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Poas, Irazu, or Arenal.

I searched the basics

Arenal - most active
Poas - most accessible (weather permitting)
Irazu - dormant - largest

Etc.

I'll only have time for one - suggestions?

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Mr,

I have been to Arenal and Poas. While Arenal is the most active, it is often covered in clouds. I was there several years ago and was fortunate to be there when it was NOT covered in clouds. It really was an impressive sight to see! You just have to take your chances that you will get a good view of it.

Poas was also nice to see...very impressive, and only about a 45 minute ride from the gulch. If you go, be sure to wear the proper clothing. At the top of the volcano, it is cold, windy and rainy, and you have to walk several hundred yards from the visitor's center to get to the top of the volcano.

Also, be sure to check out the restroom in the visitor's center.......it's the nicest restroom I've ever seen in Costa Rica.

Zebra

I recommend the volcano in pic id: 4628.

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Would defintely echo Zebras sentiments with one addition, If you want to SEE the Poas volcano, go early in the morning, usually better before 9 AM

The bathroom everything built out of rock and the man made rock wall waterfall are definite sights to see

If I had to pick one it would be Arenal.

Poas is much closer but is often shrouded in clouds and not very visible. When it is visible it is a green pool crater. Not very exciting.

Irazu is there. Not much else to say about it.

Arenal is a haul from San Jose. Frequently clouded over. Go at night, if it is clear the lava shooting out of the top and oozing down the mountain is worth the trip

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Alex Levine

Arenal is very impressive on a clear night. Last time I went with my son it was cloudy(Bummer) but we had a nice fourwheeler tour in the valley the next morning but never cleared on top of the mountain. Stayed at Arenal Observatory Lodge trip before about 8 or 9 years ago and very nice. A great place with good company and awesome view with full glassed windows in rooms.rbc100

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Arenal can be beautiful at night and there are many nice places to stay. The hot springs are a treat and the little town of La Fortuna has some great little restaurants and bars. Fishing is also available in Lake Arenal. Arenal gets my vote as a great place to visit for at least two days. Chicas would also like a visit to Arenal.

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I recommend you to visit the Arenal! It is the most impressive of the three.

I haven't been to the others, but Arenal is worth the trip. Hot springs are a great experience, and if you catch the volcano on a clear night (which I was lucky enough to do), it's impressive.

I've been to all 3 several times (plus to several others in other countries). Here is how I'd break it down. Clouding over early is a problem in one way or the other at all of them.

Arenal is the most active and spectacular WHEN you can see it. Unfortunately, you can only see it a small fraction of the time. My own average is running at only somewhere between 20-30% of the time. The statistic I've heard elsewhere is that it is only completely clear between 30-60 days of the year. Fortunately, if you get there and miss out on the view of the volcano it is still a very worthwhile trip particularly due to the numerous hot springs in the area. To tell you the truth, I go there as much or perhaps more for that than the offhand chance I'll get a clear view of the volcano when its spewing lava. Some other factors: you can only admire it from afar whereas for the other 2 volcanos you can drive up to the top and actually look inside the craters. It is also not really a day trip. Though I suppose you could go for just the day (they do have day tours from SJ), its a loonngg day and you'd have to head back in the early evening (ie a very short chance to see the glowing lava flow after dark) and would get back to SJ very late (thereby eating heavily into prime mongering time). I think Arenal is definitely more of an overnight trip or longer if done properly (bring a chica with you and stay over).

Poas and Irazu can both be done as day trips and easily get back to SJ for an afternoon of MP visiting or tossing back brewskis with your buds at the BM. But you do need to get up early so you can get there before it clouds over around midmorning (and in the case of Poas before the flood of tourbuses arrive). As I said before, you can drive to the top of both and look in their craters. And like the others side, wear something warm because it can get pretty cold at both summits. Beyond that they are very different.

Poas has more facilities including an interpretive center so you can learn about what you're looking at in addition to the wonderful bathrooms, which I guess I missed. There are also many hiking trails if that's your thing. The lake at the bottom of the crater WAS a colorful green but I had heard it has turned to a yucky grey after some seismic activity in the area early last year. Maybe its changed back, I didn't visit last time to check it out. There's also lots of interesting vegetation near the top that is stunted and deformed from the acidity in the environment (as well as the altitude).

Irazu is much starker with hardly any facilities, much less vegetation and fewer trails to explore. That said, in many ways I actually like Irazu more. There is a large caldera (collapsed cone) between the parking lot and the current crater and walking across it makes you feel like your walking on the surface of the moon. Particularly if you get there when it is clouded in, the atmosphere can be very eerie. When the sky is clear, I think the views are even better than they are on Poas and on a clear day they say you can see both the Pacific and the Atlantic from the same point (though its always seemed too hazy for me to see both when I've been there).

