cachas

I am looking for some recommendations on the best area to do a canopy tour. We will be in the Arenal area, Monteverde area and Manuel Antonio area in late January and want to do a canopy tour in one of these areas.

Thanks!

shillmac

All three have good canopy tours. Probably the best is at Monteverde. On your way to Manuel Antonio, there is a fairly new park called Turi-Bari. They have a VERY long cable called "Superman" that is supposed to offer quite a ride! You don't hold on, you just spread your arms and legs and fly!

Percy

As always shillmac is correct
However, just let me add a little.

I did the canopy tour at Rinco de la Vieja,( 2 weeks ago) which was 10 cables and 11 platforms.

I thought this was pretty good until I got to Monteverde.
Then I found out(quickly)that the Canopy ride I had at Rinco de la Vieja ,was just a "warm up" for the Monteverde one.!!!

There is 15-16 cables on the Monteverde one.
The rides are much longer and more difficult in that in many cases you could not even make out where the next platform is.

Added to this is the fact that Monteverde is a Cloud Forest, and the clouds were so low,that in many cases the clouds covered up the cable lines.

Our guide said:
" when you ride into the cloud,wait till you feel a bump and then start to brake."

You know what I thought!!

Here I am whizzing at about 40 mph and I have to pay attention to a little bump in the middle of the cloud somewhere.... hmmm,does not sound good to me !!!

But sure enough, as I disappeared into the cloud ,I DID feel the bump and started to brake and as I came out of the cloud the next platfrom was right there.!!

Let me also add,there was a light misty rain coming down when we started the canopy.
Now the cable is wet also.

So now as you ride along from cable to cable,a bit of grease and dirt (from the cable ) is spitting in your face and your jacket.

so wear your worse sweater or jacket.
don't wear anything white !!

If this is your first Canopy Tour then let me say this:
1.They will put a harness on you and buckle you up.

2.You will look like one of those Hydro workers in your city repairing telephone lines !!!

3.They will give you a heavy pair of leather gloves,with an added piece of leather stitched in the palm of the glove.

This is because you use this glove to brake(stop yourself in time)

4. You never put any hand in front to the pully when you are riding the cable unless you like "running over your fingers '!!!

5. You will be told how much to brake and you also watch for hand signals from the guide on the next platform.

6.Once you do the first one , there is virtually no turning back..but I can assure you that after the first one, you WILL want to keep going.!!!!

7.We were told to tuck our legs in and keep them crossed ,so as not to hit any tree branches..and then start spinning around inthe middle of your cable ride.

As you get better at it you then start to goof off a bit like waving your arms and doing a spread eagle...

One lady did not tuck her legs in and then just touched a branch and start to spin,so the guide from the next platform came to get her and haul her in!!!!
We all laughed and teased her , you know that silly laugh when you yourself are nervous and thinking ,"this is going to happen to me."

If you go to Turi- Ba Ri,not only can you do the Superman Cable ride, but you will have a nice Tramway ride over the Tarcole River.
This Tram ride is 2,000 feet long and is at a height 265 feet above ground , so you do get a lovely view.!

Have fun and tell us all about it when you return.

Happy New Year shillmac.

Percy

shillmac

Happy New Year, Percy! What a wonderful description you just gave! I felt like I was on a cable again whizzing through the trees! Could've sworn I felt the rush of wind against my face!

I had to research the canopy deal for 2 days and think about it at length! We were doing our Rincon de la Vieja canopy with Swiss Travel. I told Ronald at the desk at Allegro Papagayo that I would go only if Larry could be our guide. Larry is from La Cruz, was working for Swiss Travel at the time, had taken us horseback riding at Los Inocentes a couple of days earlier, and had discussed the canopy tours extensively with me! So Larry it was! In the meantime, I spoke with Hernan, who has been our dear friend for several years now and he talked me through it. I had visualized it so much that, when it came time, I volunteered first and felt like I had done some pretty good practice runs in my mind!

Heights just about do me in! But I loved it! However, the thought of trying to sense a little bump in order to brake on time unnerves me a bit! But okay, if you say it works, then I believe you!

Percy

Hi shillmac

Sorry to high jack your posting cachas!

I also am afraid fo heights.

When I left home for Costa Rica,I told people,"that will be the day they get me to do a canopy or ride horseback."

So what did I do?!

I went on TWO canopy rides and a two hour horse back ride.

On the canopy rides ,at times I even looked way down into the rain forest, to try to convince myself I was not afraid of height..it did not work because at the next platform, while waiting , I would not look down.

It is an adrenalin rush to say the least.

Percy

Jessie_

If you go to the monteverdeinfo.com web site and click on Sky Trek you will see a place to look at the new Sky Trek located in Arenal which sounds even longer! They have an outline of how the zip line is configured and some pics.

last_mango

Percy,

I loved your description of the canopy tour. We did one in Nicargua 2 years ago and are now eagerly looking forward to the one we have booked in Belize in about 3 weeks (we'll be on a cruise).

Last Mango

shillmac

Ah, Percy, a fellow acrophobite! Truly, the canopy adventures are quite an adventure! One of our scariest moments came when our then 26 year old daughter turned loose (thinking it would be okay to do so--sometimes it is, as you have mentioned), then immediately turned backward away from the oncoming platform. Natural instinct causes one to put a gloved hand back onto the cable, but when backwards that movement puts the hand right in front of the pulley instead of behind where it belongs when one is facing forward (behind the pulley and the direction of the motion). Even with the heavy reinforced gloves, she got a pretty good pinch and it smarted for an hour or so. It can happen in a second. We were watching, saw her do it, saw her jerk away and knew immediately what had happened. I couldn't zip over to that next platform quickly enough to see if she was badly hurt. It was a tense moment for us! And she had canopied before. It is just a very natural reaction to place your hand back on the cable--in the wrong place! Without gloves, the results would be unthinkable!

