This morning we’re checking out of Arenal Manoa and staying a single night at Tabacon Thermal Spa Resort for some serious R&R and pampering.
Before we checked out of our hotel, we wanted to squeeze in a short hike around the private Bogarin Sloth Trail to take a crack at spotting some sloths. There’s an entrance fee of $10USD, and you can opt for either self-guided ($10USD) or guided ($35USD). As we do with most places, we opted for self-guided…but I’m sure having a guide would have been helpful with finding more sloths! The trail is pretty flat and about a half a mile loop. Joey managed to spot one sloth during our walk around the grounds, and I’m so happy we did!
There were a ton of beautiful birds and plants that we saw during our walk, which was really nice to see!
The rest of the day was spent at Tabacon Thermal Resort and Spa, and boy was it a treat! We don’t usually like to splurge too much when we travel, but we’re on our honeymoon, so we decided to treat ourselves to something extra special. You don’t actually need to stay at the resort to indulge in their hot springs…as they offer day passes ($85USD per person). If you’re going to treat yourself to a hot spring experience in Costa Rica, Tabacon is the place to do it.
Tabacon has many different hot springs ranging in temperature from 77F to 122F. Its thermal river is heated naturally by the nearby (active) Arenal Volcano…the higher up, the closer you are to the volcano, and therefore the hotter the hot spring water is.
We hopped from one spring to another, making our way up to the Shangri-La area, which is exclusive to hotel guests (one of the many perks of staying the night versus getting the day pass).
We also treated ourselves to an intimate couples massage, called the Idyllic massage which included medium pressure Swedish massage, oatmeal + milk face mask, volcanic mud mask for our feet, and a 25 minute milk bath with fresh fruits and smoothies…all in our very own private bungalow. Our massage therapists even shared a beautiful love poem in Maleku, the indigenous language of Costa Rica.
After an incredibly relaxing spa treatment, we made our way back to our hotel room to freshen up before dinner at Los Tucanes Restaurant at the resort.
Our dinner was absolutely delicious and filled us up and was the perfect ending to such a romantic day. Tomorrow we’ll be making our way west to enjoy the beaches of Costa Rica’s Pacific coast…so stay posted!