Safety of Zip Lines in Costa Rica

Our guidebook mentioned that there had been 3 deaths in the past, but that none of those places was recommended in the guidebook, so I just went with one in the guidebook and the one our hotel recommended. We did the Original Canopy Tour and felt very safe. They had pictures in their office of Jimmy Carter doing it. I kept thinking it looked like him but couldn't believe it really was. I would feel comfortable recommending them.

As a rule, I would only do ziplines that you can read about in guidebooks. If you've never heard about an operator, beware.

Having done both the Montezuma canopy tour as well as the Titi Canopy Tour in Manuel Antonio, I can recommend either and endorse their safety practices. Safer than driving, to be honest.

We went at a place outside of Tamarindo. We were told by another tourist that way to check for safety is to ensure that you have 2 straps from your harness to the line. One clips to the pulley and the other directly to the line. I've read that some foreign countries have places with cables that are too thin but I don't really know what to ask for.

It was very fun and I would definitely do it again if I had the chance.

www.skytrek.com has the best rep for safety in CR.

qwovadis, please tell me how you discovered that Skytrek has the best safety rep in Costa Rica. I'm not sure just what that means, and I'd like to see the research on it. The statement implies that there have been accidents (or fewer accidents) associated with all the other operators, and I know that is not the case.

When we did our first ziplines in 2001, there had been 2 deaths at that time, obviously early in the development of the zipline as a popular tourist attraction. If there have been 3 deaths to date (and I am not sure, wasn't aware of a 3rd one), it should be noted that at least one of those deaths was an employee of the company. And I am almost certain that one of the deaths resulted from a woman who braked herself too eary, stopped in the middle, panicked, ignored instructions, and literally unfastened her own carabiner (sp?) clip.

RAC has hit the nail on the head by advising only to use companies who are mentioned in guide books. There are several companies all over the country that have excellent safety records. Certainly Skytrek would be among them, but not the only one.

I think you have to go into this realizing there is a certain risk in zipping through the air attached to a cable. The big outfits take proper precautions and you can have a good, safe time with them.

Sky Trek in Monteverde had the third death, and that was about three years ago. One of its guides was struck and killed by lightning when out with a group. I remember at the time I was working on that edition of the Fodor's guide and I talked with the editor about whether or not we should remove Sky Trek from the book. The inquest determined that it was a freak storm that came up that nobody could have predicted. Plus I talked to a lot of people up in Monteverde about the incident. Monteverde is kind of small-town gossipy, for lack of a better term, and if something were amiss about the incident, people would know up there. Without fail, eveybody told me that, no, it was something that just happened and couldn't have been prevented.

Back to the statement "Sky Trek has the best safety record," no, you can't say that. Even a fine, reputable company like Sky Trek had in incident, even if it was out of their control. Still, I would never hesitate to go on a Sky Trek outing.

Thanks so much to all of you. I will have the opportunity to zip while at Monteverde. We are staying at the Hotel Belmar. Any recommendations on a specific zip tour near there? I understand that there are 3 companies operating in Monteverde. It makes me nervous but would really like to do it if I will end up alive!!

They all offer transportation from area hotels.

That's interesting. We had booked with Sky Trek, and they canceled on us because they were worried about lightning. It was disappointing at the time, but they did the right thing.

Considering what happened to them, I'm sure they're attuned to the problem more than anybody.

To further answer your question, patsynor, my personal favorite up there is Selvatura. In addition to the zipline tour, they have hanging bridges, a butterfly garden, a hummingbird exhibit, and a serpentarium. I wouldn't even attempt to drive there. I'd take their transport coming and going.

Good advice as always Jeff

patsy, we did the Original Canopy Tour, and it was a lot of fun. As a bonus, we came eye to eye with a quetzal when we were on the platform - a rare occurance I'm sure. Our guides were great and even wore our cameras and took pics and video of us as we went zipping along. Ours had 2 rappels that I wasn't expecting - those were a lot of fun too. I've heard great thing about Selvatura as well.

