As I mentioned in my intro post here, there are three different resorts in one at the Nayara Resorts Grounds at the base of the Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica. Each of those resorts has a different vibe, and there are also several pools you can choose to hang out at. There are also a group of hot springs pools between Nayara Gardens and the Tented Camp. We checked out most of the pools, and I break them all down for you in this post! Also – don’t forget that the vast majority of the rooms at all three resorts have their own private plunge pools, which are super warm and fed by the thermal mineral springs on the property!

There are four total pools across the three resorts, one at Nayara Gardens, one at the Tented Camp, and two pools at the adults-only Nayara Springs. We checked out the “quiet pool” at the Springs, but didn’t spend any time there. There are a couple reasons for this, but the main one is that it was, truly, quiet, and there was no music playing or anything, which wasn’t really giving us the fun, hang-out vibes we were looking for. This would be a nice place to take a nap, or swim a few laps.

Our least favorite pool that we did spend an afternoon and a lunch at was the Gardens pool called Kali Kali. This is a weirdly shaped pool that has to be original to the property. It is totally in ground, with a few tables inside the pool, and a completely shaded swim up bar. The seats at the swim up bar were VERY close to the bar and it wasn’t comfortable to sit at. The pool itself needs some work. There are a lot of missing tiles, and a lot of tiles that need to be cleaned due to chemical exposure or just replaced entirely. This pool was mid-jungle and there are no views of anything here. There is a lot of lush greenery around the pool, which is pretty, but with lots of greenery comes a lot of dead leaves around and in the pool. There is someone coming around seemingly every 30 minutes to sweep up and skim the pool, but it’s a LOT.

They do play chill beats here which was one of our favorite types of music to play by the pool. The pool also has these circular pods that you can sit in with another person and fit pretty comfortably. The problem is the pods seem old, and you both kind of cave in to the middle of it, so it’s not super comfortable for a long period of time. We spent a total of about 4 hours here over the course of two different days and only saw one other couple spend time at this pool, so if you want a super private place to hang out, this is it. However, the alone-ness also gives a weird feeling, like the place has been abandoned and needs to be gutted and refurbished. In fact, they don’t even put cushions down in all of the pods, since the pool seems pretty unpopular. This pool has a lot of potential, but most definitely needs some updating, as well as some kind of incentives to bring people to swim here.

***Update! The Nayara Gardens pool was recently refurbished and rehabbed in, I believe, early 2024 and from the photos, it is looking really swanky and nice. I can’t wait to come back here and check it out!

The second-best pool was the Nayara Tented Camp pool called the Lapas pool. Hands down, this pool has the best views of the volcano, although you can only see the views from a few of the lounger chairs, as the foliage in front of the pool is so tall that it blocks a lot of the view. Indeed, this is an infinity pool, which should have an incredible view when you’re in it, but the foliage blocks the view especially when you are in the pool, making the infinity part of the pool kind of pointless. The swim up bar part of the pool is also not connected to the main pool part, so you have to get out and then get back into another section of the pool, which we thought was a poor design choice. Brian thinks it would be cool if they built a slide from one pool to the other!

This is the only pool with true, separated lounger chairs that are comfortable and cushiony and covered with proper umbrellas. We liked this set up. I would say, though, that there are only about 20 chairs up here, and you need to get there early to get ones with a view, and definitely get there by noon if you want a chair at all, as it was completely full all afternoon. This pool has heated towels too, which is a nice touch. We didn’t like the choice of playing extremely chill, ambient music, as we would’ve preferred something more upbeat. There were no kids when we were there, but this is an all-ages pool if that is important to you. This pool did have great cocktails and delicious food. The food is supplied by the Ayla restaurant, which is Mediterranean food, so you get amazing bread and dips, and I had an incredibly delicious chicken gyro. Super fresh and yummy. The great food and cocktails, though, was offset by pretty irregular service. Compared to the Springs pool (Cielito Lindo), the service was poor and inattentive. The pool area and the restaurant are only about 6 months old, though, so maybe they are still working out some kinks.

The best pool for us was the adults-only main pool at Nayara Springs called Cielito Lindo. This pool had cool water and about 6 tables with umbrellas in the middle of the pool – super great for the hotter months. It also had a swim up bar, where the seats were a better distance from the bar and it was much more comfortable to sit at. There are a ton of double-loungers here that are covered with a half-round shade which was really nice. Since we are larger people, for the longer days by this pool, we took up two of these pods, but we also sat together one afternoon in one and it was pretty fine.

They play great music here – one morning playing 80’s romantic hits which we loved singing along goofily to, and then switching to more upbeat latin music for most of the rest of the time. The reasons why this pool is the best, are that the service here is amazing, you can see a bit of the volcano from here (it was very cloudy when we were there so we never actually saw the top of the volcano ever), and Tony the Sloth lives here, and he provides plenty of entertainment, whether from watching him, or watching the people watching him!

Like I said, the service here was incredible. When we arrived, we received an immediate welcome, and on the hotter day, they provided cold towels that smelled really nice. They also provided cups of ice water. Both times that we spent most of the day at this pool, they provided a free little snack just before lunch – the first time was a mango ceviche with chips and the second time was a bowl of guacamole made out of plantains. Delicious! The cocktails at this pool are impressive, and widely vary between different types of spirits, and they have special happy hour drinks as well for 50% off. The food at this pool is really good too, varying from a Peruvian ceviche, to panini sandwiches to fresh wood-fired pizzas.

For us, Cielito Lindo was the best pool on the entire property, and we definitely spent the most hours here. Some might prefer the chiller vibe at the Tented Camp pool, and there are definitely things about that pool that were really great like the food and the view. I would recommend skipping the Kali Kali pool at the Gardens, though, unless they decide to spiff it up sometime in the future.