What is glamping in Costa Rica like?

A tent, dome or cabin with a real bed, a private bathroom with hot water and electricity, set in the forest or on a view. Air conditioning depends on the place.

How much does glamping cost in Costa Rica?

Roughly $200 a night at smaller places, and well over $600 at the best-known camps. Dry season, December to April, costs the most.

Where is the best glamping near Arenal?

Nayara Tented Camp is the famous one, inside the rainforest by the volcano. For something different and closer to Liberia, our school buses are 20 minutes from Lake Arenal.

Not for every place: Chira's gravel stretch is passable in a regular car, and our road is paved to the door. We always recommend one anyway: more freedom, and you get there faster.

For December to April, two to four months ahead. The small camps have only a handful of tents, so popular dates go early.

Glamping in Costa Rica: where to go, region by region

Two guests in a private plunge pool at sunset, facing the valley

The short answer

Costa Rica's best-known glamping is in three places: Arenal, for tents with hot-spring pools; Monteverde, for heated tents in the cloud forest; and the Nicoya coast, for domes over the sea or a tent on an island. Expect roughly $200 a night at the simpler places and well over $600 at the flagship camps. For December to April, book early.

We run three converted school buses in the hills above Lake Arenal, so we're not a neutral party: we're on this list too. But our guests ask us about glamping all the time, and these are the places we point them to, with what each does better than we do.

What glamping means here

A real bed and your own bathroom
Every place on this page has a private bathroom with hot water, often with an outdoor shower. You're not sharing a camp block.
Air conditioning varies
Some tents have it, some don't, and in Monteverde you'll want heating instead: nights there drop to around 15°C (59°F). Check the specific unit before you book.
Nature comes in
Frogs and monkeys at night, and the occasional insect inside. Good places have screens or nets and repellent on hand. If that sounds like a problem, book a hotel.
Season
December to April is dry and books up first. May to November is the green season: greener, quieter, cheaper. Guanacaste gets its rain later and lighter than the rest of the country.

Arenal and La Fortuna

Nayara Tented Camp
The one most people have heard of. Air-conditioned tents on stilts inside the rainforest by Arenal Volcano, each with its own plunge pool fed by hot springs, and a sloth sanctuary on the grounds. Travel + Leisure named it the top resort in Central America for 2026. Families are welcome. It's about 3 hours from Liberia airport and among the most expensive stays in the country.

Monteverde

Chira Glamping
Five tents in the cloud forest at about 1,600 metres, each with a private hot tub on the deck. Heated, not cooled, which is right for the climate. Breakfast is included. Coming from Guanacaste, the last 15 km are gravel; they say a 4x4 isn't required, though we'd still take one.

The Nicoya coast

Kintiri Glamping, above Sámara
Air-conditioned domes on a hill above Playa Sámara, with a pool, jacuzzis in the rooms and the sunset over the sea. The name comes from Chorotega words for house and hill. Guests advise following Waze, not Google Maps, on the way up.
Isla Chiquita, Gulf of Nicoya
Tents on a small island, about 10 minutes by boat from Paquera. A shared pool, private plunge pools in the premium tents, and a night tour to see the bioluminescence in the water. Air conditioning in some tents only. Families are welcome.

Bed in Bus 2 facing floor-to-ceiling glass, the deck and the valley

Between Liberia and Arenal: a school bus instead of a tent

Strictly speaking, we're not glamping. No canvas, no hot spring, no butler. What we have is three school buses rebuilt by hand in the woodshop beside the parking area, on a hillside in Tierras Morenas with the valley in front. A queen bed, air conditioning and a fan, a full kitchen, a hot rain shower, and screens on every opening.

What we do better is where we are. We're about 1 hour 20 from Liberia airport and 1 hour 15 from La Fortuna, paved to the door, so the buses break the drive that most of these trips start with. Self check-in from 2:00 PM.

Plunge Pool
A private pool lit at night, facing the best sunset line, for two.
Spacious
The roomiest interior, its own pool over the valley, for two.
Sunset Deck
The biggest deck, sleeps 3, dogs welcome, the lowest price.

See the buses

Two kinds of night in one trip

These places sit on one loop. Land in Liberia and sleep in a bus the first night, then Arenal, then Monteverde, then the Nicoya coast, and back to Liberia. That's the order of our 7-day itinerary, which has the drive times between each stop.

Questions people ask

What is glamping in Costa Rica like?: A tent, dome or cabin with a real bed, a private bathroom with hot water and electricity, set in the forest or on a view. Air conditioning depends on the place.
How much does glamping cost in Costa Rica?: Roughly $200 a night at smaller places, and well over $600 at the best-known camps. Dry season, December to April, costs the most.
Where is the best glamping near Arenal?: Nayara Tented Camp is the famous one, inside the rainforest by the volcano. For something different and closer to Liberia, our school buses are 20 minutes from Lake Arenal.
Do I need a 4x4?: Not for every place: Chira's gravel stretch is passable in a regular car, and our road is paved to the door. We always recommend one anyway: more freedom, and you get there faster.
When should I book?: For December to April, two to four months ahead. The small camps have only a handful of tents, so popular dates go early.