Zip Line - Vista Los Suenos or ?? HELP

[PrincessLucy]

We leave for our cruise in 10 days.... plan on doing zip line in Costa Rica with TuruBaRi but now that the bridge collapsed... we cancelled.

 

We have been given a couple of other choices for zip lines..

 

Monkey Park at Punta Leona Resort

Vista Los Suenos

Villa Lapas

 

Looking for opinions on any of the above... have you done any of these?

[sbaum323]

I have done Vista Los Suenos and it is very good, on same day I visited Villa Lapas to see their village shopping where is the other zip line but it seemed not as good as Suenos, the last line is over a little creek and only 40 feet above the ground, many of the participants in that last cable lose momentum and didn't make it to the platform (not their fault), they had to do the monkey (pull themselves to the platform) for maybe 30 feet, quite a workout and people didn't look so happy with that, I asked a guide in there and he said they only have 7 lines and the longer one is for just 800ft, we did the longest at Los Suenos and it was for 2400 ft, they have 14 cables and superb views, if this will be your first time don't you be afraid of taking the best, it can seemed scary but is just a lot of fun.

[PrincessLucy]

Thank you so much for the info. We have done zip lines before in Mexico. I have put together a group of 15 from Cruise Critic and so want to make sure I was picking a good zip line for all of them.

 

This will be the first time for most of them and many are nervous about it.

 

I read about Villa Lapas and pretty much knew we wouldn't want that one. I am booking with Odyssey Tours and he actually is suggesting Vista Los Suenos but said we could do the Monkey Park one. Have you ever heard of that one?

 

Thanks again.

[thelistmaker]

Princesslucy--We just returned from a Panama cruise and we did a zipline with Hotel Vista Golfo, http://www.adventureparkcostarica.com . It was fabulous, 25 different lines over waterfalls and streams. Excellent guides, one English speaking that met us at the pier and rode with us in the van 30 min to the park. For our tour there were 2 additional guides that were Spanish speaking but were also so easy to communicate with. The tour also included lunch which was great. There were 3 of us and we were combined with a couple from our cruise that we did not know. We all had a wonderful experience, something I will remember forever. We rode horses up to the beginning of the line but you can also do 4x4. They have other tours also and they will call you to finalize plans so don't worry about booking with a credit card.

[PrincessLucy]

Princesslucy--We just returned from a Panama cruise and we did a zipline with Hotel Vista Golfo, www.adventureparkcostarica.com . It was fabulous, 25 different lines over waterfalls and streams. Excellent guides, one English speaking that met us at the pier and rode with us in the van 30 min to the park. For our tour there were 2 additional guides that were Spanish speaking but were also so easy to communicate with. The tour also included lunch which was great. There were 3 of us and we were combined with a couple from our cruise that we did not know. We all had a wonderful experience, something I will remember forever. We rode horses up to the beginning of the line but you can also do 4x4. They have other tours also and they will call you to finalize plans so don't worry about booking with a credit card.

 

Thanks much. I will ask Odyssey Tours about that zip line.

[budaman]

I've been researching the different ziplines close to Puntarenas for our trip in January since the ship doesn't offer any on our itinerary. We are using Odyssey for our transfers & the also suggested Los Suenos. Adventure Park looks like the most entertaining, but.......one thing I require is a redundant cable system, and neither of those are equipped that way. The only one that offers the double cable system I've found other than your original choice is this new one outside of Esparza, which is closer to Puntarenas: http://www.canopyparqueaventura.com/

 

They also have the Superman Flight similar to Turu Ba Ri and that looks much more freeform experience than a typical zipline.

 

Mike

[PrincessLucy]

I've been researching the different ziplines close to Puntarenas for our trip in January since the ship doesn't offer any on our itinerary. We are using Odyssey for our transfers & the also suggested Los Suenos. Adventure Park looks like the most entertaining, but.......one thing I require is a redundant cable system, and neither of those are equipped that way. The only one that offers the double cable system I've found other than your original choice is this new one outside of Esparza, which is closer to Puntarenas: http://www.canopyparqueaventura.com/

 

They also have the Superman Flight similar to Turu Ba Ri and that looks much more freeform experience than a typical zipline.

 

Mike

 

I wonder why Odyssey didn't suggest that park. Maybe it is because they would have the same issue with the collapsed bridge. Not sure which highway is effected. I will email Odyssey and ask. Thanks for the info.

