Last night, I spent three hours soaking my road-weary body at Baldi Hot Springs.
Travel within Costa Rica is a rough-and-tumble affair, one that jostles the bones, shakes up the stomach and leaves your head bouncing back and forth with every pothole. There are plenty of paved highway-type roads, but they mostly connect the main cities. If you want to go anywhere else, chances are you will be treated to an experience that can best be described as a poorly-designed rollercoaster.
So, by the time Stacy and I arrived in La Fortuna from Monteverde, we were ready for a bit of relaxation. The hostel where we ditched our bags for the night offered discounted tickets, so for $20, we got to sample more than a dozen pools of varying temperatures. The 113-degree one was too hot to do more than stick a toe in, but most ranged from warm bath water to sauna temperatures.
One had a waterfall that pounded the knots out of my neck when I stood under it. At another, I shot down two different waterslides. A third had jacuzzi jets that were heavenly on my still-healing back and achy feet. Some even had tiny cool-water pools within the hot water so you could have your body in 109 degree water and your arms dangling over into the cooler pool, which was a neat experience.
The food and drink there were outrageously priced -- and by that I mean $5 for a bottle of soda and $19 for vegetable fried rice!!! -- but luckily I had grabbed a bottle of water and some munchies at the grocery store before we went to Baldi. Nobody bothered me about taking them in, although Im sure it is discouraged.
I wish we had a place like this close to home. I would save all my extra money to go on a regular basis. It was heavenly.
Hi!
My boyfriend and I are planing to go to Arenal, Costa Rica and visiting the Baldi Hot Springs. We haven´t planed anything yet, but wan´t a cheap hotell/hostell and not too expensive entrence at the hot springs. Do you remember the name of the hotell you stayed at? (price) Was it far from the hot springs and did you make a reservation before you arrived?
Best regards
Alicia
We stayed at a crappy hostel (Gringo Petes) recommended by someone else, and I wouldn't really recommend it to anybody. The hostels in CR aren't the quality I've found elsewhere. Concrete cells of rooms, very cramped. They did offer a few dollars off the Baldi admission though... I think we paid $18 or $20 each to get into the hot springs. We did make our hostel reservation a few days ahead, but not for the hot springs. You can pretty much just go when you want. I'd plan on at least 3-4 hours at the hot springs to try all the pools and walk through the gardens. Plan to eat before or after you go because the food and drinks are WAY overpriced there ($5 for a bottle of soda, $20 for plain fried rice). We took a taxi from the hostel in La Fortuna and it wasn't too expensive. La Fortuna is a cute town to spend a day or two in, and where we bought most of our purchases to take home. Don't forget to make a stop in one of the grocery stores!