Jan. 26 - Relaxing at the Hot Springs

"The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” — Michael Altshuler

We spent our fourth day in Costa Rica relaxing in the pools at Eco Temales Hot Springs Resort. After two days of hiking, walking around town, zip lining and exploring, we thought we could use a down day taking in the therapeutic benefits of soaking in the hot springs. 

The Eco Termales Hot Springs is a therapeutic natural spa set in a jungle oasis. Their ecological natural volcanic hot springs offer five thermal water pools in a very private setting, surrounded by dense rainforest and botanical gardens. The hot pools range in temperature from 99° to 106° and there was a cool freshwater waterfall and pool to cool off in…if needed. We mainly stayed in the hot pools.

The mineral-laden waters of the hot springs in Costa Rica have been used for therapeutic reasons for over 200 years. Formed by volcanic springs heated underground and returned to the surface. Magma or lava has worked its way up through the earth’s crust to relatively shallow depths below the surface. Groundwater percolates downward, comes in contact with the hot rock and is heated. As the water returns to the surface, it collects into pools known as hot springs. We really enjoyed our relaxing day.

An aerial shot of part of the resort...we were lost in the jungle all day.

We still haven't seen the top of the Arenal Volcano, but we saw a little more of it today.