San Lorenzo - Lands In Love Zip-Line-
Can you tell me what it's called, and anyone know of injuries there?

Also....the best horse-guided tour in this area, and La Fortuna?

Anyone been to Lucky Bugs?-

I have two days to fill between Arenal and Grecia-High Season...any suggestions of place to stay with senior citizens?

San Lorenzo had a death in 2000.

Do you know the name of that zip-line operation?

Thank you all- I will probably wait until I get there and decide. Is that a bad idea or do I need to make reservations now to assure a spot? My trip begins mid Aug. Really appreciate all your help.

We booked ours when we were there, so I think you'd be fine. You can check with your hotel for recommendations too.

I'm thinking the San Ramon death also involved an employee.

We just sustained serious injuries on the Selvatura zip line. I'm not sure how these injuries are recorded or monitored. My husband needed immediate medical attention and had to be transported 20 minutes down an unpaved road to a small clinic with limited supplies. The nearest hospital is hours away.

Oh, that is a big bummer. Do you mind explaining what happened? I felt that if you got turned around or got upside down something bad could happen...but hopefully it wasn't equipment failure.

I'm so sorry kate 56, I hope he's ok. You must be pretty stressed and searching the internet for info and found this post -- please report back and let us know how your husband is doing.
I hope it's not too serious and that you can continue with your trip.

I missed that you are actually in CR right now. I'm so sorry. I assumed you were back home and reporting. Yes, please do let us know how you both are doing as well as how the company is handling the situation. Since you said "we" sustained injuries this is even more disconcerting.

Wow! I'm glad I saw this post. Thanks for sharing.

kate, welcome to the board. Can you tell us a little more about what happened? I've always heard good things about Selvatura.

Oh, I just assumed she's still in CR and searching net for info. (This thread shows up if you google zipline safety...)

Apologies, but I'm always wary of a first time poster with a slam against a well-reputable company, topping a rather old thread. This happened just recently with a post about Pure Trek. Can you fill in some more details about the incident? I'm sure we'd all like to be clear on what happened.

I was just logging in to say the same thing. Two first posts by two new people. Weird. If I'm wrong I apologize and mean no disrespect, but I also saw the similar post on TA last week.

This was a genuine incident which happened on 4/24/10 on the 11:00 am tour - there were many witnesses but I don't have their names. I will check out TA too because one of my concerns is that I have been unable to find safety reports on the zip lines. I have tried numerous times to contact Selvatura to discuss what happened so that they can avoid future problems but I have had no response as of yet. My husband and I went on the first 14 zip lines individually without a problem. On the last zip line they put us together for an unexplained reason with very little instruction and asked us not to brake until signaled. We came in way too fast (maybe because of the weight of us together - I have since read a limit of 280 lbs and my husband is 6"3"..) and were unable to brake sufficiently. They used the mechanism they use to stop the line and it stopped very abruptly and but our bodies were still moving forward and we slammed against the pulleys etc. My husband required 17 stitches on his cheek and he has a broken rib. We both are bruised with whiplash.

Just curious as to why being a first-time "poster" somehow undermines credibility.

It seems that the important issue here is the safety. It is insane to put two people together to go on the zip line run. If Selvatura learns anything from this incident, it should be that. Also, as customers, if you don't feel safe, state your objections and take the run in the way you feel safest. My guess is that there was no ill-will intended by the company, just poor judgment that will hopefully be addressed.

Having two objects that happen to be human hurtling down a cable at 50 mph with breaking sophistication that is less than a bicycle is nuts. They clearly got carried away and lost sight of the seriousness of the activity. I believe the zip by itself is safe but going two at a time is obviously not

ooh - that really sucks. He must have had a big gash in his face - and I imagine this freaked out the other people on the tour too. Sounds like you did have to come straight home -- hope you heal quickly without complications and keep us posted about the company's response.