Don't fret if you can't decide. You may only have time for one this trip, but if you're like most of us, you'll be back in CR again and so will probably have a chance to compare the other ones for yourself.

Everyone,

Thanks for all the good input. Arenal it is. I'll stay overnight and see if I can catch a canopy tour as well.

Am planning a trip to Arenal.What are the options for travelling there.By bus?Hire a tourist bus?Does anyone know if they've built a airstrip near there yet?I checked Sansa website and they have it on the menu but wanted to make sure.Thanks for any info.

Am planning a trip to Arenal.What are the options for travelling there.By bus?Hire a tourist bus?Does anyone know if they've built a airstrip near there yet?I checked Sansa website and they have it on the menu but wanted to make sure.Thanks for any info.

I took the 4-in-1 tour over MD week.

One of the stops is Poas. We got there around noon. At first it was cloudy as hell, couldn't see a thing. Then, lterally 2 minutes later, it was clear as can be.

I just posted some pics #6295 (cloudy) and 6296 (clear). So here you can see Poas, now go see Arenal.

You left out a couple of other options. Rent a car or hire a driver. If one has got the bucks (or can split the costs with a travel companion), I personally enjoy driving there myself. Otherwise I'd go to the other extreme and use the public bus. Here's how I'd break it down.

Flying - Sansa has an Arenal option on their dropdown list but does not show it on their route map, so who knows? Nature Air (http://www.natureair.com) has 1 flight each day that costs something like $50/pp each way and which takes about 30 minutes not counting getting to the airport and check-in time, etc. During the summer those flights leave about noon, which may or may not fit conveniently into your schedule. Flying is definitely the fastest way to go but comes at a cost. More significant to me is that though the drive to Arenal can take 4 hours, IMHO it is a VERY scenic drive that is not to be missed. Maybe if you really want to cut down your transit time by flying, you could fly one way, but at least somehow drive one way the other way.

Tourist bus - Interbus (http://www.interbusonline.com) and Grayline (http://www.graylinecostarica.com) each have 2 trips a day (an AM shuttle leaving between 8-8:30 and another leaving around midafternoon). The shuttles cost $29/pp each way (ie not all that much less than flying) and take about 3 hours plus pickup and drop-off time at the various hotels of your fellow passengers (which can be frustratingly slow if you're the first one picked up and the last one dropped off).

Public bus - Compared to all the other options the public buses are a fantastic bargain. Similar to the shuttles, they leave twice a day and are scheduled to take 3.5 hours. The downside is that, unlike the shuttles, you can't simply wait for them to pick you up from the comfort of your hotel lobby. You have to get yourself to the bus terminal with adequate time to pickup your ticket (or better yet pick up your ticket the day before) AND you also have to find your own way to your hotel at the other end. Depending on where you're staying this may or may not be a big problem. For example, its usually no big deal to mix in a terminal ticket booth visit with my usual afternoon Zona Rosa MP tour the day before I plan to leave and either walking to or catching a $1 cab to the terminal is no big deal either. OTOH, I wouldn't go this option if I was planning to stay someplace further out at Arenal (such as at the Arenal Observatory Lodge). On the 3rd hand, I probably wouldn't stay at a hotel too far out from Fortuna if I didn't have a car anyway.

Rental car - Some people can't stand the idea of driving in CR with its 3rd world road and traffic conditions. Personally I love it. And, unlike the bus or the shuttle, you can leave at whatever time you want and stop and sightsee anywhere you want along the way. I recommend at the very least a visit to the oxcart shops in Saarchi and a stop in Zarcero. If you drive you can also take a different route than the shuttle/bus. For example, you could make a morning visit to Poas (beating in the throngs of tour buses) and then La Paz Waterfall Park, before taking the long way around through San Miguel and Aquas Zarcas. Finally, although it comes with much added expense, having a personal car at your disposal at the other end opens up your options in terms of where to stay, where to eat and getting around the Fortuna area in general.

Oh yeah, I almost left out rental costs. Most people recommend getting a SUV for driving around CR. If you're just going to Arenal, then you could do it in just a regular car. If there is just 2 of you, a tiny Toyota Yaris (e.g. http://www.orbitcostarica.com/carrentals.htm where it costs only $29/per day low season). If its you and your girl and another couple, you could still probably still squeeze into the Yaris but you'll probably want something a bit larger and more comfortable. For just an overnight trip, even adding the cost of gasoline, a 2 day rental would actually come out less per person than the tourist shuttle (unless you're going solo)