What to Bring to the Arenal Hot Springs

Here is the whole exercise in one paragraph. A La Fortuna soak needs a swimsuit, a second dry swimsuit or a change of clothes, a towel unless the venue supplies one, water shoes, biodegradable sunscreen, a plastic bag for wet gear, and cash for deposits and snacks. That is it.

Everything beyond this list is comfort, not survival.

The essentials

• Swimsuit, worn under your clothes if you are arriving midday. Bring a spare dry one if you plan a second soak day.
• Quick-dry towel. Some venues include towels, some charge deposits, and the free river includes nothing at all.
• Water shoes with real soles. Rocks in the rivers and pool approaches are slippery when wet.
• Biodegradable sunscreen. Required at Ecotermales and simply the right habit near thermal water.
• Small bills in dollars or colones. Locker charges, towel deposits and parking donations all move in cash.
• A plastic or dry bag for wet swimwear on the ride home.
• Refillable water bottle. Daytime heat sits near 27-29 C and long soaks dehydrate you faster than you expect.

Nice to have, not necessary

• A rash guard or light shirt if you burn easily. The sun is strong even on cloudy afternoons.
• Dry clothes for the drive back, since a damp swimsuit in air conditioning gets old fast.
• A book or phone in a zip lock if you plan a long pool day at a place like Baldi, which claims 25 pools and closes at 10 PM.
• Bug spray for the evening hours, especially at garden venues shaded by rainforest.

If your day stacks activities before the soak, add closed-toe shoes. The Zip Line & Thermal Pools Combo requires closed-toe shoes and bans sandals for the line portion, so wear proper shoes and pack flip flops in the bag for afterwards.

Two of the soaking options in this area are rivers, not pools, and both have rocky beds. The free stretch of Río Chollín, which locals nickname Mini Tabacon, sits about a 15-minute drive west of downtown La Fortuna beside Road 142. The walk from the small gate to the water takes under a minute, and the site notes say plainly that the rocks are slippery when wet.

The same river feeds Choyin Rio Termal, the paid entry point on the bank, and the Pura Vida Thermal River & Thermal Pool Pass listing describes a rocky river with a current and reviewers recommend water shoes without prompting.

The left side of the main free pool holds the hotter volcanic water while the right side mixes in cooler stream water, so people wade around to find their temperature. Wading on a slick riverbed in bare feet or thin flip flops is how ankles get rolled. A cheap pair of water shoes with a rubber sole solves it, and they weigh almost nothing in the bag.

Pool resorts are easier on the feet. Baldi, Ecotermales and the other engineered-pool venues have paved or tiled approaches, so water shoes matter less there. They still help around wet tile edges, which get slippery in exactly the same way.

The Arenal Volcano Hike & Thermal River Tour ends at the same thermal river and provides a towel for the soak portion, so on that ticket the shoes do double duty for the walk and the water.

One more note on the free river. There are no facilities of any kind, no restrooms, showers, lockers or lifeguards, and the site is unsupervised and unofficial. Go with company and in daylight, wear the shoes, and carry out every scrap of trash.

Local trackers may ask a small parking donation of roughly $2-4 in colones, so keep small bills reachable.

Ecotermales requires biodegradable sunscreen and enforces a short ban list that also covers drones, outside food and smoking. Its shaded pools run between 99 and 106 F and entry is capped per session, which keeps the water and the garden in decent shape. The sunscreen rule is the one that catches travelers, because a standard bottle from home may not carry a biodegradable label.

Either buy a marked reef-safe or biodegradable formula before you go or check the venue shop on arrival, and apply it well before the water so it binds to skin rather than washing off into the pools.

The La Fortuna Waterfall, Volcano & Hot Springs Day Tour stacks a waterfall hike, a volcano walk and a resort soak into 10 hours, so sun protection matters for the daylight portions even if the soak comes at dusk. A hat and a rash guard cover more ground than a second layer of sunscreen, and they do not wash off.

Bugs are an evening matter more than a midday one. May to November brings afternoon rain, and reviewers describe that rain as part of the open-air soak experience rather than a flaw. Standing water afterwards means mosquitoes pick up around dusk, so a small repellent in the bag earns its space if you are soaking into the evening.

Baldi stays open until 10 PM and Tabacón's gardens run 10 AM to 10 PM, so late soaks are easy to arrange.

Skip the regular sunscreen temptation even on tours that do not state a rule. Thermal rivers feed straight from the volcano and flow through forest, and whatever floats off a swimmer goes downstream. Biodegradable formulas cost a little more and do the same job.

This is where a little preparation saves a line at the counter. Baldi's listing states a $20 per-person security locker charge, and reviewers report towel deposits have been taken in cash. The free river has no lockers at all, which means valuables either stay in the car or stay at your hotel.

