Sky Adventures’ zipline tour in La Fortuna/Arenal is one of the most popular zipline tours in Costa Rica, and for good reason. The tour is exciting and high adrenaline but also easy to do and safe. We have done it a few times now, and most recently, with our kids. In this post, we’ll give all the details on what to expect and a discount to save on your tour.
Location
Sky Adventures is located near the popular tourist destination of La Fortuna, Costa Rica. This area is best known for the active Arenal Volcano and offers tons of adventure activities. The facility is about 2.5 hours from both San Jose Airport (SJO) and Guanacaste Airport (LIR) in Liberia.
Sky Adventures is about 30 minutes outside downtown La Fortuna near the town of El Castillo, not far from the volcano. The road to Sky Adventures is now completely paved and can be accessed in any type of vehicle.
About Sky Adventures’ Tours and Facility
Sky Adventures’ most popular activity is their zipline tour, which offers the highest and longest cables in La Fortuna. It also has a hanging bridges hike (Sky Walk) along two long bridges as well as an aerial tram (Sky Tram), which is part of the zipline tour. A popular combo is the zipline-hanging bridges tour. If you don’t want to zipline, you can also just do the tram tour alone to get some nice views of the rainforest and Lake Arenal.
Sky Adventures has a separate building where you check in and get tickets as well as a large main area with a sit-down restaurant, gift shop, bathrooms, and lockers.
We’ve eaten at the restaurant a few times and the food is solid for an adventure park, with reasonable prices. From the restaurant and porch, you can get some really nice lake and volcano views on a clear day. See our Sky Adventures page for more information about all the tour options, facility, and restaurant.
Note: One important thing to keep in mind when visiting the Arenal area is that the weather can change quickly. On our recent visit, the day started out a little rainy, cleared, then the rain started up again midway through our zipline tour. By the time the tour was over, the sun was out again and we could see the volcano.
Sky Adventures Zipline Tour (Sky Trek)
Getting Started
After checking in and storing your belongings in a locker (free), you will get in the equipment line where a staff member will fit you for a helmet and harness. From there, you’ll head to the zipline demonstration.
The zipline tour starts with the tram ride to get you to the first platform high up on the property.
Before loading onto the tram, a guide will demonstrate how the equipment works and how to position yourself in the harness (just lean back). Sky Adventures uses a pulley system where you just need to hold the handle that hangs down from the cable as you glide. This is great because you don’t need to touch the cable at all like on some other zipline tours in Costa Rica.
The guide will also explain what to do if you need to brake. Not everyone will need to (it depends on weight), but the guide on the receiving end of the zipline will signal if you need to move the pulley handle back and forth to slow down.
The Course
Sky Adventures’ zipline tour is about 2 hours long. On the multi-mountain circuit, you’ll zigzag back and forth down the mountain and get some amazing panoramic views. Because there are so many long runs, you really have a chance to take in the scenery of the rainforest, lake, and volcano.
The course has 7 cables. Two are very long. One is 750 meters (2,460 feet) or about one minute of ride time!
No hiking is required between platforms.
Sky Adventures’ No-Touch Cables
For us, one of the best features of Sky Adventures’ zipline tour is that you don’t need to touch the cable. Instead of holding the cable with a gloved hand, you can easily hold the handles of the metal pulley that hangs down. This makes it a great option for kids since they can just lean back and go. See our section on Ziplining with Children, below, for more information.
Note: The other zipline tour in Costa Rica that uses this pulley system is Treetopia Park in the Monteverde cloud forest. You can learn more about that experience with our post, Treetopia Zipline Tour: High-Adrenaline Adventure in Monteverde.
Tram Ride
The zipline tour begins with a relaxing 15-minute tram ride up the mountain. From the open-air gondola, you can take in the gorgeous views of the lush jungle and Lake Arenal in front of you.
If you’re traveling with people who don’t want to zipline, a nice option is to do the tram ride together. One of our kids didn’t want to zipline so he and his aunt did the tram and short walk at the top (included as part of the tram tour). A guide came along with us on the tram ride to teach a little about the rainforest.
The tram takes you to a large platform and the giant Hand of Arenal. This is a concrete sculpture that’s a great place for photos. The photographer for the zipline tour will get some pictures of you at this location, which you can purchase after (more below).
Overview of Our Experience
We were doing the zipline tour with our youngest son who was six years old at the time. Sky Adventures’ minimum age is five, but the guides still had to figure out if he would go on his own, with a parent, or with a guide. He ended up going with Jenn on most of the lines. We’ll cover this more below in Ziplining with Children.
Overall, the three of us loved the experience and had so much fun! This zipline tour is awesome because of the views and how fast you go (up to 43 mph/69 kph). The guides were great, very friendly, but also professional, always making sure our equipment looked good and we were comfortable before sending us off.
Cable-by-Cable Breakdown
Here is a breakdown of what to expect on each of the seven cables.
Cable 1 – Practice Cable
The first cable is really short, low to the ground, and is meant to get you comfortable. It starts close to the tram so if you’re with other people doing only the tram tour, they’ll be able to watch you. The zipline is 105 ft (32 meters).
Cable 2
The second cable (named OMG) is the second highest of the course so you can get some great views from this one. It’s 1526 ft (465 m) long.
Cable 3
All of you adrenaline enthusiasts will love cable 3 (named Pilon), which is the fastest zipline. This one is 1476 ft (450 m). We really felt like we were speeding on this one.
Cable 4
The next cable, Speedy Gonzalez, will continue the rush as it’s the second fastest. 1345 ft (410 m).
Cable 5
Cable 5 (Big Mama) is the second longest line at 2001 ft (610 m). It’s also the slowest cable. When we did the tour, the guides were strategizing how to make sure everyone would get all the way across without getting stuck mid-way. Some lighter people went tandem with another person to increase their momentum.
