Lake Arenal was created in 1973 by the Government of Costa Rica, in what used to be the town called Arenal. This is a 20 mile by 9 mile man made lake that is now considered one of the top windsurfing locations in the world.

It is the largest inland lake in Costa Rica and the site of a tremendous amount of water sports, including, windsurfing, kite boarding, wakeboarding, sailing, kayaking as well as a variety of fishing trips.

Lake Arenal is generally defined as the collection of cities surround the lake. When coming through the mountains from San Jose, the first city in the Lake Arenal area is La Fortuna. La Fortuna is the tourist headquarters for the Arenal Volcano. Still in the province of Alajuela, La Fortuna is the site of many tourist attractions including a variety of hot springs, zip lines, horseback riding, canyoning, rappelling, ATV tours and a variety of other attractions. La Fortuna is located approximately 3 hours from San Jose. It also offers its own airport which is serviced by Nature Air.

The one hour drive from La Fortuna to Nuevo Arenal through the jungle offers incredible vistas of the lake. Keep your eyes open for pizotes, incredible birds and howler monkeys. Nuevo Arenal, in the province of Guanacaste, is significantly smaller than La Fortuna and more residential. This is a good place to rest and unwind. Still, Nuevo Arenal, being on the lake, offers water sports, horseback riding, a zip line and an opportunity to meet some of Maleku Indians who live in this area.

Proceeding around the lake, you continue to see spectacular views of the lake and the volcano. Additionally, you will see the wind farms of Costa Rica. In approximately 30 minutes, you come to a Y where you make a decision to go to Tronodoro and Puerto San Luis by turning left, or proceeding right to Tilerán. Tronodoro and Puerto San Luis are small residential towns located on Lake Arenal. Both offer spectacular views of the lake and on clear days, you may be able to see three volcanoes, Arenal, Tenorio, and Miravalles. Additionally, Puerto San Luis is known as the main harbor and recreational center on Lake Arenal and offers a wide variety of water activities from sunset cruises to wakeboarding.

Tilerán is located approximately 10 minutes from Tronodora and is a more traditional Costa Rican city, offering a wider range of services. This is an ideal location to base yourself for your Costa Rican vacation. In this area, not only are you enjoying Lake Arenal, you are 1 hour from the Monteverde Cloud Forest, 1.5 hours from a wide variety of the Guanacaste beaches and 1.5 hours from the Arenal Volcano highlights. Additionally, you are in the mountains at 1,804 feet above sea level. The temperature here is spring like and one sees a mixture of both evergreen trees and tropical plants.

You can also reach Tilerán via the Pan American highway through Cañas. Tilerán is approximately 1 hour from the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia and 3 ½ hours from the Juan Santamaria airport.