The paid river entry on the same bank adds lockers and towels to its fee, and the Pura Vida Thermal River & Thermal Pool Pass includes towels, lockers and parking, which makes it the low-friction ticket if you are traveling light.

Drinks and food are another cash consideration inside the big resorts. One guide counts cocktails at $15-25 and beers at $7-8 at Baldi, which is resort pricing by any standard. The free river has food and drink only through the paid entry point on its bank, so bring water if you are doing the public stretch.

Ecotermales offers an optional meal ticket and has a restaurant on site, and parking there is free.

Choosing a ticket by what it bundles is easier in a grid. Every row here is a live option in this catalog, and the differences in included towels, lockers and food change what you actually need to carry through the gate.

A note on the national park, since some itineraries pair a morning hike with an afternoon soak. Arenal Volcano National Park entry runs about $15 per adult foreign visitor per current visitor reports, and the park's official SINAC page lists current rates. The flagship day tour bundles that entry into its price, which is one reason it reads higher than a plain soak ticket.

A swimsuit is the whole dress code at every pool venue and at the river. Standard swimwear is completely normal at the resort pools, and nothing in the area's listings calls for anything more formal. Flip flops work fine at paved pool resorts, but the rivers reward actual water shoes for the reasons covered above.

If your day includes the zip line portion of a combo, wear closed-toe shoes for that and carry sandals for the pools afterwards.

Jewelry is the practical question. Hot mineral water and silver do not mix well, and wet rocks and locker queues are not places you want to worry about a ring. The listings here do not state a jewelry ban, so the honest advice is to leave valuables at the hotel rather than assume a locker will be free or deposit-free.

A plain watch or a pair of studs is fine, but a diamond ring in a $20 locker is a decision you can avoid.

What you do not need surprises people. The volcano hike tour provides a towel and photos, the flagship day tour includes lunch, drinks and even a cocktail at the springs, and several pool venues rent or lend towels. Snorkel gear has no use in 100-plus degree water.

Heavy hiking boots are overkill unless your ticket includes the actual volcano trail, and even then the guided walk on the combo tour is described as a moderate 2.5-hour walk, not a climb. A full daypack of stuff you will leave in a locker is weight with no payoff.

The one thing worth spending on is a decent dry bag or even a large zip lock. La Fortuna's afternoon rain from May to November means wet gear happens, and a sealed bag keeps the ride home from soaking everything else you packed.

Leave the fancy swimwear at the hotel safe. The rivers want straps that hold and colors that forgive volcanic mud, and the resorts want nothing more than a covered walk to the changing room. Flip flops work on resort decks but never on the rivers, and a wide-brim hat earns its place between pools in the dry-season sun.

Everything else people tend to pack, hair dryers, neck pillows, change shoes for the evening, already lives in your hotel, because every property on this page sits within a short drive of La Fortuna town.

Rain changes almost nothing about a soak, which is the quiet charm of thermal water. May to November brings afternoon rain to the region, and reviewers describe getting rained on while sitting in 100-degree water as part of the experience, not a problem. The water is hot, the air is warm, and a light rain on the surface reads as atmosphere.

Season timing matters more for the hikes paired with soaks than for the soaks themselves, and Best Time to Visit the La Fortuna Hot Springs: Season Guide walks through the trade-offs in detail.

Packing changes are small. Add a light rain shell or a packable poncho for the walk between the locker and the pool, since that walk is where you get wet. Keep phones and wallets in the dry bag rather than a pocket.

Quick-dry towels pull their weight in humid weather because a cotton towel stays damp for a day. Water shoes matter more in the rain, when mossy rocks and wet tile reach peak slipperiness.

Covered venues earn their keep on wet afternoons. Baldi claims Costa Rica's largest sauna and a 60-person jacuzzi alongside its 25 pools, so there is cover within steps of water. Ecotermales keeps shaded pools in a garden setting.

The rivers are open-air all the way, so a rain-soaked approach is part of the deal there, and honestly most people stop caring the moment they get in.

The one real rain consideration is the free river. Río Chollín is unsupervised and unofficial with no lifeguards, and a rain event upstream can change the current. Visit in daylight, with company, at your own discretion, and skip it if the water looks off.

The free hot springs options are worth knowing about, and Free Hot Springs in La Fortuna: Río Chollín and El Salto covers both sites in full.

One small packing habit separates miserable wet-season soakers from happy ones, and it is the dry bag. Everything you leave at the pool edge gets wet in a downpour, from the towel you stacked on the lounger to the book you brought for the breaks, and a twenty-dollar dry bag converts the whole green season from a hazard into a non-event. Pack it with the water shoes and the whole rain question shrinks to choosing which pool looks best in the mist.