[PrincessLucy]

I've been researching the different ziplines close to Puntarenas for our trip in January since the ship doesn't offer any on our itinerary. We are using Odyssey for our transfers & the also suggested Los Suenos. Adventure Park looks like the most entertaining, but.......one thing I require is a redundant cable system, and neither of those are equipped that way. The only one that offers the double cable system I've found other than your original choice is this new one outside of Esparza, which is closer to Puntarenas: http://www.canopyparqueaventura.com/

 

They also have the Superman Flight similar to Turu Ba Ri and that looks much more freeform experience than a typical zipline.

 

Mike

 

Here is what Odyssey wrote to me regarding this park...

 

So nice to know there is not much people wanting to go in our tour, as long as the parque aventura zip line I would like to invite you to check their photos on their website, this is dry forest and the scenario is not that impressive as the one of the rain forest in Jaco, tour guides are not that professional since they don't get so many business and the zip line itself is not that fun, you can read they only have 8 cables, notice they have approx 1,5 Km of total distance between their cables and Vista Los Suenos has 3,5Km in their 14 cables, that can give you a sense of how different it is, parque aventura is even comparable to Monkey park zip line at Punta Leona.

Parque aventura promote their tour as the extra safe due to their double cable, the single cable resist 10,000 pounds and they already use double harnesses and pulleys so certainly all of the zip line parks are extremely safe and accredited by the I.C.T, if not they won't be allow to operate, the thing is that the parque aventura is just new and they found a good idea to do this double cable advertising to attract new clients and compete with other zip lines, they should install more cables and longer to do so.

Another bad situation we have with this zip line is their location, it is not possible to get people to the crocodile man tour and to this zip line together, not on same direction.

[budaman]

Guess that pretty much sums up why they don't recommend that one:D We've done ziplining in St. Lucia, so it's not something that is critically important to do in Costa Rica. As much as I want to do it, I won't compromise on the safety issue. I know it's a remote possibility of having an issue with a single line, but it would always be in the back of my mind & detract from the enjoyment. It' not that I'm afraid of risk....I scuba & ride a motorcycle, but we all have those hidden demons:rolleyes:

 

Mike

[thelistmaker]

princesslucy and budaman-still singing the praises of Hotel Vista Golfo and wondering if you asked Odessy about them. It was very safe, my DH is a mechanical engineer working primarily with the automotive overhead conveyor systems and he gave his stamp of approval to the cable and harness system. He is also 6'4"-210 lb and had no concerns. The scenery is beautiful and you are in the canopy the entire time, we stopped to swim in one of the waterfall pools halfway through. I know they also have the superman cable and several other choices to fit the age and capability of all of your group. I just thought it was such a special experience and at 56 I can't wait to do it again. They have many reviews on tripadvisor.com under Hotel Vista Golfo if you want to read more.

[PrincessLucy]

princesslucy and budaman-still singing the praises of Hotel Vista Golfo and wondering if you asked Odessy about them. It was very safe, my DH is a mechanical engineer working primarily with the automotive overhead conveyor systems and he gave his stamp of approval to the cable and harness system. He is also 6'4"-210 lb and had no concerns. The scenery is beautiful and you are in the canopy the entire time, we stopped to swim in one of the waterfall pools halfway through. I know they also have the superman cable and several other choices to fit the age and capability of all of your group. I just thought it was such a special experience and at 56 I can't wait to do it again. They have many reviews on tripadvisor.com under Hotel Vista Golfo if you want to read more.

 

We have 17 people of which 8 won't do the zip line and I need something 'nature walk' for them to do. Odyssey will take them on a Crocodile tour while the rest of us do the zip line, so I needed to find something that would work for all of us.

 

Thanks for the info... I did look it up, looked great... maybe next time. I think when I looked it up, it wasn't in the area for both tours to be convenient.

[PrincessLucy]

Guess that pretty much sums up why they don't recommend that one:D We've done ziplining in St. Lucia, so it's not something that is critically important to do in Costa Rica. As much as I want to do it, I won't compromise on the safety issue. I know it's a remote possibility of having an issue with a single line, but it would always be in the back of my mind & detract from the enjoyment. It' not that I'm afraid of risk....I scuba & ride a motorcycle, but we all have those hidden demons:rolleyes:

 

Mike

 

We did zip line in Mexico, not sure if it was single or double lines. I am usually so nervous that I wouldn't have time to worry about the single vs double lines... I'd be freaking out no matter what!! But love to do it anyway :eek:

[goingsailing]

We leave for our cruise in 10 days.... plan on doing zip line in Costa Rica with TuruBaRi but now that the bridge collapsed... we cancelled.

