Lake Arenal (Lago Arenal) is the biggest lake in Costa Rica, situated in the Northern Landlands very close to the town of La Fortuna and Arenal Volcano.
This man made lake not only provides the country with a massive amount of hydroelectric power but is also a beautiful place for water sports and recreation.
If you’re interested in visiting Lake Arenal, here is our guide to help you plan your visit. The lake is one of the must do things in La Fortuna and Arenal!
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Lake Arenal Tours and Excursions
Popular tours are stand up paddle boarding, kayaking, fishing, boat cruise, jet skiing, water biking and kite surfing.
If you’re interested in booking Lake Arenal tours, we offer a small discount! Click here to get our La Fortuna and Arenal tours discount.
The easiest way to visit Lake Arenal is to book a tour with a tour company if you don’t plan to rent a car in Costa Rica. There are no public buses running directly between the lake public docks to La Fortuna, just the normal public bus that goes to La Fortuna from Tilaran.
The public entrance to the lake is about a 30 minute drive from downtown Fortuna so there are many wonderful half day water excursions to enjoy.
An Easy Tour to Visit Arenal Volcano National Park and Lake Arenal
One of our favorite tours to see Lake Arenal by land and boat is the Arenal Volcano National Park Peninsula sector hike and Boat cruise.
This half day tour includes a short and leisurely walk through a rainforest covered peninsula to see flora and fauna and a boat cruise on the lake for amazing views.
The tour has minimal walking included, so perfect for seniors with mobility issues or those who cannot walk long.
Check it out below in our video and book the Arenal Lake by Boat and Peninsula trail tour with our discount in the link!
Lake Arenal Jet Skiing
If you’re looking for fun and adventure, then a Lake Arenal jet ski tour is right up your alley. This was such a fun excursion, especially since we went with friends and we had a blast jet skiing around the lake together.
It’s a guided tour, about 1.5 hours long and the jet ski company can provide transportation from La Fortuna. The dock is in the town of El Castillo, about 30 minutes away and you can get great views of Arenal Volcano throughout the tour.
Click to book the Lake Arenal jet ski tour in the link. Fantastic half day tour for family and friend groups. You can make your day even more exciting by doing a jet ski and ATV combo tour!
Visiting On Your Own
If you have a car, you can visit the lake on your own. You can’t really go swimming on Lake Arenal and there are no beaches on Lake Arenal but you can partake in the water sports.
There are two public docks. There is one on Route 142, about 30 minutes from La Fortuna. It’s on Google Maps, type in Arenal Boat Rental Association.
This area is operated by a local association and they offer kayak, boat and stand up paddle rentals and they charge around 4000 CRC to enter/park. Then you can rent equipment by the hour.
They have an outdoor bathroom for a small fee. No other services like food and drink stands. Talk to any of the locals there for rentals.
Something to note: Kayak and stand up paddle renting prices may vary depending on the time of year and demand. You rent the equipment from locals and you can read Google reviews to see how much past guests paid. If they try to overcharge you, let them know these are the prices listed online. Pay them in local currency (CRC) – do not pay in USD.
Lake Arenal Kayaking, SUP and Boat Rentals
Prices may vary. These were the prices given to us by the local man we talked to.
Lake Arenal Boat Rental: 35,000 CRC per hour (~$52 USD) total. One boat can fit around 10-15 people. They’ll cruise around the lake and take you to a nice spot for photos of the lake and volcano.
Lake Arenal Kayak and SUP rental: 10,000 CRC for 1 hour (~$15 USD). This is only equipment rental. Please be careful if going on your own and keep an eye on conditions. Lifejacket included. Kayaks are sit on top.
El Castillo Public Dock
There is another public area in the town of El Castillo, about 30 minutes from La Fortuna. You can find it on Google Maps as “Paradero Lacustre El Castillo.”
Here is where most tour operators who run the jet ski, watersports like kayaking and water biking have their office. There are some locals who rent kayaks for one or two hours, around 10000 – 15000 CRC each.
To do the water bike and jet ski tour, you must reserve in advance.
The entrance fee is around 1000 CRC and there are bathrooms, parking spaces, and picnic tables.
La Fortuna Monteverde Taxi Boat Taxi
For those who are not renting a car and are going to/from La Fortuna to/from Monteverde, this is a really fun transportation option, especially as taking the public bus is very complicated.
There is a taxi-boat-taxi that goes across Lake Arenal between La Fortuna and Monteverde.
How it works is that you will get picked up from your hotel in La Fortuna, drive to the Arenal rental boat association dock, board a boat to cruise across the lake and then get dropped off by car on the other side of the lake.
