Sky Trek in Arenal has some of the longest, highest lines in the country. That would be my choice. If you're lucky, you'll get a view of the volcano.

ditto VG www.skytrek.com

the pick of the litter for altitude

and volcano vista

Sky Trek and Arenal Mundo are the best known in Arenal. I chose the latter and thought it was great! You start with a fun tractor tide ip to a waterfall lookout , then do 11 lines and end with a horseback ride. They also have a little butterfly garden. The cost was less than Sky Trek and I think the longest line was only a 20 or 40 meter diff so not a deal breaker for me.

Have a blast whichever way you decide!

Thanks guys..So the general consensus is do it in the Arenol area vs doing it in Monteverde or MA?

Either Arenal or Monteverde. In Monteverde I prefer Aventuras rather than Skytrek as Skytrek has had some issues with safety in the past. Selvatura in Monteverde is much more expensive for what you get. Just be careful wherever you go as there is no regulation of zipline operators so anyone can start one and there have been a few deaths over the last decade.

We did the Original Canopy Tour in Monteverde, and that was fun; it's not as high as some of the others, but included two rappels which were really fun. They encouraged us to go "hands free" and just leap off the platform. We felt very safe doing it.

dory -- There is Canopy Safari and Titi Canopy (I think that's right) in Manuel Antonio. I think you will have fun with any of them, just depends on if you want to try to go for biggest and best! Tee-hee. Not positive, but I think DraJ is referring to Arenal Mundo Avenutras in Arenal when he says Aventuras, but not positive (although I'm not aware of any safety concerns with Sky Trek).

I don't have any 1st hand knowledge yet, but I've done a ton of research for my upcoming trip to CR. At one point I thought I would do a zipline in both Monteverde and Arenal, because I too could not make a decision. My plan was to do Mundo Aventura in Arenal (

sorry...my post was sent befor I was ready!

I was planning to use Mundo Aventura because it also included the horseback and tractor rides. I was planning to use Selvatura in Monteverde because it didn't seem that expensive since I planned to combine the zipline with hanging bridges where I could really take my time looking at the wildlife I hope to see.

Hip - There is actually a company in Monteverde called Aventura Canopy Tour and it says online that it includes both a rappel and a Tarzan swing. I believe one of the older guidebooks I read, Rum and Reggae's Costa Rica, listed it as the best zipline experience in the country.

That being said, I think I am now leaning towards only doing the zipline in Monteverde because I have so many other things I want to do in Arenal and I don't have time to do a second zipline. I was at a small outfitters store this weekend and I spoke to the manager who has been to CR a couple of times and did ziplines in both Monteverde and Arenal. He told me he definitely recommended Monteverde over Arenal because the his experience in Arenal was like doing a zipline in downtown Alpharetta, an Atlanta suburb. I get the impression that the Monteverde ziplines are more interesting because they are actually in the cloud forest.

I think you have a good plan Deb. Sometimes you have to choose what to do around how much time you have! You will have a blast. I have that Rum Reggae guide too, love it!

Is Sky Trek in Arenal the same company as Sky Trek in Monteverde? We were planning on going to Sky trek in Arenal, doing the Tram up and the zip down. Now that there have been posts about safety concerns, I am second guessing this. Sky Trek has the longes zipline (2000+) so this would be a bad decision if it's unsafe

Sky Trek has a very good reputation. I've never heard of it being unsafe. Our guidebook recommends them.

mrscalkins -- Agree with vgirl. Sky Trek has a great reputation and I've never heard of safety issues until this recent post. The longest zipline is definitely not going to make or break how safe the company is. It's more about the harness and being securely fastened to the cable. On the long ziplines you are moving downward with enough speed to keep you going until the end. If you brake too fast then you will either need to pull yourself in, or they will come and get you. The guides will give the best instructions on how and when to brake.

Thanks everyone...this is great information!