Ziplining with young children (overall input)
 

We are planning our first trip to Costa Rica - we have 3 children: 11, 9, and 6. Would you recommend doing the canopy tour at Mundo Aventura in Arenal? The stated minimum age is 5, but I was hoping to get "real" advice. our 6 and 9 are actually pretty close to the same size/height give or take ~65 pounds and our 11 (i think) should be fine at 100 pounds.

Any guidance would be great.

And if you have other recommendations for canopy tours in either Monteverde or Arenal, that would also be appreciated.

Our preliminary itinerary will take us to Arenal (from the airport) for a couple of nights, then Monteverde for another couple nights and then finish off in playa cochen for 3 nights until we depart from Liberia. We are interested in an (age-appropriate) active vacation filled with animals, learning about Costa Rica and fun activities for our 3 boys and ourselves.

Thanks so much in advance!

I haven´t had any experience with Mundo Aventura, but I do know zip lines for young kids are rather common in Arenal and Monteverde area. In Monteverde Sky Trek is really good!
Try the canynoning tour in Arenal, this tour is very suitable for families with young kids, check puretrek.com. Hanging bridges in Monteverde are nice for kids too.
Hope this helps!

Thanks so much for your response, Enchanting_girl!

I will check out puretrek as well.

Anyone with input on Mundo Aventura is still appreciated!

We have not done Mundo Aventura, but we've done Sky Trek in the Arenal area, and we had several kids on our tour. I think the youngest age they take is 8, but double check me. One kid was absolutely terrified and crying, and the rest of the kids had a blast. Sky Trek has very high, long lines so I think it would depend on how adventurous your kids are. The adventurous kids were mad that they had to go with a guide because they wanted to go alone! We've also done the Original Canopy Tour in Monteverde, and it was fun but definitely less thrilling. I think kids would enjoy it. They have some rapelling at the end. The Hidden Valley night hike is fun in Monteverde too; you hike around in the jungle with a flashlight looking for nocturnal critters.

The Cano Negro tour is nice for spotting wildlife if your kids are up for an all-day adventure. Otherwise, the Penas Blancas river float is fun and the Proyecto Asis animal rescue center where you can feed monkeys and sloths and get up close to the animals. You'll probably want to visit Tabacon or Eco Termales hot springs as well and maybe the waterfall or Hanging Bridges.

Another spot you might check is Los Lagos. I believe they have their own zipline, and it's a very family oriented property so might be suitable for kids.

We are taking our sons (8,8 and 9) Ziplining while in Arenal in March. I did a lot of research and decided on EcoGlide. It seems EG and SkyTrek pretty much own ziplining in the area. SkyTrek gets high marks and seems to be a favorite of many on this Board. However, from what I was able to learn, SkyTrek's lines are very high, long and fast. They seem to have a bit too much adventure/excitement for our family. EG's lines are not as high and not quite as long. They also use double cables and I appreciate the safety redundancy.

Do a quick google search on both.

Have a great trip.

We did Sky Trek in Arenal with our then 8 and 10 year old kids about 5 years ago. Be aware that the Sky Trek ziplines are higher, longer and faster than most (at least the 2-3 others that we have ridden), but they have a great reputation for safety. Our kids rode each leg harnessed with guides. This means that the kids always go first or last, so you may not be with them (or even see them!). Also, to our suprprise (shock!), our kids arrived at the final drop off several minutes ahead of us, so Mom and I were stressed the whole time. However, the kids had an absolute blast and still talk about it 5 years later. Go for it, but be forewarned.

One of Sky Trek's lines is more than half a mile long - seems like it will never end which can be good or bad! I asked our guide how high up we were, and he said about 600 feet, and that we were going 50 mph. Definitely a thrill. One thing that I liked is that they let you do two easy lines, and then you can quit if you want to. Also they have a tram that takes you up so there's not a lot of difficult hiking.

Thank you everyone for your feedback.

Taitai - i will definitely check out EcoGlide. Thanks!!