There, you will get on a taxi shuttle to get dropped off at your hotel in Monteverde.
Click to book your La Fortuna Monteverde taxi boat service here. (No cars, only foot passengers).
Lake Arenal Hotels
If you want to stay closer to the lake instead of La Fortuna, you can! There are small hotels and Airbnbs along the coasts of the lake and in the small towns like Nuevo Arenal.
Some popular hotels are Hotel La Mansion Inn Arenal, Lake Arenal Hotel and Brewery, Lucky Bug, Ceiba Tree Lodge and Los Heroes.
Then in El Castillo, the southeastern part of the lake, there are many beautiful Airbnbs and hotels like Hotel Linda Vista, Arenal Vista Lodge and Rancho Margot.
Costa Rica Vacation Checklist
- First time to Costa Rica? Read our First Time in Costa Rica guide.
- Not sure how to move around Costa Rica? Read our How to Get Around Costa Rica guide to find the best transportation method for you.
- Click the link to get our detailed Costa Rica Packing List so you know what essential items to bring.
- Do not forget to purchase Travel Insurance for your trip to Costa Rica.
- Stay connected by purchasing a prepaid SIM Card in Costa Rica.
- Save money with Mytanfeet Deals for tours and hotels. Save more money with our Costa Rica Car Rental Discount.
Alyssa says
Can we rent our own boat to drive ourselves with out a tour guide or captain? Like a pontoon or something similar ?
Sammi says
I do not believe so, you can rent a boat but I am pretty sure you need to also hire the boat captain
Charlotte says
Hi,
If we (4 people) want to have a boattrip on lake arenal and go to arenal boat rental association. Could we go on a group tour and how much would it be?
And what time?
Sammi says
The boat association only rents equipment, they don’t offer tours. You can drive there and rent kayaks/SUPs from them but they don’t provide a tour.
Cora says
Hi, Thanks for the tip.
Is it possible to find a fisherman who will rent his boat (and the pilot) for a private trip on the lake at sunset?
If you know something about this and have an adress / contact, would be great!
Sammi says
You can try to go to the public entrance and ask around
Jennifer Jenkins says
Could we do the Lake Arenal boat Taxi to Monteverde, do some hiking in the cloud forest, and then go back all in one day?
Sammi says
Yes technically but it’s not that worth it. Usually the taxi boats leave La Fortuna around 830 AM, it takes 3 hours for the taxi boat to Monteverde, then the afternoon boat leaves around 2 PM so you would have just barely a couple hours in Monteverde. You can’t be late for the taxi boat or else you’ll get stuck since they won’t wait for you. In just a couple of hours, you could maybe only do one short trail but you’d have to be super vigilant on time and then getting a taxi to your pick up point. Better to book a day trip with transportation and guide included as that’ll give you way more time and you don’t have to worry about catching the boat or stay a night or two in Monteverde.
Expat4life says
So you can swim in the lake bit be careful of rip currents where rivers flow into the lake. There are some really dangerous rip currents near the boat ramp in the lake park of Nuevo Arenal. A good place to swim is Aguacate Bay. The bay is very protected and the water is warm.
Sharon says
We went to the public lake entrance last week April 2023 and rented two double kayaks and here is what we found. They didn’t charge us an entrance fee. They told us at the entrance to go down by the water and find the boat guy. They told us it would be 12,000 colones $22 per person (3 adults, 2 kids). When we found boat guy he said $20 per person, but since one kid was riding in the middle I negotiated only $10 for them. So we paid $90 for 2 double kayaks for two hours. It was lovely. Thanks for the idea!
Lara says
Hello,
Do you think it would be safe to jump off a boat or paddle board to swim in this lake? Also, do you know of any other spots where a person could park near the lake and launch a paddle board?
Thanks!
Sammi says
You could probably swim but it is deep and probably very refreshing, to be honest I haven’t seen anyone really swim in this lake but lots of people do watersports there
Meghan Malone says
Where are you able to rent kayaks/SUP boards on lake Arenal? I can’t find any companies doing hourly rentals online (only tours).
Sammi says
Hi Meghan, in this post is a section about where to go to rent kayaks on your own
Kendra says
Are crocodiles worrisome in Lake Arenal for Kayak and Paddle boarders?
Sammi says
I actually asked this and I don’t think there are crocodiles in this lake but its not a concern
Bill Retin says
Gingerbread Bed and Breakfast in Arenal is amazing. The food is from a 5 star Chef.
Todd says
Nice Article. Hotel Los Heroes has a nice upstairs spacious apartment with a million dollar view of the lake. I highly recommend it. Their restaurant is great too. Staff is very caring.