Dates and Rates 2026

Costa Rica Writing Retreat Dates

Choose one or both of these retreats:
Las Cascadas Hotel, Quepos – Saturday 24th January-Saturday 31 January 2026
Arenal Observatory Lodge – Saturday 31 January-Saturday 7 February 2026

Prices

A deposit is payable directly to Centauri Arts, in Canadian dollars, at the time of booking. The balance of fees is payable to the hotel, in US dollars. Please note that any credit card can be used to pay either fee, regardless of the country in which you reside. To check the exact conversion on the date of payment, use a currency converter such as: www.xe.com/currencyconverter/

Fee 1 – Deposit Payable on Registration

This fee is payable to Centauri Arts in Canadian funds at the time of booking. It secures your space and covers the ‘creative writing retreat’ features of your trip: writing workshops, a manual of prompts and information, group leader services, a trip manual and writing-related activities. This is the only fee paid directly to us.
Deposit Per Writer, Per Week: $799 CDN (approx. $540 USD)
Non-Writer, same room: $150 CDN
(the non-writer fee includes social activities/group leader services only)

Fee 2 – Accommodation Fee

Las Cascadas, Quepos
Cost per room, 7 nights: $1256.31USD
(includes 7 nights in a private bedroom in 2- or 3-bedroom cottages, Wifi, AC, pool, breakfast and taxes).
Las Cascadas will invoice you directly, one week before our trip.

Arenal Observatory Lodge
Cost for Standard Room, per night (on 7-night retreat): $284.90 USD
Cost for room with shared facilities in Casona, per night: $143.20 USD
(includes Wifi, breakfast, nature hike, tractor ride, museum, access to trails and hanging bridges, shuttle, pool, hot tub, taxes). The lodge will invoice you directly, 45 days before our trip.
You can reduce your costs still further by sharing a room. There is one room with twin beds in Las Cascadas, and one in Casona. Contact us for further details.

Additional Services and Fees
This is not a package tour. Here is a guide to the additional fees:

Airport Transfer
Writers attending Week 1 (Quepos) should fly in/out of San Jose airport. Writers attending Week 2 should fly in/out of Liberia. Budget $35-50USD each way (depends on number of writers sharing the minibus).
Writers attending BOTH retreats should fly into San Jose and out of Liberia. The transfer between lodges will be covered by us.

Lunches, Dinners, Beverages
Assume prices similar to the US. Budget about $25 per dinner and $20 per lunch (you may not want lunch as the breakfasts are big!). At Las Cascadas you have the option to cook.

Sightseeing
This can be arranged when you arrive – or you may want to relax and write. Arenal Observatory Lodge offers sightseeing amenities included. However, the trade-off is that just one restaurant is available in the property.

How to Reserve Your Space

Complete the application form here: https://form.jotform.com/centauriarts/writing-retreat-application
Questions? Call Julie at +1 647 409 7124 or email julie@centauriarts.com
Limited space is available: we accept no more than 10 writers in each retreat.