We’re taking you to The Springs Resort & Spa, the most scenic and fun hot springs resort in La Fortuna. We’re giving you the details on how the day pass works, why this spot stands out with its 25 thermal pools and water slide, how to enjoy the swim-up bar and restaurants, and share the epic views of Arenal Volcano.

More Costa Rica Travel Resources

• Costa Rica 1 Week Itinerary
• Things to do in Costa Rica via our curated Viator list
• Stay at Arenal Paraíso Resort & Thermo Mineral Hot Springs

Find a great flight deal to San Jose, Costa Rica by signing up for Thrifty Traveler Premium and get flight deals sent straight to your inbox. Use our promo code TSP to get $20 off your first year subscription.

The Springs Resort Review – Episode Transcript

0:35

And get ready to embark on a new adventure with us around the globe.

Hey, Squatty’s Travel Squad podcast is back with just a tip.

Today we’re taking you to the Springs Resort and Spa in La Fortuna, Costa Rica.

Our episode earlier this week detailed our one week Costa Rica trip, but now we want to give you more details on the Springs Resort because we had such a great time here and we think it’s totally worth it.

0:59

You know, when I travel with you ladies, obviously you always like to do spa massages and things like that.

If we can go ahead and fit them in.

And you know me, I’m always game for anything.

But this was one of the ones to beyond just being game, I was really, really excited about because this place, the Springs Resort in La Fortuna overlooks the famous volcano in Costa Rica in Arnal.

1:28

And here you are on the edge of a mountain, this beautiful resort, and you have natural thermal waters that are filling these springs.

And it was just such an amazing experience and I loved it.

I loved everything about it.

Just being in the thermal waters, the view, being in the jungle and then the resort itself was just absolutely amazing and beautiful also.

1:49

There are a lot of resorts that feature Hot Springs like this in this area.

Because of the volcano, they have an abundance of Hot Springs and we did a lot of research on which ones we wanted to visit when we were here.

If we had more time, we would have gone to a lot more of them, but I do think this is one of the best and I’m really glad that we went here.

2:08

And what I loved about this is you feel like it’s a luxury property.

It is a luxury property, but you can still bring that little kid out of you and enjoy the water slides and the other things that they have on property that make it a fun experience too.

So this is a resort when we say that.

2:26

So people can actually stay.

This is a hotel, but you do not need to be a hotel guest to experience the springs and the thermal pools.

We were not hotel guests.

We were staying at different hotels, but we made a point to come here actually twice in consecutive days to enjoy the Hot Springs here at the resort.

2:44

So the Springs Resort has 25 different pools with varying temperatures of thermal water.

They can range any from 83° all the way up to 104 degrees.

So if you like yours on the more mild side, you have that.

3:00

If you like yours on the hot side, you definitely have that.

And then 2, they do have regular pools that are just cold water as well, so you have that.

But again, these pools aren’t necessarily natural, but the water itself is because you’re right by the volcano, it’s fed in from the natural springs.

3:17

But the way that they carve these pools into the rock, into the mountainside really makes it feel like like a natural Oasis environment with these springs.

And some of them have excellent volcano views.

You can get volcano views throughout the property.

One of them being in one of the bar pools, one of them being in some of the hot pools and at the restaurants.

3:37

But not every pool has a view to the volcano.

But some of them have fantastic full on clearviews.

Yeah, one of the hardest things to do at this resort is decide to get up and go experience another pool.

I mean they have so many of them and you want to do that.

But to your point, Brittany, of what you were saying, the 1st pool we went into wasn’t even a thermal pool.

3:56

It was just the regular pool on the main level area and it has the most dramatic view of the volcano.

And it was a clear day.

That pool had a swim up bar.

We were drinking cocktails.

Like it was really hard to just get out of there because we had the most epic view.

But then you start making your way and like you said, some of the springs do have views of the volcano.

4:17

So just really make sure that you get up and move around and don’t get caught in one spot because there’s so much to.

Explore and give yourself time to explore because the property is so big, you want to spend time in all the different pools.

There’s bars, there’s restaurants, there’s water slides we’ll get into.

4:33

You want to give yourself plenty of hours to really enjoy it.