We have been given a couple of other choices for zip lines..

Monkey Park at Punta Leona Resort

Vista Los Suenos

Villa Lapas

Looking for opinions on any of the above... have you done any of these?

PrincessLucy which one did you choose? How did you like it? I am looking at Vista Los Suenos in April so I am interested. I just need to find 4 more from our ship to come along.

[budaman]

Well, we just got back last night and this is what we ended up doing.

 

We ended up passing on the 2 that the ship offered in Golfito & Quepos, but after the cruise, the six of us that were all staying at Villa Caletas still wanted to try and arrange one. Odyssey had provided all our transfers, so I asked Alvaro if there was one close to Caldera or Puntarenas that we could do in a couple of hours that included the Superman flight before going to the hotel.....wanted to spend as much of the day as we could at the hotel.

 

Alvaro met us at the dock & took us to Parque Aventura and we had a blast. While not having some of the breathtaking scenery as some of the others, the lines were great fun. Yes, there are only 7 plus the Superman, but it was just enough to have fun & not wear you out. Really, you don't really pay that much attention to the scenery while on the zip anyway, and the Superman was awesome....just wish they would have one that was all Superman lines. Got going so fast, it made my eyes water...easily 70MPH on that run. The guides were all great and of course they are double cable runs. Cost was $60 per person & we felt we got our moneys worth. On a side note, Odyssey was great.....we used them for all four of our transfers & they were always on time with comfortable, reliable vans. Would use them again in a heartbeat. I hope to have some videos of the ziplines up in the next couple of days in our photo gallery link below.....maybe by Friday.

 

Mike

[PrincessLucy]

Hi goingsailing,

 

We ended up doing Vista Los Suenos with Odyssey Tours.

 

Our guide was Mario... he was GREAT. First he dropped 7 of us off at the Crocodile tour, then he took the remaining 7 to the zip line. Then he went back and picked up the first group, came back and picked us up, we all went to lunch together. A quick stop at the bridge so that the zipline group could get a look at the crocs and the driver even stopped when he spotted white faced monkeys on our way back to the ship. Everyone had a great day, would recommend Odyssey, they really tried to please us. And this worked out perfectly for us so that half could do the zipline and still end up with our other half for lunch and some sightseeing.

 

Vista Los Suenos - helmets, gloves, good guys telling you what to do. A tractor trailer takes everyone up the mountain and then you zipline down. We have previously done zip line in Mexico, this was as much fun and felt safe. They take photos of you which you can buy (or not) at the end (we did). Plenty of lines/platforms so that at the end you are not feeling like you still need more, I didn't feel wiped out but I also was okay with getting back into the van;).

 

The scenery was very pretty but as budaman said you really are concentrating on the ziplines and not paying too much attention to that.

 

I would recommend Vista Los Suenos, I think you'll have a fun day and take away some fantantic memories.

 

Wish I were leaving in 10 days.... Have fun.

[Leejnd4]

We just got back from Costa Rica, where we did the zipline tour at Adventure Park Hotel Vista Golfo in Miramar for the THIRD time. :D The first time was as a shore excursion from a Windstar Costa Rica cruise, the next two times were on land-based trips to Costa Rica (we have friends who've retired down there). I wanted to pop in here and make sure that anyone who is considering a zip-line tour in Costa Rica knows about this place.

 

My husband and I have been around the world, and had some amazing adventures - we've been scuba diving in Bali, hiking in Machu Picchu, and spelunking in Belize. But this horseback ride/canopy tour is, truly, our favorite adventure so far!

 

The entire property is extremely professionally operated, yet the owners make a point of treating you like family. Safety is also important in an adventure park such as this, and having just read about the zip-line crash on Carnival's Canopy Rainforest Adventure, we're happy to report that safety in all aspects of this operation appear to be their #1 priority. The zip lines are so well-handled - there is simply no way for an accident to occur. The guides are exceptionally well-trained, and act like total professionals. I've been on other zipline tours, both in Costa Rica and other parts of the world, but this one is superior in every way. I think I felt safer on those zip lines than I do on the 405 freeway at home!

