Tabaion Hot springs and arenal volcano

[cyndeeee]

We will be on Celebrity and they offer this excursion? Can anyone tell us about it? are you able to swim in pools?

 

thank you

[Allis154]

I am also interested in this excursion. As I understand it, the excursion is 9 hours long. A 2.5 hours bus ride one way, and a short shopping trip is allowed. That leaves 4 hours at the pools. We are trying to decide if it will be worth the five hours on the bus.

[klingoncruiser]

We did this tour last year. It is a LONG bus ride. That is the draw back. However if you are into seeing a lot of the beautiful country of Coasta Rica this is your tour. The hot spring and volcano (if visible due to clouds) are well worth the trip. The springs are the hotest thing I have ever been in and not been cooking something. The waterfall is simply not to be missed.(You sit under it and roast, or if you can take it, walk behind it.) There are many pools, flowers, plants and birds to be seen as well. I wish I could figure out how to post pictures on this site or I would let you see. The volcano is "active" so if you watch, you will see boulder roll down the side of the mountain. At night apparently, they glow red.

 

The changing rooms, meal served, and overall layout of the place you go to is excellent. Make sure you take a lot of film or as in my case, a 2 gig flash card for my digital camera. Hope this helps. Ask any thing else you might want to know. This year at Xmas will be our fourh (and last...sigh...) trip to Coasta Rica and Panama. No good cruises headed there next Xmas.:mad:

[jobinhume]

I haven't taken this tour, but I have stayed at the Tabacon Resort several times. It is heavenly. If you aren't into adventure travel - such as white water rafting or the canopy tour, this is what I would do.

 

You can get more information at http://www.tabacon.com and the spa listing is at http://www.tabacon.com/spa_i.html

 

If you book a body scrub or volcanic mud wrap you get to wash off by going skinny dipping in the river. It is fantastic. The first time I did this, I was shocked, now I go back just for that - it is secluded, don't worry. If you book a massage/scrub/wrap you can pay like $10 extra for the private cabana - do this, it is you and the monkeys!

 

Really, I can't rave about this place enough, and I am a spa afficionado. This is one of my favorite locations in the world. Even if it is pouring rain it is phenominal.

 

Costa Rica should be on everyone's must see list - Pura Vida!

[jobinhume]

I got so carried away about the spa I forgot to mention the resort. There is a big pool with a slide and a swim up bar. Then there are like 29 individual hot spring pools that you can go in, and the temp is marked outside each one. They are blistering hot - beware if you have a sunburn.

 

There is a restaurant and regular bar as well. The only thing is that if you aren't staying at the resort, you have to change in the locker rooms and that gets a little crowded - you could avail yourself of the spa as well and change there. Seriously, I would get a treatment here instead of the ship if you can only do one. It is much higher quality and much lower price.

 

Also, there is a gift shop on site that is small, but very well stocked - if you don't find what you want at the springs, take the shuttle or walk up the hill, about 1/4 mile to the main resort. They have a very large gift shop with many books showing the beauty of CR.

[cyndeeee]

Thank you, it sounds wonderful. The last time we were there we went white water rafting which was great....so this time we'll go to the springs.

 

thanks again