Beware...hurt On Zip Lining In Costa Rica

[zebramatie1]

We just got back from the November 16th sailing of the Legend, traveling with our group of 21 people, KRAZY KRUZERS 2. 16 of us went on the ziplining tour with MARIO, not booked thru Carnival. We have been on 7 cruises and most of the time do our own thing to save money and also have a little more freedom. We utilize the advice of other cruisers from these boards and plan our excursions from there.

My husband was with those that zip lined and I did Mario's other excursion.

Please remember with any outside tour companies you use, bring your paperwork to verify cost, times and actual tours that you're taking. We had a problem with cost and those that complained got it reduced, those that didn't, didn't get a price reduction.

My husband and I zip lined in Costa Rica this past July and he stated that the one at JUNGLE BREEZES was not the same. The operators there had control of you stopping, the one we did in July had you in control of speed as well as stopping. Also he noted that they were yelling and whistling from one platform to the next since visibility was diminished by the lush vegetation. There were some 2way radios.

My niece (20yrs old) who is barely 100lbs was about to be released from a platform when she noticed they didn't hook her up the same way and tried telling them, but they didn't speak English and pushed her off the platform. She said that she began to spin and became extremely frightened. About halfway she stopped (I don't know what happedned) and lo and behold the next person who was a male about 190lbs smashed into her about 20mph. Of course they waited to send him, thinking she was at the next platform. At that point my youngest daughter heard them yelling that someone needs help and didn't know what was going on. My niece injured her neck and back, our male friend hurt his ankle, knee and hand as well as his camera was smashed. The workers were not prepared for an emergency and didn't know what to do. Someone did ride tandom with my niece since that was the only way down.

Our friend chewed out the owner and said all employees should have 2 way radios and utilize them. He assured him that he would go out and buy them. Both of them got a refund from Jungle Breezes as well as with Mario. Supposingly Jungle Breezes is going to compensate for the camera.

The other 14 people had a great time! I asked Carnival shore excursions about their ziplining tour and they stated they use operators that carry high amounts of insurance, just in case of accidents. Also they use an operator about an hour+ away, but that place you are in charge of your stopping and speed.

Did we learn a lesson? YES.. Will we venture off on our own? Yes. Will we give it extra thought, by all means YES. I felt I needed to share this on this board and hopefully Jungle Breezes will have made some safety changes. Safe travels everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!

[GoinCruisin]

Wow! Scary stuff!! Thanks for sharing!! If you haven't already, you might want to share this on the CR board as well... I hope your niece and friend are okay :(

[jckvpa0]

Thanks for taking the time to put this on this board. That must have been really scary! What was the outcome, did they have to see the ships doctor?

[yst347]

Carnival uses Almonds and Corals in Puerto Viejo. You don't need to book the Carnival excursion though. You can book on your own by reserving space in advance directly from Almonds and Corals and arranging your own transportation,we used Oscar Brown.

 

http://www.almondsandcorals.com/english/index_ing.html

 

caveat emptor, Carnival was using Almonds and Corals in January 2005, I am assuming this hasn't changed but I cannot vouch for that.

[zebramatie1]

I am trying to remember what the shore excursion desk gave me. It was a brochure that had the tour operator name on it and I believe it began with an E, their web site states it's a 2 hour drive from the port. I definitely would not do that drive unless it was ship sponsored. The roads in Costa Rica are really bad and a lot of times there is only 1 road going in and 1 road going out. This is the reason I chose Jungle breezes because it was only a half hour away.

[wavecruiser]

So sorry your group experienced this...my mouth is open right now in horror. I went ziplining in Puerto Vallarta with Los Veranos and the guides could not have been any more professional and safety conscious - all had radios and controlled speed and stops. I got stuck quite a few times and can only imagine the terror of someone crashing into me on the line - I hope everyone is ok!

[zebramatie1]

I am sorry for giving wrong information out about our zip lining excursion. We used Charlie Soto of okeydokeytours. Mario was for Panama excursion and that was awesome, my best excursion of the 3 ports.

 

My niece is ok physically, mentally I don't think so. The guy that bumped into her said she sent flying up in the air slightly and her leather gloves fell off. I can only guess that angels were watching over them both.

[Choozin Croozin]

Wow, how scarey! I hope that both of them are recovering well. Thanks for posting the word of caution. I think as much as it sounds like fun, I am a bit leary. Of course accidents can happen anywhere!!!

[Umbarger]

I was on the Valor last year and met a couple that went zipplining in Roatan. It was not a Carnival excursion. The woman broke her foot when she hit the platform trying to stop. She had to hike (limp) out of the jungle herself, the tour operator didnt even help her. :eek: She was in a wheelchair for the rest of the cruise and whenever I saw her she looked like she was in so much pain. What a way to ruin a cruise. She did say the ships doctor was wonderful. Be careful who you book through.

[threejs]

We just returned from our Coral Princess cruise Nov 12-22 and we also did the Jungle Breezes zip line but on Friday, Nov. 17th. Was this after you incident? Maybe so, as our expierence was totally different. Safety was their main concern, we were always hooked up to something. Both guides had 2-way radios and always waited for a response for the all clear. Just wanted to let others know.

 

Jill

[leejay22]

I am not diminishing the experience written above. But I did want to concur with Jill - we were at Jungle Breezes with Charlie Soto's tour from the Zenith over Thanksgiving. We had an amazing experience - I felt very safe and had great fun. The operators were informative with their safety talk, they checked with me at every platform to make sure I was okay and everything felt comfortable and they have ropes to slow you down (apparently in the past, you did your own brake - and now they do it for you). I never felt unsafe.

 

We just returned from our Coral Princess cruise Nov 12-22 and we also did the Jungle Breezes zip line but on Friday, Nov. 17th. Was this after you incident? Maybe so, as our expierence was totally different. Safety was their main concern, we were always hooked up to something. Both guides had 2-way radios and always waited for a response for the all clear. Just wanted to let others know.

 

Jill