 

On this latest trip we stayed at the hotel, which is something anyone doing a cruise in/out of Puntarenas should consider as a pre- or post-cruise stay. It's small - only 6 or 8 rooms - but the rooms are lovely, and the food in the restaurant is fantastic. They have a chef there who is just a delight - they serve traditional Costa Rican dishes as well as many other types of cuisine. The soups in particular are sublime - I had a mushroom bisque that was to die for, and my husband let me taste his tomato bisque - you won't find a better soup in the finest dining establishment. This guy knows his soup!

 

The restaurant, in fact, is one of the best aspects of this place - it's built on a sharply slanted hill, with the outside patio on a platform looking out over the valley to the Gulf of Nicoya. The lobby/restaurant is built around a huge tree, which gives the whole place a sort of Middle-Earth vibe. The views are overwhelming...and if you stay through dinner, you'll get the singular pleasure of seeing one of the most breathtaking sunsets you will ever see, as the sun drops directly behind the Nicoya Peninsula.

 

There are a number of different adventures that they offer - there's an 11-canopy tour, a 25-canopy-over-waterfalls tour (that includes horseback riding), high-ropes course, ATV's, climbing wall, bungee trampolines, and a unique "Superman" zipline ride.

 

We prefer the 25-canopy tour, as we LOVED the horseback ride up the mountain that takes you to be beginning of the canopy tour. The best part was getting to zip over all the waterfalls. I have a thing for waterfalls, and not only did we get to zip over them, we even get to swim under one! That was just sheer ecstasy.

 

There are also two spots where you rappel. This will get your heart racing - you have to back up to the edge of a rock, and then...step off into the void! But you are completely safe, and have total control over your speed as you slowly let yourself slide down the cables.

 

It's hard to explain why this whole experience is so incredible, but I'll give it a try. I would say it's the combination of the adrenaline rush of riding the zip lines across the treetops, the beauty of soaring over roaring waterfalls, the thrill of being deep in the jungle surrounded by wildlife (howler monkeys, raccoons, sloths, and toucans!), the breathtaking beauty of the mountain, and the awe inspiring, forever views of the hills rolling off to the sparkling gulf. Add the friendly, expert guides, the fantastic food, and the hospitable, intimately-involved owners that make you feel like family, and you've got a vacation experience that just has no match. Anywhere.

[Leejnd4]

Thought I'd go ahead and share some photos of our adventure.

 

Here's a shot of the view from one of the rooms overlooking the pool and the lobby/restaurant. See the huge tree seeming to sprout out of the middle of the building? It actually IS in the middle of the building!

 

 

And here's the tree, with the lobby/restaurant literally built around it.

 

 

The chef, pouring flaming brandy over our roasted-pineapple desserts (the flames didn't show in the shot, not sure why...)

 

 

And here's that sunset I mentioned above

 

[Leejnd4]

The horseback riding up the mountain is fantastic! The views are indescribable:

 

 

Various shots of the zipline tour:

 

[Leejnd4]

Zipping over the incredible waterfalls is the best part!

 

 

That's me in the middle...

[Leejnd4]

The hardest part of the rappelling is stepping off the rock...backwards!

 

 

There's also a rather wobbly foot-bridge over a waterfall (they built it that way on purpose to make it challenging - it's FUN!...and very safe.)

 

[PrincessLucy]

Leejnd4...

 

It looks fantastic, wish I were there right now :D

[Alsmez]

The hardest part of the rappelling is stepping off the rock...backwards!

 

 

There's also a rather wobbly foot-bridge over a waterfall (they built it that way on purpose to make it challenging - it's FUN!...and very safe.)

 

 

Wow, this place looks amazing - makes me wish we were docking at Puntarenas rather than Puerto Limon. Next time I hope!

[kusscate]

Leejnd4 -- We are thinking about doing the Waterfall zip line in May -- One question. I see someone in your photos wearing shorts. Did that work okay with the horseback ride? I REALLY do not want to carry jeans in MAY! Thanks.

[Leejnd4]

Leejnd4 -- We are thinking about doing the Waterfall zip line in May -- One question. I see someone in your photos wearing shorts. Did that work okay with the horseback ride? I REALLY do not want to carry jeans in MAY! Thanks.

 

Hi Kusscate - sorry for the delayed response.

 

I would not wear shorts, for a couple of reasons: 1) It would be uncomfortable on the horses, and 2) while they are not a problem at the hotel, once you get up by the waterfall there are these little black gnat-like bugs that do bite and leave itchy red marks. I was wearing light-fabric capri's, which work great - but do be sure to spray bug repellent on any exposed skin.

 

I hope you go and do the tour! Be sure to come back and give us a report. :)