st Lucia - zip lines

[JJMKMK]

We are cruising in April on the Golden Princess. My husband and our friends plan on doing the zip line excursion. I'm not too sure if I want to do it. For anyone who has done it, is it scary? Are you strapped in sitting down? Is it worth it?

Thanks for your help.

[nerak]

It is worth every penny...and no it is not scary. I am 48 (female) and my daughter who is 20 just did it over Christmas. I did it just as easily as she did. You wear a harness, helmet, gloves....and a hair net if you have long hair. You have one part of the harness that you step into and the other you put on like a vest. You are connected at 3 points to the line. When it is your turn, you step up on a platform and are connected to the line. Then you are asked to get into a position similar to being in a recliner and cross your legs. Your dominate hand is behind you with your fingers loosely around the line...that is your brake if needed and it keeps you from spinning. The other hand ... they have you hold a part of the harness, but it is not a must as my daughter set our camera to video and held it to record one of her trips across. The first one is very short to get you going. At each platform, you are 'monkey tailed' to it so you don't fall off. The ride to the forest is about an hour long, but very educational. We sampled raw chocolate, and coconut (which was nothing like you buy around here...it is fresh off of he tree). We also stopped for cinnamon and nutmeg right off of the trees and were educated about the danger of nutmeg shells. Also we saw bamboo and camoflauge trees. At one point we stopped for a phot op at a beautiful overhang. We also saw star fruit, grapefruit, limes, bananas, etc. growwing on the way there and back.

 

Go for it!!! You only live once. I have some pics that I can open up to you at webshots if you would like. Unfortunately the videos do not play from there. Go to webshots and do a search of pics posted by kmb5387 at community and then search for member kmb5387, you should then find a St Lucia album. It has other pics there, but you can tell which ones are from the zip line.

 

Let me know if you have more questions.

Karen

[cubsr#1]

We did this in Belize and loved it - thinking of doing it again in St Lucia - how many traverses were there? Any rappelling?

[Canuck Cruzer]

My wife and I are thinking of doing this also.

 

Assuming you leave from the dock and return to the dock, how long does it take?

 

Is it high off the ground or fairly low. Are there good views while zipping? I think I read in another port (might have been St Martin or St Thomas) that they had zip line also. Anyone done more than one? Which is better?

 

Thanks for the info.

[nerak]

I think it was 7 lines. No, you're not EXTREMLY high off of the ground like you would see in Costa Rica. Hmmmm..the view. The first line was a short 'how to' and I saw nothing but the other side. :eek: After that, it was very pretty. The last one was the longest. My daugter took a video while she was going over. We had a long trip...almost an hour drive each way....but VERY informative especially on the way over. No rapelling. As for the one at St Martin, we were told that it was good also. They had more of a challenge course along with the zip line. I can't remember how long it was, but I know we got back in time to take the water taxi over and shop for about an hour before we had to be back on board.

[racepoint]

We are interested in booking this (if it's the same as the "Canopy Tour") but I just have one reservation: it cautions against people with "neck, back, or shoulder problems." My husband is going through physical therapy for an as-yet-undiagnosed shoulder issue (cortisone shot, etc.) We've heard from someone who did this in another locale that it is not hard on the shoulder area, but I'd really like to get another opinion before I book it. Other than this shoulder pain, he is in great phisical shape and is active.

[Daycare Provider]

I would like to book this tour for 3 people. What was the cost? What is the name of the tour company? Where did they pickyou up at? Was there time to go to the beach or shopping afterwards?:D

[cubsr#1]

The shoulder problem shouldn't be a big deal. You're in a harness and simply reach above to hold on to the line - using your hand as a brake if needed. Doesn't require any strength to speak of.

[nerak]

The only way I could see it being a problem with the shoulder would be if he would stop too soon or spin around. You would then have to pull yourself in or turn yourself in the correct direction. I cane up short one time, maybe 1-2 feet away and had to pull myself up. Otherwise you just glide right onto the platform. They explain all of this before leaving the first platform. If you follow their directions, you will be fine.

As for price, I think it was $89pp through the ship. They picked us up right at the dock and let us off there also. As far as a website, he did not have one as of yet for this. He said they are the same company that comes up if you do a web search for biking in the rainforest. As for shopping afterwards, we made a QUICK trip into town by water taxi. We knew exactly where we were going since we had been there before and wanted to get back to the same things. I would guess that we had about an hour of shopping.

[Daycare Provider]

The only way I could see it being a problem with the shoulder would be if he would stop too soon or spin around. You would then have to pull yourself in or turn yourself in the correct direction. I cane up short one time, maybe 1-2 feet away and had to pull myself up. Otherwise you just glide right onto the platform. They explain all of this before leaving the first platform. If you follow their directions, you will be fine.

As for price, I think it was $89pp through the ship. They picked us up right at the dock and let us off there also. As far as a website, he did not have one as of yet for this. He said they are the same company that comes up if you do a web search for biking in the rainforest. As for shopping afterwards, we made a QUICK trip into town by water taxi. We knew exactly where we were going since we had been there before and wanted to get back to the same things. I would guess that we had about an hour of shopping.

 

Thank you for the info. I didn't see this excursion RCL web-site. Now I know where to look.:)

[nerak]

Thank you for the info. I didn't see this excursion RCL web-site. Now I know where to look.:)

 

Hope you get to do it. It is an awesome experience and the crew there is great.

[claudiadot]

I'm not finding any information about this tour. Does anyone have the name of the tour company? This is something I would really like to do.

[Martin and Lindsey]

The name of the tour company is Palm Services

St Lucia 758-458-0908