Zip-lining with kids at Sky Adventures, Costa Rica

Perhaps it’s being a parent. Perhaps it’s getting old. Or perhaps I’ve lost my sense of adventure (not really, but I’m definitely way more cautious than I used to be!)

Of all the adventures we had in Costa Rica, I was unreasonably nervous about the zip-lining. I’m not afraid of heights or speed, but we’d read so much about zip-lines in Costa Rica being very high, very fast, and very long. Aside from the obvious dread of the cables somehow snapping, it seemed like so much could go wrong. The kids could get stuck halfway. They wouldn’t know to break on time. We even had a friend who sustained a concussion from zip-lining, which didn’t help my anxiety!

It turned out that I needn’t have worried. (Instead, I should have been more concerned about the time Lil S *forgot* to let go of the rope swing at El Salto. 🤦‍♀️) Zip-lining was one of the most fun and memorable activities we did in Costa Rica. The staff were experienced, and I don’t remember one instance where I felt the least bit concerned. The kids had so much fun Lil S demanded we do it again immediately after the last cable.

If you’re considering zip-lining in Costa Rica with kids, the answer is definitely yes. It’s one of the most popular activities for families, for good reason. Read on for our experience at Sky Adventure, Arenal (with highlight video!) and everything you need to know about zip-lining with kids in Costa Rica.

Why zip-line in Costa Rica?

I had no idea before we visited that Costa Rica is the home of the original zip-line! Zip-lining as a way of moving around the rainforest canopy was developed in the 1970s by Donald Perry, a Californian biologist studying wildlife in Costa Rica. This eventually led to the first recreational zip-lining course in Monteverde some 20 years later.

And if that claim to fame isn’t enough, zip-lining is an incredible and unique way to experience the Costa Rica rainforests. We might not all be wildlife biologists, but flying above the treetops and straight through the clouds is a pretty darned good way to appreciate the vastness and wilderness of Costa Rica’s rainforests. And these are not your average amusement park zip-lines. The zip-lines in Costa Rica are hundreds of feet long, and can be hundreds of feet above the ground.

There are definitely ways to experience the rainforest canopy without zip-lining. Taking a hanging bridges tour or a hike through the cloud forest will leave you in awe of the amazing nature that is Costa Rica. But zip-lining gives you an incredible birds-eye view of it all, and adds an extra bit of adrenaline to the adventure.

Where to zip-line in Costa Rica?

You can find zip-line tours all across Costa Rica. You want to do a canopy tour (ie. through the rainforest) for the full experience. Arenal’s lush expansive rainforest and Monteverde’s cloud forest are our top recommendations for Costa Rica. You will find a number of operators at both of these locations.

Manuel Antonio’s rainforest is smaller, but El Santuario here is the longest zip-line in all of Central America! If the only rainforest you’re planning on hitting up is Manuel Antonio, you won’t be disappointed zip-lining here if you’re looking for a break from swimming or surfing.

However, Monteverde is *the* most quintessential rainforest we have ever visited, and while Arenal may not be as cloudy, it feels just as dense. Visiting these forests is a magical, mystical, awe-inspiring experience, and zip-lining is a breathtaking (quite literally) way to experience it. If you are visiting both of these spots, we suggest a hanging bridges tour in one place, and zip-lining at the other. This will allow you to experience the rainforest canopy of both. (Although, if you book both experiences with one company, you will get a discount on the bundle.)

Popular zip-line companies in Arenal include:

Sky Adventures Arenal (the Sky Trek Canopy) – zip-line at the foot of the Arenal Volcano, with vista views of Lake Arenal on clear days. Includes a gondola ride up to a lookout point “the Hand of Arenal”. You have the option of bundling tickets for zip-lining, the gondola ride, and a hanging bridges tour.

Arenal Mundo Aventura (The Big AMA Canopy Tour) – this zip-line takes you over the La Fortuna waterfall! You have the option of adding on a horseback ride and a waterfall rappelling tour.

