortuna waterfall, there’s a short path that will take you a bit further downstream where there is a more calm and peaceful swimming area (well, despite all the people there!). The water here is equally as cold, but it’s shallow and less rocky, and so it’s a bit more crowded than at the base of the falls actually. We spent a bit of time here wading through the water, spying on a school of fish, and scouting out good views back to the falls.

After we headed back up the stairs (which weren’t as bad as I was anticipating!), we got some ice cream at the café and walked an easy paved trail through an orchid garden right next to the café.

how to visit fortuna falls in costa rica

We spent about four hours at Fortuna Falls, which might sound like a long time to spend at just a single waterfall, but it was just that awesome.

Tip: A visit to Fortuna Falls is a good rainy day thing to do in La Fortuna (when we were there, it torrentially downpoured for a little bit!). The rain doesn’t shroud out the view of the waterfall when you’re right next to it, you’ll get wet anyway if you plan on taking a swim, and the rain gives the whole area cool mystical vibe (it is a rainforest after all… so you’ll be able to get that full effect!).

3. Explore hanging bridges in the rainforest

Visiting the Mistico Hanging Bridges Park just 30 minutes outside of town is one of the best things to do in La Fortuna. It offers a unique experience where you can walk through the rainforest and spot wildlife on well-paved paths and across 15 bridges, 6 of which are hanging suspension bridges. The entire length of the trail is about 2 miles.

From the parking area, you’ll also get incredible views of Arenal, if it’s a clear day (and that’s a big if!). Arenal is often shrouded in clouds, so don’t expect to see the whole thing…if you see more than half, consider yourself lucky!

How much do the Mistico Hanging Bridges cost?

There are two ways to experience the hanging bridges: on your own and through a guided tour.

A self- guided tour is the cheaper way to go, costing the entry fee of $26. You simply check in at the gate, grab a map, and explore the trail on your own.
A guided tour is a bit more costly, at $40 a ticket for a natural history or bird watching guided tour (or $49 for a guided night walk).

In either case, you need to reserve your ticket in advance online and choose a specific entry time.

Good to know: Don’t come to the hanging bridges expecting perfect weather…this is the rainforest after all! On the day we booked our ticket, it was raining and the views of Arenal were completed shrouded. The park staff, however, was kind enough when we got there to let us change our reservations for the next day, and may do the same for you!

*What the view looked liked on a rainy day in La Fortuna…there’s supposed to be a giant volcano there!*

Should you book a self-guided or guided tour at Mistico Hanging Bridges?

Good question! It’s really up to you and your budget and goals. We chose a self-guided tour to stick to our lower budget, and because we had already done a jungle tour in Corcovado earlier in our trip. But if you are really intent on seeing some wildlife here, you might want to consider getting a tour guide.

tour at mistico hanging bridges costa rica

Here are some pros and cons of a self-guided versus guided tour at Mistico Hanging Bridges:

Self-guided tours:

You can go at your own pace. Guided tours are typically 2 to 2.5 hours. We ended up taking about 3 hours on our own. We really wanted to soak in the time in the jungle and we were taking our time to really look for any hidden wildlife. On the contrary, we were quite surprised at all the people just flying through, not really looking around them. I bet some people spent only an hour on the trail, which I wouldn’t recommend. You came all this way, paid for your ticket… take the time to enjoy it!
Experience more solitude…maybe. On a self-guided tour, you won’t be with a large group of people. But just because you’re not on a tour doesn’t mean it won’t be crowded. For the first half of the trail, we ran into tour group after tour group, often leapfrogging them. Sometimes we had to pass them as they were stopped, other times they would catch back up to us and fly right around us. But once we slowed down and allowed them to get way ahead of us, the second half of the trail was really quiet and peaceful.
You’ll get caught in back-ups. The guided tours take a lot of people. And the suspension bridges only support so much weight, meaning only a few people can be on the bridge at any one point. This means it takes a while for a large group to cross a bridge and can cause back-ups along the path at each suspension bridge. This happened to us a couple of times and to be honest, it took away from the experience a bit.
It’s incredibly hard to spot wildlife on your own. There’s a lot of wildlife in the jungle, but it is so hard to find. It often takes a trained eye and lots of patience. To be honest, the only way we found wildlife in the park was because a tour group was stopped and looking at something.

Guided tours:

You get a trained professional to teach you about your surroundings. You’ll get a ton of information about the animals, plants, and inner workings of the rainforest.
You’ll spot more wildlife. With a trained eye, you’ll be infinitely more likely to see wildlife than if you went on your own. And you’ll actually know what you’re looking at, thanks to your guide.

Tips for visiting the Mistico Hanging Bridges

how to visit mistico hanging bridges costa rica

Get there early. There are two reasons. The first is that wildlife tends to be more active in the morning. The second is that, by coming before 8 am, the trails will be less busy because many tours don’t begin until 8 am.
Wear closed toe shoes. If you come with open toe shoes, they will make you sign a waiver (even if you are wearing socks, like socks with sandals). Why? I’m glad you asked! Apparently it’s because of the presence of bullet ants, which have an incredibly painful sting…so much so that it’s been compared with being shot with an actual bullet! So just be safe and come with sneakers!
Bring rain gear! Just in case…
Keep expectations low…for both wildlife and views. Like I said above, the rainforest can be dreary or rainy, and you might not get those picture perfect views of Arenal as you were expecting. And as for wildlife, even if you do see some, it might not be what you think. Sloths won’t be swinging from the trees in plain sight. During our visit, we saw bats, some bees, a colorful bird, and a train of leaf cutter ants. The most nervewracking thing we saw was the Kiss of Death snake. He was surprisingly small, and we would have never ever spotted it on our own! We even saw a pair of coatis in the parking lot. All were very cool to see! Just temper your expectations about seeing animals left and right. A visit to the bridges is more to experience the rain forest setting itself. If you visit with that mindset, we promise you’ll have an awesome time!

