I have heard mixed reports about the amount of wildlife here. I thought it would be a neat way to be up in the canopy closer to the birds, but it sounds like some people don't see anything. Has anyone had a great experience on on of their tour options?
1. 5:30 AM birdwatching tour (fairly expensive for 2.5 hours)
2. Natural history tour (moderate price)
3. Go it alone (least expensive)

We did it alone, and I wish we had hired a guide. We were there for a couple of hours and saw ants. I've read reports from other people who went with guides, and they saw some howlers and vipers. Getting a guide will give you a much better shot at spotting something. And if you don't, you'll at least get interesting info. about the flora and fauna in the area. It was a very pretty hike, but it didn't leave me with a strong desire to do it again. We hired a guide through Sunset Tours to take us on a birding hike, not at the Hanging Bridges, but near our hotel, and it was amazing. Even saw a peccary and an anteater. I've never seen so much wildlife in the area, but a guide knows where to look.

We didn't book a tour, but just asked for a guide right where you buy your tickets. We had a car in Arenal, so we just drove up on our own and paid for a guided tour. No special tour - like the birdwatching or natural history tour. It was just my husband and myself and our guide. We really enjoyed it. We saw a lot of birds, we learned all about the ecosystem and environment - the canopy and rainforest. We saw a pit viper (from way above). We saw some monkeys. We saw some tree frogs.

It was our first guided tour in Costa Rica and it was a great introduction to the wildlife and habitat of Costa Rica. I would hightly recommend getting a guide and giving it a shot!

ShellD, Do you remember about how much you paid for your guide?

We did it on our own and didn't see a lot of wildlife, a few howler monkeys in the distance. We did enjoy the hike, and the bridges themselves are worth the trip.

koala,

Looking at their website, I'm guessing the way they have it set up now, it's the Natural History Walk Tour that we did. We did the guided tour 2 yeas ago and it wasn't listed that way. The had a listing for the entrance like they do now, and an additional fee for a guide. But it was about $10 extra per person.

my kids and i did a self-guided tour this summer. we saw a troupe of monkeys, a viper, various birds, and the ubiquitous leaf-cutter ants. however, my son had been studying in costa rica so he was kind of a ringer.

be aware that a student id takes $10 off the price of admission and/or a tour. you MUST have the id with you, although they did give me the student rate for my obviously school-aged kids when i politely asked.

forgot to mention other insects, beetles and a bunch of different butterflies including the magnificent blue morphos. the monkeys we saw were capuchin and were found on the dotted-line loop towards an overlook. they were amazing, but not too happy to see us, chattering like crazy and throwing things at us from the canopy!

cheryl_b, did you have regular college issued student id's or was it the international student id (costs around $25)? My husband and I are both students are are hoping to avoid having to pay for another id.
Thanks, fa

gosh, sorry such a late reply...ANY student id! they weren't picky, just needed to confirm the student status.

We went yesterday to the Hanging bridges at Arenal. We did not get a guide. Its a loop that took about 2 hours. It rained the entire time we were at Arenal. I guess this is a bit unusual but all day and night for 3 days it rained. But we enjoyed the hanging bridges. Its basically a trail that has 10+ bridges that usually span a valley of some sort. There is a very nice little waterfall that you can see by taking a short side path from the main loop. It was an enjoyable 2 hours. We did not see any wildlife and I actually can't imagine what a guide would do for you but maybe he'll know where the animals hang out on the loop.

Yes, a guide knows where the animals usually congregate, but in the rain, they tend to hide out so spotting is more difficult. cal, I can't believe you guys had such bad luck with the weather.