Popular companies in Monteverde include:

Treetopia Monteverde (this was formerly Sky Adventures Monteverde, same company as above) – zip-line through the cloud forest! As with its former company, you can take a gondola ride up to the starting point, and there is also an option here to bundles tickets with a hanging bridges tour.

Selvetura Park (The Canopy Tour) – another zip-line through the cloud forest. Selvetura Park also has hanging bridges (the highest in Monteverde), a butterfly garden, and a hummingbird garden.

100% Adventura Adventure Park (The Canopy Tour) – this park is in a newer forest area, so you will not get as sweeping of views as you would at the above two courses in Monteverde. However, this course is more “adventurous”, with the longest zip-line in the area (over 1500 feet), and includes rappelling, a Tarzan swing, and a superman cable.

How to pick the most suitable zip-lining company for kids

Operator restrictions – age, weight, height

Although we did not encounter staff who actually enforced a limit (ie. requiring proof of a child’s age), most operators list limits for children to use their zip-lines. (This is for safety, so I would be concerned if a company did *not*.) The average age limit is around 5 years old, although you will find some smaller courses that will take younger children. Ecoglide Arenal is geared towards children and allow children older than 3, the lowest age limit we came across.

Of the popular companies, Sky Adventures Arenal and Treetopia Monteverde specify a height restriction of 1.2 m (no age restriction, but this is generally 4-5 years.)

Arenal Mundo Adventura (Big AMA Canopy Tour) has all 3 limits – age of 7 years, height 3 feet 10 inches (close to 1.2 m), and weight over 51 pounds.

Zip-lining safety

All operators require you to zip-line with a guide. But beyond that, safety standards are really up to the company. We recommend a large, reputable company with lots of visitors passing through. The more “touristy”, the better the safety track record. This is not the time to pick the cheapest option or go off the beaten path.

While picking the most suitable zip-lining course for your littles, we recommend considering these following safety measures for the equipment and the tour itself.

When looking at zip-lining equipment, it was important for us to pick a course that had automatic braking. In Arenal and Monteverde, as of 2024, this limited us immediately to Sky Adventures (now Treetopia) in both locations. All other courses we came across used handbrakes. When it comes to the kids, the more automated the better, and the less chance for human error. We also like that there was no hands on the cable (instead, you hold on to a handle on the pulley).

In terms of other safety features, some courses, like Ecoglide Arenal, use a dual cable system, which adds another degree of security. There is a zip-lining course in Liberia at Ponderosa Adventure Park which has a dual cable system AND uses a top *and* bottom harness, whereas most other companies use only bottom harnesses.

Make sure your tour offers a safety demonstration of how to use the equipment, and ideally a small area where you can practice before tackling the big lines. Inquire into how kids zip-line (with a parent, with a guide, on their own) – this may change from cable to cable, but will give you some sense of what to expect.

Add-on adrenaline features

It depends on the child whether you want to find a course that has additional adrenaline options, many of which can be found at the Monteverde locations. This might include:

• “Superman” cables (the option to zip-line lying down, face forward, like Superman flying) – Selvetura Park, 100% Adventura Adventure Park
• Tarzan swing – Selvetura Park, 100% Adventura Adventure Park
• Free fall cable (like a small bungee jump) – Treetopia Trekking

In our family, Lil S is a complete daredevil and Big S is a little more cautious. We were mindful to try and *avoid* add-on features, as it took the pressure off Big S to compete with his sister.

Walking and stairs

Our kids are not adverse to hiking, but when doing something like a zip-line, they just want to get from one line to the other as fast as they can.

Our course at Sky Adventures Arenal had very little walking. We had 1 platform to climb down on the way back to the office, but the rest were directly from platform to platform.

All the courses in Monteverde require more walking, and the terrain in that area is mountainous and uneven. Even Treetopia (formerly Sky Adventures) requires some short hiking between platforms and climbing to get to platforms.

