History of Arenal 

Lake Arenal was dammed in 1979 to provide a constant water flow to the farmers in Costa Rica's dry northwestern province, Guanacaste, and to supply a large portion of the country's electricity.

The area around Tilarán and the Buena Vista properties was first settled in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, when residents of the Central Valley migrated here to work in mines or harvest large forests of cedar. Now the region is known for its cattle and telecommunications projects.