In our previous article, we told the story of how sustainability began at Arenal Manoa. Since 2009, the resort has recognized the impact of its operation and steadily built in better practices around water and energy savings, waste management, biodiversity protection, and staff participation.

Over time, those actions stopped being isolated efforts and became part of how the hotel works day to day. But good practices alone were not enough. The team also needed to measure them, document them, track them over time, and prove they held up year after year.

That is how Arenal Manoa’s road to certifications and recognition began.

Certificación de Sostenibilidad Turística (CST)

One of the first major steps in this stage was Costa Rica’s Certificación de Sostenibilidad Turística, or CST, the country’s official sustainable tourism certification program.

Preparing for it meant reviewing internal procedures, gathering documentation, strengthening controls, and providing evidence of how sustainability was already built into different areas of the operation.

That groundwork paid off. In 2009, Arenal Manoa reached Basic Level under the CST, across the categories of Lodging, Gastronomy, Thermal Waters, Spa Services, and Pools, and held that level for 15 years.

In 2024, the resort moved up to Elite, the highest category the certification offers, in those same categories. In August 2026, Arenal Manoa held onto Elite status again, this time under the CST’s updated standard.

What CST Elite Status Opens Up: The SICCS Verde Seal

Holding the CST also gives Arenal Manoa access to an equivalency with the SICCS Verde seal, the regional recognition awarded through the Sistema Integrado Centroamericano de Calidad y Sostenibilidad.

This seal is designed to strengthen the quality, competitiveness, and sustainability of tourism businesses across Central America, extending recognition of good practices beyond Costa Rica’s borders.

Together, these certifications mark an important milestone in the resort’s history, and more importantly, they confirm how much its sustainability management has matured over the years.

Working Toward Bandera Azul

Arenal Manoa is currently awaiting results for the Bandera Azul Ecológica (Blue Flag) Program, one of Costa Rica’s most recognized environmental awards. Since this recognition has not been confirmed yet, it is not officially part of the resort’s story. Still, the process itself has already been a valuable exercise in learning and continuous improvement.

Because Bandera Azul is renewed annually, Arenal Manoa is committed to staying in the program going forward, using it as an ongoing tool to evaluate, strengthen, and improve its sustainability practices year after year.

Participating involves organizing supporting evidence, running environmental education activities, strengthening internal records, involving staff across departments, and revisiting different operational processes.

The Next Goal: Carbon Neutrality

Arenal Manoa’s most ambitious goal in the near term is certification under Costa Rica’s Programa País de Carbono Neutralidad, the national program that certifies organizations for measuring, reducing, and offsetting their carbon emissions.

For travelers deciding where to stay near the Arenal Volcano, that trajectory matters. A hotel that keeps adding independently verified certifications, rather than resting on the ones it already has, is showing that sustainability is an ongoing commitment, not a one-time claim.