In Arenal, I've had a worker ride tandem with me while they put me upside down... (this was my fault as I was complaining that I wasn't getting enough speed) He did all the braking and I got the additional adrenaline I wanted but I went down standard (and alone) after that. This was a smaller operation that was connected to one of the larger hotels and felt much less professional than Skytrek which we had done the day before.

The first time post thing isn't at all personal - its frequently the case that a company (or their competition) will post a rave review (or a slam) and then disappear. People on here are exceptionally nice and generous -- hope you stick around and fill us in on details and how you're both doing.

Kate- Well that was definitely poor decision making on the guides part. I think even when my daughter was 11 she was close to not being able to go tandem. I hope you are able to get some type of claim filed with someone who will take appropriate action. So sorry for the awful end ( or beginning?) of your trip. I wish you both a speedy healing process.

James8 - Similar to what fishee said, most first time posters that don't start off with a question about travel are usually either self promoting or have a personal vendetta. This is just something you come to realize after so many years of reading the forums almost daily.

Kate56 - is there a way to communicate in private. I also suffered a zipline accident recently, got 3 stitches to the face. Let me know.

Great News! -- I'm leaving from New York and flying tomorrow to Costa Rica. Very excited to try zipping for my first time as is my wife. Dumb question probably, but I'm confused by the postings about people going two at a time. On the one hand, a couple was injured when an outfit put them together. And in videos on youtube, I see people with perhaps guides or others who are photographing them. Are those people just being dumb with the photog? Thank you in advance.

I figure you have left by now but maybe you will check this. My two of my three sons rode with a guide (one is 5 the other is 8, my other 8 year onld was big enough to go alone). The issue was weight when you put one of the boys with a guide they were about the same weight as an average adult so they did not go extra fast because of the second person. The guides let one of my twins go alone but when he stopped before reaching the platform they put a guide with him for extra weight. I was fine with it, a guide is not going to let themselves get stuck, fall or hit a tree so they will automatically take care of my child. All of my boys loved it and my husband who is scared of heights loved it too. We went on Ecoglide in the La Fortuna area. It was great and the two lines made it feel really safe.

Thanks for you posting! I returned yesterday and had a wonderful time. My wife and I did the "Amazing Canopy Tour Adventure" at Selvatura Park in Monteverde Cloud Forest. The opearation was conducted very professionally, with many guides coordinating the tour from about a dozen platforms. Instructions were stearn and easy to follow, and we had an amazing fest of it all, what with the scraming and whooping it up. A rush we both enjoyed thoroughly!! The issue of double occupancy arose at the end, the last of the lines, which was about a half a mile long. The guides explained the double was needed to get the speed to make it across. Even though my wife an I had discussed this issue and I had not seen your posting yet, we were sufficiently comfortable to go for it. And we're glad we did because this was the best one yet. We went the fastest (high 40's low 50's MPH ??) over and through primary and secondary forests, valeys and rivers. And we did this last one together which was extra fun. We were both facing forward, with my wife in front of me and I wrapped my legs around her waist which was easy since I was already in a laying back position suppoted by straps. We each had two tethers to the cable as well, as we did for all of the lines, which was noted in the trail above as an important safety feature. And we did the Tarzan Swing at the end as well -- I only wished I had howled like Tarzan instead of screached like Jane! Thanks to all for the information. -- Jerry from New York City

I just saw this pop up and wanted to say that we also had a great experience with Selvatura.

Keep in mind that there is risk associated with undertaking an activity like ziplining, surfing, snorkeling, diving, etc. while on vacation. It's not something that you do every day and you must assess your willingness and comfort with taking that risk.

It's good to here that kate56's hubby's injuries were not more serious.

My DH and both sons enjoyed Selvatura immensely.

One hint - Going straight to Selvatura on our own saved about $45 as opposed to booking with the sales office in town and taking their bus. It also permitted us to have a car there and leave when we were ready.