tabacón, heaven on earth

One of the most beautiful places I have ever been to in my life and one of my most beloved places in the world, on the top of my list in Costa Rica. If I can put it into words or a phrase to describe it, it is the exact definition of Pura Vida. It is literally, heaven on Earth, the garden of Eden.

The setting is fresh mineralized underground water, heated by magma of the active volcano Arenal, flowing into a perfect bath warm, hot spring river, cascading and spilling into pools in the middle of a beautiful rainforest.

In the midst of the lush tropical reserve, you'll be in so much awe, surrounded in the natural ambiance of flowing water,  native flora and fauna, in the presence of its white noise, it awakens your senses, brings so much bliss, relaxation and lastly but not the least, Pura Vida. A place where you can feel one with nature and grounded by earthing and forest bathing. If you are a lover of rainforests and hot springs, this is one place for you, in Pura Vida.

We left Tamarindo and started heading in the direction of La Fortuna. From the province of Guanacaste to Alajuela. It took us about 3 hours and 30 minutes, to arrive to our destination. Winding roads and narrow bridges through the rainforest in Nuevo Arenal. During the car ride, it took us one hour driving along side lake Arenal. But once we passed the end of the lake we were close to our destination.

We arrived at Tabacón Thermal Resort & Spa. All around us, we were just surrounded in green lushness. All of the places I have traveled to before, are nothing like this. Feeling enveloped in lush luxury and service, we were greeted with warm moistened aromatherapeutic hand towels and luscious welcome mocktails. 

I did a lot of research before going to Costa Rica and was surprised that there were hot springs. But I don't know why I would be, because I knew there were active volcanos in this small country. Hot springs usually only come to mind when I think about cold weather and not the tropics. There were many hot spring resorts in the area but this was the one that stood out to me the most. It was the most unique, as it was also the most naturally free flowing hot spring.

When booking, the day passes at the time were around $60, I felt that it was not worth it so I booked a room through bookit.com with the resort which made more sense as entry to the hot spring was included. And it was so much more worth it to spend the night because I loved everything about the resort and its service.

After checking in and changing into swimwear, we walked down the hill to the hot spring, when we arrived, as I said before, we were in so much awe. The surprising thing to me was in Costa Rica, we didn't see any Asians besides our wedding party. I saw one Vietnamese store owner in Tamarindo and that was about it. But as soon as I entered the hot spring river rainforest, I saw an Asian couple and then eventually other Asian people.

Let me tell you this, if you don't already know. Asian people, regardless of ethnicity, love hot springs. Colorado, where I'm from, has a lot of them. And if you go to one and you don't see Asian people, most likely it's not that great. The best places they will always frequent. It's funny how there's one that's an hour away, closest to Denver called Indian Hot Springs. And inside, there was a sign in Korean on the wall and I was stumped on why it was there. (This was before there were picture translators.) One day I asked a Korean nail tech about it and she told me it's so they don't rub their dead skin cells off in the hot spring pool. 💀 I totally forgot how they love their Korean body scrubs. 😂

But anyways, telling you this, you know what I was thinking when I saw other Asians for the first time in Costa Rica at a hot spring. It was legit. Asians will travel far and wide, outside of their country for hot springs. Even a Colorado hot spring had the Japanese translation option on their website because the Japanese love onsen so much. I know I do. So when I saw other Asians for the first time in Costa Rica at a hot spring, for sure it was the best.

We stepped into the hot spring stream as we were engulfed in the scenery. Bath water warm, comfortable, we couldn't take our eyes off around us. One side there were cascades.

There were multiple pools.

And there was a waterfall you can sit under.

Being a while back, I don't have enough photos to do justice. There were so many hidden serene pools compared to the few photos that I have. My sister and I walked around trying to cover the entire area. We walked on stone paths and bridges that felt like a maze around streams, pools and rainforest. There's also an adult only section called Shangri La Gardens where there were cabanas and daybeds, it was a secluded hideaway.

As the sun started to set, the paths started to illuminate, giving the rainforest a romantic glow, contrasting in the shadows. Satisfied with our soaks, we headed back to our rooms to wash up for dinner. We walked over to one of the restaurants at the resort called Los Tucanes. We sat in a dimmed open air dining room lit by candles and listened to the frogs croaking in a pond somewhere nearby. I wish I could remember what I ate but all I remember is that it was gourmet, we had tastings, cocktails and I was tipsy by the end of the night. It was delicious and the service was excellent.

Not wanting to leave, my boyfriend and I woke up early to have one last soak. It gave me one more moment to absorb everything. After that we made our way back to Guanacaste. 

There were more things that I did but I just wanted to talk about the highlights. And at the same time I felt like I didn't get to do enough so I'll return someday and talk about Costa Rica again. And I definitely want to go back to Tabacón. I highly recommend everyone to travel to Costa Rica and if you guys have any questions feel free to ask. See you on the next trip and Pura Vida. <3