Arenal Canopy Adventure (Athica) — Local services in La Fortuna

We definitely had fun on this day and no one was hurt. But I unfortunately have to give this company 1 star because of an inattention to safety. It's my hope the owners will see this review and retrain staff.

For reader perspective, I have done zip lining many times before and have also been trained with vertical rope work in my former capacity working with search and rescue.

Here are my concerns:

1. Fall protection cables were present but not utilized in all but one case when participants were climbing high platforms ( 2 meters). This safety is particularly important with the large open risers and lack of balusters. Children especially can slip and fall off the platform.

2. Near the edge of the platform participants were sometimes clipped to the guide but the guide was not clipped to a fall protection line. In this circumstance a participant can fall and pull the guide off the platform with them. Ideally, I would prefer to see participants and guides independently clipped to fall protection until attached to the cable.

3. I'm not an expert in Zip Lining, but in my experience with previous zip lining young children should not do their own braking. One young girl heard the instruction that sometimes two hands are needed to brake. She got confused and briefly put her second hand in front of the roller. This burned and/or pinched her skin slightly but it could have been much worse. Small children who are lightweight can be stopped by the guides at the end.

4). On one zipline the guides bounce the cable. I’m concerned about the repetitive strain on the anchor trees. I observed the roots the tree becoming loose from the ground.

5. While it’s totally acceptable to have guides that make jokes to make the experience fun, in my experience with other zip lining there is a careful balance of fun and professionalism. Guides should never joke when it’s time to rig or when participants are actively zipping. This can cause oversight or miscommunication resulting in...

I am sorry to have to post this review but if I could give 0 stars I would. Our family of 4 arrived and were paired with horses. My daughter was paired with a horse that galloped and did not listen, and was terrified the entire ride up. At the top, she started to cry so I insisted that we switch horses. We continued down the mountain together.

At the bottom, my husband's horse became crazed, ran across the highway, jumped past a closed barrier with barbed wire, and threw him to the ground. My husband landed on his back and is lucky to be alive. While the company took him to the hospital and handled the xrays, he ended up black and blue the rest of the trip, with me and my two daughters completely shocked and traumatized. To see his horse run off in the distance with my husband screaming desperately; only for the horse to return a couple minutes later alone was a gut - renching experience that I would never wish on anyone.

Please consider a company that is more sensitive to selecting safe and well trained horses. I would never recommend for children or anyone due to safety concerns. This outcome could have been far worse but the fear and terror will remain in our...

My husband and I were on a belated honeymoon in Costa Rica July-August 2021. Our travel agent booked this spot for us, and we're glad she did! Our 8AM zip line tour/ Tarzan swing with Arenal Canopy Adventure was a blast. I know there's a chance you'll be in a group with strangers, but we were lucky as it was just us and 3 staff (1 was our photographer). All 3 of the staff members made us feel so safe and they helped us have a great time while experiencing the beautiful and unique nature of the rainforest. They helped us see various wildlife such as howler monkeys, butterflies, birds, and snakes (from afar luckily).

We were both pretty adamant about not doing the Tarzan swing, but our guides were so fun/ funny. One of them convinced us as we stood at the bottom. We actually have a professional video of me doing it and one of the guides yelling "no, no no!" as I released. I couldn't stop laughing at my reaction and it was not scary at all! I'm so glad he convinced us to do it.

This was an excellent way to experience the rainforest and we...