Costa Rica Arenal Volcano

Arenal Volcano Overview

At 5,437 feet, the Arenal Volcano looms large and ominous over the pastured green hillsides that surround its base. Although currently in a resting phase, Arenal remained the country’s most active volcano for the past 43 years. Its storied history is charged with eruptions – both major and minor – that have intimately affected the region and the people who live here.

Formed some 7,000 years ago from the adjacent (and now extinct) Chato Volcano, Arenal’s most recent eruptive period began in 1968 with an explosion that buried three small villages and left 87 people dead. Up until July 2010, the eruptions had been constant, though much less severe—there were effusions of smoke and lava on an almost daily basis.
Since 2010, however, the volcano’s seismicity, explosions and lava flows have decreased significantly. It is, scientists assure us, still alive; it’s just sleeping. At present, visitors will be unable to see lava flowing down its sides or find plumes of ash rising from its top. Still, there is much to see and do here – including rainforest hikes, whitewater rafting, horseback riding and more – that visitors will undoubtedly enjoy.

How the Volcano Works

Arenal is what is known as a stratovolcano – a tall, symmetrical volcano that’s built upon successive layers of rock, ash and lava. Due to the convergence of oceanic and continental tectonic plates, magma (the molten or partially molten rock that forms beneath earth’s surface) rises into Arenal’s volcanic chamber and can eventually erupt from its top.

• Simply put, Arenal is striking. A picture-perfect volcano dominates the horizon, while rivers and waterfalls tumble through the rainforest
• Great view of the Arenal Volcano from every room, surrounded by natural gardens, this traveler choice hotel is the perfect combination of comfort and price.
• Arenal Volcano, in Spanish Volcán Arenal, is an active andesitic stratovolcano in north-western Costa Rica around 90 km northwest of San José

1968 saw the largest recorded eruption in Arenal’s history. After nearly 400 years of inactivity, the Arenal Volcano burst open and buried over 5 mi² (15 km²) in rocks, lava and ash.

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