Grand Spa at Tabacón (Costa Rica)

Sometimes a spa treatment happens in nature.

And sometimes nature becomes the treatment.

That was my experience at The Grand Spa at Tabacón.

I first visited Costa Rica during a work trip and was determined to extend my stay long enough to experience at least one spa. With only a few personal days available, I found myself evaluating a long list of possibilities.

Beach resort?

Rainforest?

Luxury hotel?

Volcano?

Hot springs?

As it turned out, Tabacón checked every box.

Located at the base of Arenal Volcano and surrounded by lush rainforest, Tabacón offers one of those rare experiences where the setting becomes inseparable from the spa itself. Before I even arrived, colleagues who had visited Costa Rica insisted that I make the journey.

They described it as paradise.

For once, the description wasn’t exaggerated.

The Experience

The Grand Spa is located within Tabacón’s renowned thermal hot springs, a short distance from the resort itself.

From the moment I arrived, there was a noticeable sense of ease. Guests are welcomed into a beautiful relaxation area where lounge chairs curve around a central plunge pool, creating small pockets of privacy despite the shared space.

Instead of the traditional spa tea often served elsewhere, guests are greeted with a fresh smoothie—an unexpectedly fitting touch in a tropical setting.

But the true experience begins when it is time for your treatment.

A spa attendant escorts guests along winding pathways through the rainforest and thermal gardens. The journey itself feels ceremonial. With every step, the sounds of the surrounding landscape become more present.

Flowing water.

Birdsong.

The movement of the trees.

Eventually, the path opens onto a private outdoor treatment bungalow nestled within the rainforest.

And that’s when the magic happens.

Before beginning my treatment, the therapist asked whether I would prefer music or nature sounds.

Nature, of course.

Why would anyone choose an imitation when the real thing is all around them?

The rushing thermal waters, the tropical birds, the sounds of the rainforest canopy—it quickly became clear that this was the experience I had traveled to Costa Rica to find.

Not simply a massage.

A connection to place.

Who Thrives Here

The Grand Spa at Tabacón is especially suited to the Embodied Adventurer and the Soul Seeker.

Embodied Adventurers will appreciate the sense of immersion and the opportunity to experience wellness within one of the world’s most beautiful natural environments.

Soul Seekers often connect deeply with the elemental qualities of the experience—the water, the rainforest, the volcano, and the feeling of stepping outside everyday life and into something far older and more timeless.

It is also an exceptional choice for travelers who want their wellness experiences to feel authentic to the destination they are visiting.

What This Spa Teaches Us

One of the lessons I return to often is that we sometimes underestimate the healing power of nature.

We spend considerable time creating artificial versions of what nature already provides.

Nature sound machines.

Meditation apps.

Indoor water features.

Forest-inspired décor.

And yet there is something fundamentally different about experiencing the real thing.

At Tabacón, I was reminded that nature is not simply a backdrop for wellbeing.

It is one of wellbeing’s most powerful sources.

The thermal waters, the rainforest sounds, the tropical air, and the presence of the volcano all contributed as much to the experience as the treatment itself.

The massage may have lasted ninety minutes.

The feeling of being immersed in nature lasted much longer.

Why It’s in My Little Pink Book

The Grand Spa at Tabacón earns its place in my Little Pink Book because it delivers something increasingly rare: a genuine sense of place.

The experience could not exist anywhere else.

It belongs to Costa Rica.

It belongs to the rainforest.

It belongs to the thermal waters flowing from the earth beneath Arenal Volcano.

Years later, what I remember most isn’t a specific technique or product.

I remember lying in an open-air bungalow surrounded by the sounds of the rainforest and realizing that sometimes the most luxurious thing a spa can offer is a deeper connection to the natural world.

That, perhaps more than anything else, is the essence of Pura Vida.