JoBurritt

Has anyone done the Arenal Paraiso Canopy Tour? If so, how was it? Thanks in advance.

sclubb

i'd like to know the same thing. i heard great things about the tour that does horseback riding to la fortuna falls & then the fortuna canopy which i am guessing is different from the arenal paraiso. but, we'll be staying at paraiso so it might be more convenient.

JoBurritt

TTT

lachat

I'd like to know the same thing. Can't decide between the Original Canopy Tour at the Tabocon Resort and the Arenal Paraiso Canopy Tour.

shillmac

These two canopy experiences are probably quite similar. Original Canopy has a good reputation and a good safety record as it is the first company to design and provide this activity. Many guide books recommend Original. There has been recent controversy (past year) regarding the canopy tours. . .I think having to do with some of the smaller canopy tours that have cropped up all over the place. Original is sure to be a good choice, but I would also trust Arenal Paraiso.

JoBurritt

Thanks, Shillmac, but I was asking more about the experience than the safety (not that the safety isn't important, as well, of course). I'm just trying to figure out whether it's too short to be fun. I keep hoping someone out there has tried it!

mad

while I don't have any basis for comparison, I did try the canopy at arenal paraiso. we thought it was fun, but ot amazing. we were the only ones on it, so it was fast, which was good, because there was no waiting. I think they had 11 zip lines. I'm not sure how that compares with others. Some of the zip lines were really long and fun, while others were less excting. overall a fun experience. we also went horseback riding with them to the volcano, which was a blast, but I wouldn't recommend bringing young kids on it, as I was hanging on pretty tight and was not supplied with a helmet. hope that's helpful.

shillmac

Hi Jo,
When I said the two experiences were similar, I was referring to the number of ziplines as well as safety concerns. We haven't done these, but we did a canopy in the Rincon de la Vieja. I may be wrong, but it is my understanding that they all offer very similar experiences with regard to number of lines and platforms. The one we did had 11 ziplines also, and it was a lot of fun. Not something I'd pay to do again probably, but so glad we had the experience. In researching different canopies (and talking to others), it seems most have have 9-11 cables. Our canopy tour included about 10 people and it took a couple of hours. An exception would be Skytrek at Monteverde, which is said to have several more ziplines, some of which are longer and higher than the norm.

Otis_B_Driftwood

We took the Arenal Canopy Tour just outside La Fortuna.

http://www.crarenalcanopy.com/

This tour was recommended by the folks at the Volcano Lodge. It includes a 45 minute horseback ride up to the zip lines (and 45 minutes back). The zip lines are high in the trees and some are quite long. The staff was very good and paid special attention to the small kids on the tour. Make sure you have $10 per person for tips. ($5 per guide) The views of the volcano are awesome on the way up by horseback.

JoBurritt

Thanks, everyone!

Shillmac--Thanks for your clarification. For some reason Arenal Paraiso's sounded smaller than some--it may have been the length of the cables, but now I can't remember. I've been doing so much research that everything's starting to run together in my poor old brain! Given the older ages of my kids, I was thinking "the more exciting, the better." I think one of the things that threw me was that Arenal.net had a description of a canopy tour that was way, way off--like 2 kilometers of cables and 18 platforms. I e-mailed them to ask whether their description was correct and they admitted that it wasn't. I believe it's actually Arenal Paraiso's, and their own website describes it as being much smaller.

Mad and Otis--Thanks for your descriptions. They were very helpful. Mad--I'd been debating about the volcano tour, too--my youngest is 17, so he's probably more likely to be able to hang onto the horse than I am! I'm the one who is going to need the helmet, I'm afraid!

Anyhow, given all of your posts, it does sound as though we can go for whichever canopy tour works best for us location-wise and time-wise. Now, all I have to figure out is which one that is!

Alethea

We did not do the canopy tour there, but spoke w/ a few people who did & they seemed disapointed. If you're heading to Monteverde, then I would completely recommend the Skytrek canopy tour which was AMAZING!

JoBurritt

Alethea,

Thanks for the candid response, but now I don't know what to do! We're not going to Monteverde, so Sky Trek in Monteverde is out. If anyone has any idea which canopy tour is the most exciting in either the Arenal area or Manuel Antonio, let me know! I think I know all of the names of them, but it's so hard to figure out which one seems best.

Alethea

I would say pick a tour in MA - there's a lot of info around here if you did through the posts - rather than a tour near Arenal 'cause MA is so much more lush!

JoBurritt

Thanks, Alethea,

I'd kind of decided that we're better off doing the canopy in MA, based mainly on your posts about people being disappointed with the one at Arenal Paraiso. Unfortunately, I had at one point decided to definitely do the one at Paraiso, so booked 2 other tours in MA. I guess, though, that I'll skip the one in Arenal and add Canopy Safari to our already busy MA schedule--we're going to be really busy in MA! I'm kicking myself now for booking the other two tours, as I'd wanted a bit of "down" time in MA for just exploring on our own. Oh well, one way or another, it will work out, I'm sure! Only 9 days til we leave. I'm psyched!