Tabacón Thermal Region

“A different place on a quiet Tuesday”

The thermal rivers that flow down the northwest flank of Arenal Volcano are heated underground by the residual geothermal activity of the volcano and reach the surface at 38–42°C, flowing through jungle vegetation into the Río Tabacón. The water is genuinely volcanic in origin — not piped or artificially heated — and the river runs at temperature through the forest regardless of season or time of day. The Tabacón resort occupies a private section of the thermal river with landscaped pools; the public access point is at a bend in the road where the river crosses beneath a bridge and where locals have always bathed at no cost. The two experiences are substantively different: the resort offers facilities, the roadside bend offers a hot river in the jungle with no infrastructure. Arenal Volcano is visible from the thermal area on clear mornings — a near-perfect cone rising behind the steam.