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Sure do, Water is clear and fresh. The public park right off the road by the town of Arenal is a nice place to access the lake. Water is a bit cooler then my liking, but on a hot day is sooooo refreshing!
They also have great windsurfing and kayaking on Lake Arenal! And the water is quite cold and refreshing…I hope you get a chance to check that out, the lava trails, the river, the waterfall, the hot springs and that the volcano is doing a little rumbling to show off….The view is spectacular on a clear night when there’s some volcanic activity, but even when you don’t have a clear view, you can always listen for a rumble here and there…It’s a great area to explore!
Sorry to bring this up but I feel it’s important to mention that there have been numerous reports of crocodiles in the lake although, as far as I know, no problems with human attacks.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comAlligators? Wouldn’t Crocodiles be more correct? There are no alligators in Costa Rica that I am aware of. Either way, it is something one should be on the look out for.
My mistake …. But we do have caimáns here and I don’t honestly know what the difference is between a them – Can you tell us?
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comPS. It was a supposedly a 6 meter (19.6 feet) crocodile that killed that boy in May 2007 (but NOT in Lake Arenal) which you can see at [ http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2007/mayo/06/sucesos1086772.html ]
Common names are usually very confusing when referring to particular species as in Costa Rica you can hear people call a crocodile or a caiman a “lagarto” and a caiman an alligator. In Latin America caimans ARE commonly translated as alligators (see: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/cnhc/csp_ccro.htm). The scientific nomenclature explains why the strong association even if they are not from the genus Alligator sp.(sorry, I don’t know to make the scientific names in italics on the Forum site):
Order Crocodilia
Families: 1) Gavialidae, 2) Crocodylidae, 3) Alligatoridae with Genus: Alligators, Caiman and two others
So ALL crocs are Crocodilians, but not all Crocodilians are crocodiles and in CR you do not have the Genus Alligator sp. but you will find the Spectacled Caiman (another common name) Caiman crocodilius and the American Crocodile which is Crocodylus acutus.
Crocs are much bigger once fully grown, but since you may find diverse aged animals in the wild the easiest way to tell a crocodile from a caiman from afar is by the amount of teeth exposed in those not so friendly smiles. The croc has a lot of the teeth exposure and the lower jaw teeth can even penetrate the upper jaw whereas the caiman doesn’t have as much exposure of their teeth and also has a bony ridge between the front of their eyes (like triangles).
Crocodiles tend to be much more aggressive – especially at night when they’re most active and they’ve been known to chase people standing near rivers and the wetland areas they inhabit including some really scared UNA biology students in Caño Negro – they seemed to want to get to know us much more than we wanted to get to know them :),but there have been issues with both species and frankly if either are in Lake Arenal, I will not be learning how to windsurf there…LOL…
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