I always keep my hand lightly over the cable and leave the tricky stuff to others! It's enough that I'm hooked up the the silly thing in the first place!

shillmac

You know what I mean. "to the silly thing"--not "the the silly thing"! Time for a New Year!

Percy

Thanks to evrybody

Yes shillmac I know what you mean

Jessie...I will look at website, but I will do it next year. !!!

Happy New Year to all you Fodorites

Percy

KNJ

We did the SkyTrek tour in Monteverde and it was a lot of fun. The last couple of lines are really long. Also you don't have to put you hands on the cable to break which I thought seemed safer.

ww

We tried the canopy tour in Puerto Vallarta with Adventure Vallarta. The guides informed us that there will be a group of them who will go to set up a canopy tour in Maui in 2005. I suppose it will be the first canopy tour in the United States. We asked them where in Maui but they could not tell us.

jquentzel

I am just back from Costa Rica last week and we did the waterfalls canopy right outside of Jaco. My travelmates were very anxious so I did a web search for ACCT certified canopies and this was one of a few. It was amazing. It was deep in the canopy. You had to hike a little ways, cross a suspension bridge and then climb stairs to the beginning. The scenery was beautiful. I think it had 7 zips, a tarzan swing, and then a rappell down at the end. Calling it this is a stretch of the imagination as they basically let you freefall all the way down until you are about 10 feet from the ground when they slow you down. Everyone screamed. one of the ziplines in the middle takes you to a tree house where they have a bed. Honeymooners sometimes spend the night there. All in all it was very well run. The guides were all great and we loved it. If anyone is interested: www.waterfallscanopy.com.

plmrod

Percy, Shillmac, or others in the know...
How strenous are the horseback rides? Looks like fun, but do you "enjoy" the ride for days after?

rain89z

Hello all,
I am also afraid of heights but would love to do a canopy tour on my vacation this march. I will be staying in the mauel antonio area and am looking for a reputable tour any ideas???? also, how heigh up are u on the platforms in the manuel antonio park???? any info is greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

shillmac

plmrod, sorry just now saw your post. . .we've only done one horseback "event" in Costa Rica, but I suspect most are comparable--a couple or 3 hours in the saddle walking, trotting, perhaps crossing streams, sometimes through terrain that is a little rough. We are NOT accomplished riders (far from it) and yes, we felt the burn for a couple of days. We rode in the tropical dry forest of the Rincon de la Vieja at Los Inocentes. Had a great time! I would like to do the Finca Valmy horseback tour others have mentioned on this board at Manuel Antonio. It sounds terrific!

petite1

Percy: What a great description! I'm terrified of heights but am determined to do this anyway. I'm concerned about my 8 yr old daughter. I was told that after the 1st line if she didn't like it she could stop & also that she could ride tandem with a guide, do you know if this info is correct. Thanks!

peterthomas

I recently went on a jungle surfing canopy tour in the Daintree rainforest at Cape Tribulation in northern Queensland (Australia).
What a buzz - for a start the Daintree is the oldest virgin rainforest in the world, (I think about 100 million years old)and I believe it is second only in size to the Amazon.
The guys who run it are all scientists so as well as the wild experience and the wind in your hair, they tell you all the interesting stuff about the forest.
The views will blow you away - you can see right out to the Great Barrier Reef.
I suppose if you are intent on doing the South American thing then Australia is a long way but the Daintree is just sooooo majestic and unspoiled that you've got to do it one day.
Have a great surf!

Abbyo

Hi Percy,Shillmac,KNJ and others in the know. I just read all your info about the canopy tours and now my excited apprehension has turned to sheer terror. I'm a bit scared but think I could handle it but watching my children do it is going to scare me to death so I don't know if I can handle that! Percy, which company were you with in Monteverde? It sounds to me like I would be more comfortable, especially since my kids are only 13,11 and 8, with one where you didn't have to brake or hold the cable---is there such a thing? What happens if you don't brake? Shillmac, the story of your 26 year old's hand doesn't sound so good, and imagine if that we an 8 year old---and imagine how much that 8 year old's mother would be freaking out at the platform. I'm thinking I better research this one well!
All advice greatly appreciated.

lvk

Abbyo,

We did 3 different canopy tours with our kids, 9 & 11, in Costa Rica last year, including the 1 kilometer long "Superman" zip line at Turubari. We all loved them!

I hope I can put your mind somewhat at ease. I have to say that the guides were very professional and safety-conscious. Even just standing on the platforms, you were always hooked up to a safety line.

We did the Arenal Paraiso canopy tour, which had the "old fashioned" braking system of squeezing the cable with a leather glove outfitted with wooden blocks. The Turubari zip line used the more "modern" braking system which slows you down before you get to the platform. I believe the Skytrek canopy tours in Monteverde and Arenal use the state-of-the-art equipment, eliminating the need to brake yourself.

It is true that your children can go tandem with the guide if they feel apprehension. Frankly, I saw more Moms doing this than kids . On the AP tour, the guide asked if anyone wanted to ride upside down (tandem with the guide). My 11yo daughter did, and the photographer got great photos of her gliding upside down over the river.

Please keep in mind that the single most terrifying moment is just before you step off the first platform. If you can get over that initial fear, the exhilaration takes over and you will have a great time!

I'm not sure if Skytrek offers a CD with pictures of your tour. The AP offered one for $30 and it was well worth the money. There were over 200 high-quality photographs of our tour. Of course, some of those will be of others in your tour group, but the pictures of your family on the zip lines are priceless. Ours made it onto our 2004 Xmas card !

I hope this helps allay some of your fears. Have a great trip!