Tips for zip-lining in Costa Rica

Book ahead

We recommend booking at least 3-4 days ahead of time. Zip-lining tours are extremely popular and will sell out. Some companies allow you to walk up and buy tickets, but some will not. If zip-lining is on your Costa Rica list, we would not take that chance. We wavered on the booking as we were monitoring the weather forecast, and there were not many options left for the days we were there by the time we booked. And it rained anyway! You can 100% zip-line in the rain. (It is an experience all on its own, as you will see in the video below.)

Cost

As we mentioned, do not skimp on your zip-lining experience. Expect the adventure to cost around $90 USD per adult and $60 USD per child. (Prices for Sky Adventure Arenal but fairly typical of zip-lining in the area.)

Planning your time

Plan to budget around 2 hours for the zip-lining, including fitting equipment and safety demonstration, and longer if your tour has add on features.

Early morning is the best time to enjoy most activities in Costa Rica, as it is cooler and there is a chance of spotting more animals. However, zip-lining is a little more flexible – you’re not out to spot animals, anyway. If you want to do a hike or a hanging bridges tour in the same day, we recommend doing that in the early morning and zip-lining afterward. Zip-lining is also a great activity to consider on the day you are arriving or departing your location, especially if you’ve been in the car all day!

What to wear

• Closed-toed shoes. We wore closed-toed sandals, and it was fine. (It was raining and our Keens handled rain way better than our sneakers.)
• Some companies will suggest wearing long pants, but we all wore shorts (again, rain – we didn’t want to be in soggy pants), and it was fine. There was no discomfort from the harness. If you’re a parent, I would suggest wearing darker colour bottoms. If you zip-line in tandem with your child, their legs will be wrapped around your hips and they will trek mud everywhere. The mud never full came out of my pink shorts – and they were water shorts!
• Something with zippered pockets – so you can bring your phone/camera. The rest of your belongings will be stored in a locker.
• Raincoat if raining, but you can rent/buy ponchos (this is true for most tours anywhere in Costa Rica!)

Bring your Go-Pro

You cannot convince me the Go-Pro was not invented for capturing zip-lining adventures. If you have one, this is the time to bring it. Many operators have helmets retrofitted with Go-Pro attachments, so you just have to bring your Go-Pro and the mount (the flat mount). The staff will help angle your camera before every line for a good view.

Sky Adventures had Go-Pros for rent, which is an awesome idea for those who don’t have one.

Many companies also have photographers that will take photos of you zip-lining off the platforms, which you can purchase after the course.

Our experience zip-lining at Sky Adventures

We chose to go with Sky Adventures primarily because of the automatic braking system, which made me feel significantly better if the kids had to zip-line alone.

Between Arenal and Monteverde, we chose Arenal mostly for logistical reasons. (It fit into our schedule better. We already had several big hikes schedule for Monteverde, so had to schedule in more downtime for the kids.) We zip-lined in the morning, and it was a great way to get our blood pumping for our 3 hour drive to Monteverde afterward.

The gondola was not operating that day (not sure because of rain or otherwise). We had jeeps that ferried us up to the beginning of the course. The first cable starts at where the gondola ends, and there is a viewing platform and the “Hand of Arenal”. We couldn’t see much – barely the outline of Lake Arenal, but you definitely feel like you’re immersed in the rainforest.

There was nothing we *didn’t* like about our experience, and the rain added to the spooky/cloudy canopy environment. There were lots of staff, both in the office to help fit equipment, and at least 1 at each platform to manage the zip-lines. At each line, the staff sized up the kids to determine who should go with who. The idea is there has to be enough weight to get you to the end of the line. (The rain apparently adds to the friction, which slows down the line a bit.) The kids never ended up going alone. They either went with a parent, or with each other. (But I would have felt confident enough with the staff overseeing the course to let them go alone, if needed.) There are only 3-4 families per group, so we never had to wait long at each platform.

Sky Adventures Arenal has 7 zip-line cables. 1 and 7 are very short, but the others take you right through the trees and above the canopy. As you can see in the video, Lil S was grinning ear to ear quite literally the entire time!

Sky Adventures Arenal highlights video

Check out our top kid friendly activities in Arenal, and the rest of our Costa Rica posts for more on visiting this incredible country with kids!