Located only an hour outside of the hustle and bustle of San Jose, Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Hotel and Nature Spa feels like it’s an enchanting world away. As the clouds of the Los Angeles Cloud Forest settle around the hotel, the peacefulness settles in as well, creating a relaxing, natural, and serene getaway.

If it wasn’t named Mountain Paradise Hotel for its spectacular location, it should have been. Mountain Paradise is situated high up in the mountains across from Volcan Arenal. Guests here have amazing volcano views from every spot on the hotel’s property. Each villa was built with this in mind, so that every room has excellent vistas.

Arriving at Tabacón feels like you have discovered a secret wooded paradise. A pleasant and plentiful staff greet you at the door in classy green Hawaiian shirts (yes they pull this off) and hand you a fresh juice and cold towel. The main reception area, which boasts a small bar, gift shop and tour desk is a mixture of dark wooden posts and beams with mossy lime colored walls that set the theme for this luxury rain forest retreat.

Arenal Springs is a nice little open family hotel, with a small resort feel to it. It has a good feeling of space to it, with little individual bungalows for guests, each of which are designed to face the Volcano.

Fun and adventure combine in this 3-hour tour… As soon as you get there you are provided with the equipment that the professional staff will set up very quickly (gloves, harness, hat, etc); then they go over the safety and how-to chat about the tour.

This recently opened hotel (December 2007) features 24 rooms all overlooking the Arenal volcano. They all have private terraces with jacuzzi, perfect for a relaxed/romantic setting. The rooms are nicely decorated and the beds are very comfortable. Nicely appointed with all amenities: flat panel TV, A/C, hot shower, hair drier, safe, iPod stand, telephone.

There’s a first time for everything and for me this was a great introduction to the very special Osa Peninsula. Our journey there was only ok, as usual Sansa was a mess and our flight departed late, the 4×4 that picked us up in Drake Bay was a tad scabby but the boat journey was reasonably smooth it was just a shame that our arrival seemed to be almost unexpected.

The area of La Fortuna is located 2 and a half hours Northwest from San Jose. The area is famed for the Arenal Volcano, which is a perfect cone shaped Volcano that is the most active in Central America, and second most active in the world. It’s constant small explosions of lava draws tourists from all over, and just driving around it you will notice the vast variety of hotels and resorts that fight for the best location and view around it. One of the advantages of being in a volcanic zone is the thermal hot springs that are easily the best in the country, espacially the Tabacon hotsprings.

This past weekend I traveled to Casa Corcovado. Living in Costa Rica for almost three years, I still had not been to the Osa. This was on my to-do list before I leave such an amazing country.

What impressed me the most about this hotel was the service. From the moment they pick you up to the moment they drop you off, the service is impecable. We all met at a hotel where we took the ground transfer to Caño Blanco. We were met by Sergio who was our guide for the ground portion of the trip. The Driver, Roy, was great and with Sergio’s friendly attitude the trip was short. It was great to arrive at Caño Blanco and not worry about luggage, while we went to get some treats and water the Manatus Crew were setting up our luggage in the boat. As soon as we were ready to leave we meet our guide for the Tortuguero region, Chito.