Costa Rican Volcano Excursions

[vabeach522]

Has anyone that has taken either the Tabacon Hot Springs and Arenal Volcano excursion OR the Poas Volcano National Park execursion during a canal transit? Would you share some information on either one?

 

Are you more likely to see some lava on one over the other? We have a little guy that is studying volcanoes. We're doing the transit over Christmas and although I dread the longgggg bus ride to do either of these, I would definitely take one if we can spot some lava (either sliding down the side or even into the sea). Can anyone tell us about your experience in either of these excursions? I've looked on the port board and don't see much help there. Thanks!

[ellen m]

We did the paos valcano excursion. It was very neat. You get to go to a raised level over the crater and can look almost right down on it. It was a beautiful view.

[vabeach522]

Thanks, Ellen M. What did the view look like? Was it just rock? Any puffs of anything? Any noise? We've got a 10 year old that will expect some kind of a "show" lol.

[tmessenger]

No lava, no noise. Some steam rising up from the crater. The bus ride was fun (don't know how the driver made it through some of the turns:eek: .

[vabeach522]

You wouldn't happen to have any pictures of what you saw, would you?

[klingoncruiser]

O.K. I could not resist this one. As a science teacher who teaches about these things, you will see NO lava on either tour. If you did, it would be your last. That would mean that the volcano's were erupting, something you do NOT get close to. I am going on the "Arenal" tour at Xmas. If you read the wording carefully, you will see that the hot spring trip does not go to Arenal volcano,just to the base of it. Poas on the other hand goes to the Cauldera,(place where it erupted in the past) where the landscape in much like it was just after the eruption. It should be a much better trip for a young person to see what it is like. Keep in mind that the wording about a cloud forest is correct and much of the view could be wrapped in dense fog. I hope not for your sake.

 

Costa Rica is a wonderful place with much to see. This will be our third trip there. Hope you have a wonderful trip. The Panama Canal is worth the whole trip if you have never been. JMHO.

 

I do recomend that you ask this question on the Coast Rica board.I bet you will get some good information there as well. There are some good pictures on the net, just look for Poas Volcano N.P.

[thefish]

My wife, my brother and his wife and I stayed at a resort in Costa Rica quite a few years ago. We had a tour to the Arenal Volcano and the Tabacon springs scheduled but my wife became sick and my brother and his wife went alone. The afternoon that they were there was a lot of lava flowing down the volcano and since the tour lasted until after it was dark it was quite spectacular. The tour people said that they had not seen this type of activity in years. Unfortunately his video camera stopped operating so he did not come back with any good shots. This volcano, like a lot of volcanoes around the world was quite active and often had lava flowing though not all the time. It was a few years ago so I do not know how the lava is flowing from this Volcano now.

 

Eruptions occur when pressure builds up when there is not enough venting of the lava or steam and has a lot to do with the geological structure of the area and the quantity and type of lava along with other things. Lava flows like those in Hawaii are famous. This was also the way it was many, many years ago when I had science in high school.

 

 

I am afraid though that during the day all that you may be able to see is steam and smoke in the distance if anything. We were able to go a few days later and there was some lava flow from a few vents visible at night but not near the amount that they had earlier. At least I got to see some and was able to scratch this off my list.

 

Eruptions have occurred at the Arenal Volcano and are not that uncommon. So far the affect of the eruptions have been relatively small. They kept a close eye on this volcano and the government was very concerned with construction and tourism build up around the volcano. They were also balancing this concern with the need of tourist dollars. Like any force of nature you never know.

 

The springs at the base of the volcano were amazing and very nicely landscaped. We had a very good view of the volcano. It was a classic cone shaped volcano. As I remember it has a spring(s) running through the valley it with waterfalls and pools of varying temperatures created by combining the waters of a cooler mountain spring with those of a spring of hot thermal waters. You were prohibited from walking up the volcano into the lava flows. It was very beautiful and my wife enjoyed a volcanic mud massage/treatment there. It is a very nice memory. It also has a restaurant there with views of the volcano.

 

As I remember the bus ride from our resort on the pacific side was long and very bumpy near the volcano. The tour was an all day affair and we also stopped for a rain forest tour, which was included.

 

We had friends there the day there was an eruption of the volcano. I have some pictures of it that they took during the eruption. They closed down the area for a few days and then opened it up again.

[thefish]

The lake at the Arenal volcano is also spectacular and is a mecca for windsurfers and all this is surrounded by the Costa Rican rainforest.