If you love being in contact with Guanacastecan nature, don’t be discouraged on rainy days –our province has adventure for any occasion. Following are six thermal water complexes in Guanacaste we recommend to replenish your energy and help you enjoy the rejuvenating and therapeutic properties Mother Nature provides us.
Buena Vista Lodge – Liberia
Just 31 kilometers from Liberia, on the skirts of the Rincón de la Vieja Volcano, you will find this estate dedicated to forest regeneration. It has five crystalline thermal water pools created from natural sources, as well as pools of volcanic mud and saunas in the jungle’s shade surrounded by two rivers that flow from the skirts of the volcano.
Thermal pools are located 3 km from the hotel and can be reached on tractor, horseback or by walking over trails and rivers. Hiking to the thermal waters takes you by the Salitral waterfall.
Buena Vista Lodge also offers lodging, a restaurant, pools, hanging bridges, a canopy tour and ecological workshops located in a protected mountainous area with extensive views of private forest reserves that buffer the national park’s forest.
Location: Rincón de la Vieja, Liberia
Telephone: 2690-1414
Cost of thermal waters by tractor or walking: ¢19,400 or $35
Cost of thermal waters on horseback: ¢22,000 or $40.
Río Negro Thermal Waters & Mud Baths
Río Negro’s thermal waters are located at the Hacienda Guachipelín, also on the skirts of Rincón de la Vieja, the largest and most active volcano in Guanacaste. The waters are surrounded by dense dry tropical forest, abundant in minerals and naturally heated by the effects of the volcano. You can use hot volcanic mud as a natural exfoliant and wash it off with cold river water before returning to the thermal pools.
Location: Rincón de la Vieja, Liberia
Facilities: Dressing rooms, bathrooms and storage cabinets at entrance to the thermal waters.
Cost: ¢11,000 or $20 for adults, and ¢8,000 or $15 for kids 12 and under.
Telephone: 2690-2900
Salitral – Bagaces Thermal Waters
This ecological tourist center is located in Bagaces de Guanacaste. Its thermal waters are rich in minerals transported underground from the Miravalles Volcano. There are two hot-water pools and three cold-water pools for visitors to alternate between cold and hot to take advantage of the benefits of this therapy. There is also a slide, hiking trails, a camping area, gazebos, showers, a restaurant and an area for heating food. If you stay in the cabins, you can enjoy the thermal waters at night, and the next day you’ll have a traditional breakfast waiting.
Hours: Tues.-Sun., 7 a.m.-8 p.m.
Cost: ¢4,000 for adults, ¢2,500 for kids
Telephone: 2671-2007
El Guayacán Thermal Pools
El Guayacán is located near Miravalles Volcano in Bagaces de Guanacaste, where the climate is fresh and sometimes cold at night. This tourist center offers many options for enjoying nature: 10 thermal water pools, three with slides, and one with a trampoline larger than 15 meters. Cost includes access to a hanging bridge with a scenic overlook of Miravalles Volcano, a tour to the volcano’s ring and a clay bath.
Cost: ¢4,000 for adults. Kids 3-10: ¢3,000. Group rates available.
Restaurant Hours: 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
Pool Hours: 8 a.m.-10 p.m.
Telephone: 2673-0349
Río Perdido – Bagaces
This 240-hectare private reserve is located in Bagaces de Guanacaste. Once inside the complex, you descend a set of stairs to the edge of a deep canyon carved by a thermal river that flows calmly but abundantly. Just 10 minutes from the reception area, visitors to the thermal waters can swim over rocks emanating from several springs and surrounded by thick trees that provide a refreshing shade over the pools and volcanic rocks.
The complex also has three thermo-mineral pools that run toward the hotel, hiking trails, a restaurant, spa and a cold-water river where other activities take place, including tubing.
Cost: All-day pass, ¢22,000 or $40 for adults, ¢16,000 or $30 for kids
Cost with lunch: ¢27,000 or $50 for adults, and ¢22,000 or $40 for kids.
Telephone: 2673-3600
Comments