Jenn and Evan (then age 6) barely made it across with their total weight. We watched a couple of other people going alone fall short just before the end. They had to get turned around and use their hands to propel themselves to the finish. When this happens, the guides send a rope to help the person who’s stuck. They can also go out on the line if needed. This hasn’t been a problem when we’ve done the tour. The people who did get stuck were almost at the end anyway.
Cable 6
This was our favorite cable. Cable 6 (Big Daddy) is the fastest and longest cable at 2461 ft (750 m), with about one minute of ride time. You go through the trees on this one, which is different from the other cables where you’re above the treeline. It ends on a big suspension bridge for a grand finish.
Cable 7
The last cable, Mini Me, is short and takes you back down to the reception area. It’s only 82 ft/25 meters. Our young son was able to do this cable himself since it was so short and there was no risk that he wouldn’t make it all the way across.
Ziplining with Children
Sky Adventures’ zipline tour has a minimum age of 5 years old and a minimum height of 3’7″ (1.1 meters).
Children under 10 years old may travel alone on the ziplines if the lead guide deems it appropriate. This decision will depend on the child’s weight and weather conditions at the time. Otherwise, it will be at the guide’s discretion to determine who will go with the child on the cable.
When we did the tour, our son Evan went with Jenn on all the cables except for a couple of them. He did the longest one (cable 6) with a guide and the short last one by himself.
On a couple of the longer/slower lines, Jenn and Evan went with a guide in the back to make sure they made it the whole way across. The lead guide was great through all of this, always making sure we were accounted for and set up for success.
Our son Evan loved the tour! At first he was nervous about being so high up, but once he knew he could go with Jenn, he felt better. He had ziplined before in Tamarindo, but this tour was much higher up and faster. It also helped that the platforms were very large and made of sturdy metal. We never felt like there wasn’t enough space on the platforms.
If one of your kids is nervous, they can ride tandem with a guide. Just let the lead guide know.
If you’re traveling with kids, be sure to check out our post on the Best Things to Do with Kids in Costa Rica for more family-friendly activities.
Video
Check out our short video about the experience.
Planning Your Sky Adventures Zipline Tour
Booking Your Tour
Advanced reservations are required. Be sure to book through our travel agency to take advantage of our discounts. Just request a booking through the links below and we will confirm the reservation and send you a payment link. Read our reviews.
Our Discount
Save $11 per adult, $10 per student, $9 per child on your Sky Adventures zipline tour! Special discount through Two Weeks in Costa Rica + no booking fees. Savings automatically included in the rates below.
Tour Details
2026 Rates: $88 per person adults; $74 per person students up to age 25 (ID required); $60 per person children ages 5-12. Rates plus 13% tax.
Offered: 8:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., and 3:00 p.m.
Duration: About 2 hours
Includes: Bilingual guides and all necessary equipment.
*Transportation is not included but can be added for $22 per person.
Maximum Weight: 300 lbs (136 kg). Harness Measurements: Waist 43 inches, legs 25.5 inches.
Minimum Age: 1.1 meters (3’7″). No minimum weight. *If they are too light, they will go with a guide or family member (the lead guide decides on the day of the tour).
Operating Hours
Sky Adventures is open 365 days a year. Tours are offered from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The last tour is at 3:00 p.m.
What to Bring and Wear (and Not to Bring)
Closed-toe shoes (required), pants, long-sleeved shirt, light rain jacket, insect repellent, sunscreen, and strap for prescription glasses.
If the weather looks at all like it might rain, we recommend wearing a rain jacket. It started raining midway through our last tour and some people were very cold in their T-shirts and shorts. It is cooler during the tour in general since you’re higher up.
You can’t bring backpacks, hats, cameras, cell phones, drones, or any other objects on the tour. Everything can be stored away in a locker at reception.
Photos
There is a professional photographer at the Hand of Arenal and a couple of the first lines. They take photos, which you can purchase for $25 per person at the end of the tour. We bought them and thought they were pretty good.
GoPros
GoPros can be rented for $40. Or you can bring your own. They have the mounts for the helmets.
Conclusion
Sky Adventures’ zipline tour is one of our favorites in Costa Rica. We love the incredible views of the rainforest, lake, and volcano, and the fact that the lines are so long and fast. The pulley system makes it easy. Whether you’re looking for a high-adrenaline adventure or bringing your family for a fun experience, Sky Adventures Arenal is a great option.
Have a question about Sky Adventure’s zipline tour or have you done it? Leave a comment below.
Looking for more information to plan your trip? Check out these posts:
Arenal Ecoglide: Family-Friendly Ziplining in La Fortuna – Looking for a tamer zipline experience? Check out Arenal Ecoglide. Their lines are perfect for beginners or anyone who’s nervous.
Pure Trek Waterfall Rappelling: This is another exciting adventure in Arenal that will have you safely rappelling down stunning waterfalls in the jungle. Good for ages 5 and up.
19 Things to Do in La Fortuna: Read our full activity guide to learn all the area’s activity options, including safari floats, volcano hikes, coffee and chocolate tours, and cooking classes. Or check out all the tours we book in La Fortuna.
Treetopia Zipline Tour: High-Adrenaline Adventure in Monteverde – Treetopia’s zipline tour is similar to Sky Adventures but also includes a vertical drop (controlled free fall) and has cloud forest views.
Selvatura Zipline Tour: Cloud Forest Views and Adventure – This popular zipline option in Monteverde has a mix of shorter lines that take you between the trees and a few longer lines high above the cloud forest.
Things to Do: We cover activities all throughout Costa Rica. Get recommendations for national parks, wildlife tours, waterfalls, beaches, and more.