And if you can spend the day here, you can do that because there are 5 restaurants and six bars on site, so it makes it really easy to spend your entire day here and just relax.

It’s a great place for couples, for groups of friends, like when we went.

4:51

It’s also a great place for families.

There were a lot of children here, but I felt like it was a good balance of all different types of travelers.

Definitely and like we had alluded to earlier, you can either book a room here and of course then that gives you access to the property resort.

5:09

But again we were not.

So we bought a day pass and that day pass gave us the opportunity to go the day that we first used it and the next day.

So we came back the next day and utilize that.

So really cool that we were able to come back twice.

5:24

Squatty’s, We have the Springs Resort built into our week long Costa Rica itinerary.

You can download that at shoptravelsquad.com or at the link in the show notes here.

And we’ll build out your whole week for you and definitely give you one to two days at the Springs Resort.

5:40

So like Jamal mentioned, we did do the day pass option and the reason that we did that was because the trip that we took was part of a gate One independent trip and so our hotel was already paid for.

So we just went ahead and purchased a day pass and we felt like it was a great value for what you get.

5:57

It’s going to cost you about 110 to $150.00 depending on when you book.

Towels and lockers are included with the pass.

And during slow season, we went in April, it offers you a 2 day pass.

So we used it back-to-back, but during peak season it only offers you a one day pass.

6:13

So just make sure to look online or check the resort website to see what the exact date ranges are to see if you’re in peak season for them or if you’re in a slower season.

So just check the website, that’s where you’ll book it and it’s a pretty good deal when you consider the pools themselves, the facilities on site, It also comes 1000 lockers and that’s always a nice benefit.

6:34

So let us tell you a little bit about our experience.

I kind of mentioned how the first thing that we did when we arrived, because we came about midday here, because we did a little hike or something like that earlier in the day.

And then we said, all right, we’re going to get here by midday and really rock it all the way to closing.

6:52

Kim has really been in a habit as of late been like I’m going to a spa, I’m going all day and she made us do it and I’m not complaining about it, but that’s exactly what we did here.

So we arrived about midday.

We ended up getting changed and the first thing that we did was started swimming in the pool.

7:10

So again, it wasn’t with the hot water, but we swam in the pool with the swim up bar and it had almost an Infinity pool like feel to it with some lush tropical plants and flowers that were right there and then the overlook to the volcano.

7:26

And so it was just really hard to get up and move from there.

The first thing that we did when we decided to move from the that Infinity’s Edge, it was actually go to the Swim Up bar.

So that wasn’t too much of A move, but we all decided that we needed some cocktails to get ourselves really excited here to explore the rest of the property.

7:43

And do you remember what cocktails we got?

We ended up getting double mojitos.

I love me some mojitos.

You know, usually a tropical drink.

I’ll go for Margarita or pina colada.

But margaritas are really from Mexico.

We were in Costa Rica.

I was like give me a mojito and we got our.

7:58

They were good.

They were delicious.

After we spent some time swimming around the pool, taking in the beautiful volcano views here at the Swim Up bar, we did start venturing out into the different pools.

And you kind of have a lay of the land through the map when you first check in, but you don’t really know until you start exploring.

8:14

You go around this corner, you go beyond these trees, you find this pool, that pool, there’s different temperatures.

And so we were having fun bopping around from pool to pool, waterfall to waterfall.

And then what did we come across?

We found the water slide on property.

With all our research, I had no clue that there was a water slide.

8:32

And now I see it that it’s on the website, but I don’t remember ever seeing that there was a water slide.

And that’s what you were talking about, Brittany.

Like you just bring out your inner kid while you’re here.

All of us were just so stoked when we saw the water slide.

We’re like, what water slide?

8:48

And it was carved into the mountainside, so it wasn’t really plastic.

It was really kind of made that you were sliding on the rock, of course, smoothed out, you had a mat, and then you land in a big pool.

So it’s just really well themed.

And of course, we brought out our inner kids here and just rocked the water slide maybe 567-8910 times, I don’t even know how many times.

9:09

It was just us and the groups of kids just running back and forth.

I think we finally stopped doing it after a while, only because when I got out of the pool I stubbed my toe and I ripped my nail.