Here’s a snippet of some of the cool wildlife and foliage we were able to see on our visit to the Mistico Hanging Bridges!

How to get to Mistico Hanging Bridges Park in La Fortuna

The Mistico bridges are easy to get to. Just take route 142 out of town towards Lake Arenal for about 30 minutes and voila, you’re there.

4. Go on a hike

If hiking is your jam (like us!), there are several areas in La Fortuna where you can get great views of Arenal and even walk along recently laid lava fields.

Fun fact: Arenal is one of Costa Rica’s five active volcanoes. Its last eruption was in 1968!

These trails aren’t free though…nothing in Costa Rica is! All the hiking trails are found within parks that charge a small entry fee for maintenance. Some of the best places in La Fortuna for hiking include:

Arenal National Park: Easy trails through forest and lava fields to views of Arenal and the lake. Cost: $15
Arenal 1968 Trails: Another set of trails through forest and lava fields for up-close views of Arenal. Cost: $15

Good to know: As we keep saying, the volcano is not always visible, and it is extremely rare to see the actual cone at the top. It’s often shrouded in clouds. In fact, La Fortuna actually has opposite weather patterns than most of the country, so there’s more rain in what is considered the “dry” season. Consider yourself lucky if you get to see the volcano in its entirety! We lucked out and saw it on our last day in La Fortuna!

Just so you know, hiking one of these trails is not necessary to see Arenal. Arenal is pretty prominent, and can be seen from just about anywhere in La Fortuna! You can’t really miss it. And if you do the hanging bridges, you’ll get a great view of it there as well. But if you want to explore old lava fields and stretch your legs a bit, and maybe get the opportunity to spot some wildlife, then absolutely try one of these trails out!

5. Take in dip in some hot springs

With the nearby Arenal looming over the town, it’s no surprise that hotsprings are abundant, and a soak in one of these hotsprings is a great thing to do on a visit to La Fortuna.

The La Fortuna hotsprings range from high end to free and everything in between, depending on what you’re looking for. A simple drive down route 142 will show you everything that’s available.

A particularly well-known resort is Tabacon, which sells day passes starting at 70 for a half day at the springs.

Literally right across the street is Rio Chollin, a natural free hot spring located just off route 142 about 15 minutes outside of town (look for Free Natural Hot Springs on Google Maps). It’s where a lot of the locals go, but it seems to have been discovered by tourists as well. When we drove through, cars were lining the street, there were mobs of people, and there were even parking attendings directing traffic (and probably collecting money to watch your car), so we passed.

6. Fly off a rope swing

Adventure in La Fortuna doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Heck, it doesn’t have to cost anything!

If you’re looking for some free fun to help your budget, head to the rope swing on El Salto River. This is located right off of route 702 just outside of town. From a bridge on 702 that crosses the river, you’ll see people swinging from the rope into the chilly water. Park your car off to the side of the road and walk a short trail to it…easy as that!

It’s a local hangout and didn’t seem crowded at all when we passed through. It’s a great thing to do in Fortuna that doesn’t hurt your budget!

7. Enjoy Lake Arenal

Lake Arenal is a scenic lake that sits at the base of the giant volcano. You can drive around the northern side of the lake by following route 142 along its edge.

To be completely honest, this drive was not as scenic as we thought it was going to be. The winding road is mostly forested, with occasional and fleeting views back towards the lake and Arenal. Be sure to keep your eye out for coati crossings! We encountered a whole herd (pack, gaggle…?) of them crossing the road!

We drove all the way to Café Macadamia, suggested to us by our hosts. They did such a good job talking it up that Kevin had to go! It’s about an hour drive around the lake. It was a little pricey but it had good food (I wanted to eat allll of their baked goods!), and pretty views over the lake. As with most places in Costa Rica, parking will cost you (about 1000 colones to a parking attendant).

For a more adventurous experience of Lake Arenal, there are plenty of opportunities to paddleboard or kayak in the shadow of Arenal itself. Take a tour or you can find places to rent them for the day along the lake .

8. Search for hidden wildlife

The rainforests of La Fortuna are teeming with wildlife. Sloths (the reason we came to Costa Rica…is that just us?), frogs, snakes, monkeys, lizards, and tons of colorful and tropical birds are just the tip of the iceberg. The catch? They’re extremely hard to find! Why not increase your chances of seeing it with a guided tour?

In addition to the guided tours you can take at the Mistico Hanging Bridges described above, La Fortuna has plenty of opportunities to peep on some cool wildlife, including:

Night walks are a popular thing to do in La Fortuna. They start at about $45 for a couple hour guided tour to see snakes, frogs, spiders and other creepy crawlies of the night. We were actually told that the best night walk wildlife is found in Monteverde, so if you’re also planning on going into the cloud forest, consider saving this for Monteverde.
Sloth tours are also common in La Fortuna. There are several places that offer guided tours to spot wildlife that hangs out on their property…sloths being the main attraction, but also frogs, lizards, birds and possibly more. Check out the Bogarin Trail and the Sloth Watching Trail.

Extra: Lots of places also offer things like chocolate and coffee tours so be sure to look into those if it’s something you’re interested in!

Have you been to the adventure capital of Costa Rica? What were some of your favorite things to do in La Fortuna? Let us know in the comments!

8 Adventurous Things to Do in La Fortuna, Costa Rica