I'm curious which canopy tours you all recommend? My boyfriend and I are planning a trip to CR in Jan for 10 days--Arenal, Tortuguero, Bosque del Cabo, and Manuel Antonio--and would like to fit in a Zipline adventure. So I was hoping I could get some opinions on everyone's favorite. We love adventure, so we'd like one that is scenic as well as exhilarating (although I'm sure they all are). Also, what activities does everyone suggest while at Bosque? We will be there for 3 nights. THANKS for your help!!!

www.skytrek.com best for me...

Agree with gwo, I'd go with Sky Trek in Arenal as well. It has some of the highest, longest lines in the country.

At Bosque, our favorite things were the early morning birding tour with Carlos, the Primary Forest Tour with Phillip, and going to the animal sanctuary - we saw dolphins along the way. Just hiking on your own is fun too; the trails are very well maintained, and we saw a lot of wildlife. We didn't do it, but the night hike is pretty widely recommended.

thanks qwovadis and volcanogirl. Volcanogirl, how does the animal sanctuary tour work? That's one we were looking at as well, but I noticed on their website is says $130/boat. Do you go with a group or on a private boat?

broadway, that's one of the things about BdC; they charge a certain rate, and you can pay it yourself or find other people to go along with you and split the fee. That's a good thing about the communal dinners. You can ask if anyone wants to go to the sanctuary and split the boat fee with you. They drove us to Puerto Jimenez where we then caught the boat; both of those things will incur you a charge, so it's kind of pricey unless you find someone to share the costs with you. The sanctuary was pretty cool. We got to hold baby monkeys and a sloth. There were a lot of wild scarlet macaws in the trees. Be careful around the monkeys if you go; they are kleptomaniacs and will steal things like sunglasses and cell phones. They took the glasses right off someone's face while we were there and then made a run for it! If you want the boat all to yourself, you can do that, but I'd try to get others to reduce the cost.

I recommend the following zip-line which includes an 800 meter line (I think only the one in Monteverde is longer) and a horseback ride as well. But SkyTrek always gets great reviews. http://www.arenalmundoaventura.com/ing/canopy.html

Don't know where you're staying in Tortuguero, but if you're staying somewhere you can take kayaks out from the lodge I highly recommend doing this at your own leisure. The canals are even more gorgeous paddling right on the water.

In addition to volcanogirl's suggestions at Bosque, we've enjoyed the horseback ride several times and also the nocturnal tour with Phillip. With 3 nights you might not want to leave the grounds too much, but combining the kayaking (either sunset or mangrove) is fun. We've always rounded up people at happy hour or dinner table to save on costs for the boat fee. You can also let Gerly know at reception that you're interested and see if you can join another group.

Have a great trip!