If you guys remember that, I do.

But then we continued on and enjoyed more of the pools.

9:27

But yeah, definitely do the water slide.

It’s not anything too crazy, but definitely fun.

We kept exploring a couple more pools, but by this time we kind of worked up a hunger and there are, like we said, many different restaurants on site, some of them open at different times.

9:45

Some of them are more tailored to a nice dinner, some are a little bit more casual.

We decided to go upstairs and have dinner with the most amazing view of the volcano on this outdoor terrace and an outdoor table.

10:00

And wasn’t it just an amazing, beautiful dinner?

It was a beautiful dinner and it was right at sunset, and all of the colors around the mountains and the volcano were just perfectly lit up to that sunset silhouette and perfect dinner, perfect view.

Not a single cloud blocking the view of the volcano.

10:18

We got so lucky with that.

It was such a clear day.

It was so beautiful.

You know, sometimes mid food can be made so much better by an amazing ambiance, but I just want to say here, the food was not mid.

The ambiance was fantastic.

So everything just really pieced itself together.

10:34

It was actually really good food, great ambiance with the sunset of the volcano, the colors in the sky.

So we just enjoyed our time here, relaxing and everything like that.

I was looking back at my pictures and I know that I got a Caesar salad and an Angel hair pasta that had some shredded prosciutto on top and then a white wine.

10:56

And as I was looking back on those pictures of the food and of the view, I just I really think we need to go back.

It looked very appetizing and beautiful.

Before we settled on this restaurant though, we went and took a look at some of the other venues and restaurants on site and a worker did point out to us that there was a sloth in the tree.

11:15

Do you guys remember that?

Seeing the sloth.

That’s right.

Yeah, so you can see some wildlife on property as well.

So just keep your eyes peeled for that.

But after dinner, rest assured, we did not say that we’re going to be leaving.

We wanted to explore more of the Hot Springs, and obviously you’re in the jungle.

11:32

Jungle’s usually warm, but it did get chilly at night.

So now I was really getting to the point to where we wanted to be more, particularly in the warmer waters.

So we did some nighttime hot spring hopping on property.

We did some nighttime hot spring hand stands.

11:50

Oh yes, the girls had a handstand competition in the pools.

It was so much fun.

Just again bringing out your inner child.

We had some of the pools to ourselves.

So even though this is a very large resort, there are so many pools here where you’re never going to really feel like it’s crowded.

12:06

There were several times where people would come in and out, but then there would be long moments where we would have just a hot tub by ourselves.

Yeah, it was really nice and we pretty much closed the place down.

I know the next day we had plans to get up early, go hiking, do our thing, but we did come back for Day 2.

12:24

Yes.

And on day 2 we did not eat at the same restaurant.

We had a little bit more casual, had chips, guac, chicken tacos, beer at the swim up bar, but of course explored more of the pools and everything like that.

So All in all, just if you’re coming to Costa Rica and going to be in this area, I highly do recommend the Springs Resort just for everything that it gives you ambiance, the thermal waters, the healing aspect of it, the goodness for your skin, the fun that you have.

12:52

This was just all around a great time.

And at 100 to $150.00 for a pass, it’s not the most affordable springs that you can visit in Costa Rica, but I definitely think it’s worth it.

And Squatty’s, if you’re wanting to be a little bit more on a budget, maybe try to balance that out with a hotel that you get a good deal on or look for a flight deal.

13:13

You know, we always talk about 30 Traveler Premium and that’s a service that you can set your settings to to watch for flight deals or hotel deals.

You can get your first year subscription to that service at a $20 discount with our promo code TSP.

So if you can save a little money on that part of the trip, you can splurge a little on the springs.

13:33

And the splurge is completely worth it.

If we go back to Costa Rica and are back in this area, I will be coming back here and I think you guys would be coming back here as well.

I would.

Like to stay?

Here, that would be a goal for sure.

So plan to come, try to make it fit, try to come during the day, stay for sunset, enjoy the night a little bit.

13:52

And squaddies, if you do go, let us know.

Let us know how you enjoyed it. And thank you so much for tuning in to Just the Tip.