Written by Nikki Solano

Nikki is the CEO of Pura Vida! eh? Inc. (Costa Rica Discounts), and the author of the guidebooks Moon Costa Rica (2019, 2021, 2023, and 2025 editions) and Moon Best of Costa Rica (2022 edition) from Moon Travel Guides. Together with her Costa Rican husband, Ricky, she operates the Costa Rica Travel Blog, created the online community DIY Costa Rica, built the Costa Rica Destination Tool, oversees the brand-new (summer 2023) Costa Rica Travel Shop, and designed the Costa Rica Trip Planning 101 E-Course. Also, Nikki wrote the Costa Rica cover feature for Wanderlust Magazine's sustainability-focused Travel Green List issue, showcased Costa Rica destinations and experiences on Rick Steves' Monday Night Travel show and podcast/radio show, and served as the Costa Rica Destination Editor for Essentialist, a luxury travel brand. Want to show your appreciation for her free article below? Thank Nikki here. ❤️️

Want to know our picks for the BEST ZIPLINE TOUR and the BEST ZIPLINE CABLE in Costa Rica? They are featured on DIY Costa Rica!

Want to save money in Costa Rica?

Our sister site Pura Vida! eh? Inc. has Sky Adventures tour discounts. Con mucho gusto (you’re welcome) and pura vida!

click on a photo in the gallery above for discount and tour information

We know the Arenal Sky Trek canopy ziplining tour well because we’ve done it more than once

As we mentioned in our related blog post Sky Adventures Arenal: Ziplining, Hanging Bridges, And Tram Rides In La Fortuna, we’ve been visiting Sky Adventures‘s Arenal (La Fortuna) and Monteverde (Santa Elena) adventure parks and experiencing the company’s adventure and nature tours for more than a decade. In that article, we detailed Sky Adventures‘s entire Arenal operation, including their Arenal Sky Trek canopy ziplining tour, their Arenal Sky Tram aerial tram ride, their Arenal Sky Walk hanging bridges, their Arenal Sky Limit obstacle course, their Arenal Sky River Drift tubing tour, their Arenal Sky Wild kayaking tour, their Arenal Sky Wild biking tour, and their on-site facilities including free lockers, free parking, dining opportunities, and more. If you’re interested in learning about the various tours, activities, and services that are available at the Sky Adventures Arenal Park, please see the article linked to above. If you’re specifically interested in learning about Sky Adventures‘s Arenal Sky Trek canopy ziplining tour, please continue reading below.

Arenal Sky Trek experience

Unlike some other canopy ziplining tours in Costa Rica, which cut through the middle of rainforest and/or cloud forest ecosystems, Sky Adventures‘s Sky Trek canopy ziplining tour takes place above the forest canopy. More specifically, the tour zigzags back and forth over the forest and offers a bird’s eye view of treetops, clouds, and an endless sky.

Though several canopy ziplining tours are offered in the La Fortuna/Arenal region, the Sky Trek canopy ziplining tour is the only canopy ziplining tour that utilizes a handlebar braking system. Most other canopy tour operators in the country use the traditional hand-braking system during their ziplining tours. Though both braking methods are regarded as safe, the handlebar braking system merely requires you to jostle a set of metal handlebars back and forth to slow your speed. In contrast, the hand-braking system requires you to place gentle pressure on the zipline using a thick leather glove to slow your speed.

In addition, the Sky Trek canopy ziplining tour is the only canopy ziplining tour that automatically includes a complimentary aerial tram ride. While the Sky Trek tours run at Sky Adventures‘s Monteverde park and Sky Adventures‘s Arenal park both offer the free tram ride, no other canopy ziplining tours in Costa Rica provide this complimentary experience.

Note that although the Sky Adventures Monteverde Park offers a thrilling free fall experience (called the Vertigo Drop) with their Sky Trek canopy ziplining tour, the Sky Adventures Arenal Park does not. If you wish to experience the Vertigo Drop, you must choose to participate in the Sky Trek canopy ziplining tour at Sky Adventures‘s park in Monteverde, not Arenal.

Arenal Sky Trek duration and tour times

Arenal Sky Trek tour costs

Arenal Sky Trek logistics

The Sky Trek canopy ziplining tour experience begins with the collection of safety equipment at Sky Adventures‘s operations center. To confirm, the use of all necessary ziplining equipment is included in the cost of Sky Adventures‘s tour, so no equipment rental fees apply.

Following an instructional briefing led by your tour guide, you’ll begin the tour by riding the Sky Tram aerial tram for roughly 20 minutes to a platform at the top of the rainforest. Just beyond the platform awaits the canopy ziplining tour’s first zipline cable, which is a practice cable. The practice cable allows you to sample ziplining to make sure you feel comfortable participating in the activity. If you don’t feel comfortable participating in the activity, you can opt out of doing the tour. Do so here, if that’s your choice, because there’s no turning back once you proceed beyond this point.

The Sky Trek tour in Arenal has 7 cables in total, including the practice cable. Here’s how the various cables compare with one another according to the length of the cable, the height of the cable, the average speed you’ll travel when you cross the cable, and the average number of seconds it takes to cross the cable:

Sky Trek canopy ziplining tour cable details for the Sky Adventures Arenal Park:

Cable #1 (practice cable): 32 meters long
Cable #2: 465 meters long / 200 meters high / 70 kms per hour / 30 seconds
Cable #3: 450 meters long / 162 meters high / 69 kms per hour / 29 seconds
Cable #4: 410 meters long / 78 meters high / 65 kms per hour / 29 seconds
Cable #5: 610 meters long / 80 meters high / 80 kms per hour / 42 seconds
Cable #6: 750 meters long / 84 meters high / 70 kms per hour / 45 seconds
Cable #7: 25 meters long / 38 meters high / 32 kms per hour / 10 seconds
Total ziplining distance: 2,742 meters

It is important to note that it is not possible to participate in the Sky Trek canopy ziplining tour without riding the Sky Tram. The Sky Tram ride is a required component of the Sky Trek canopy ziplining tour because it delivers you to the tour’s first cable.

Though the duration of the Sky Trek tour varies from day to day due to group size, weather conditions, and other factors, on average, the actual ziplining portion of the tour takes roughly 1 hour to complete. The entire tour experience, including the collection of equipment, the instructional briefing, the one-way Sky Tram ride, and the ziplining portion of the tour takes roughly 2 hours to complete. This estimate excludes extra time needed to travel between the Sky Adventures Arenal Park and downtown La Fortuna (an approximate half-hour drive) and/or area hotels before the tour begins and after the tour wraps up. It also excludes the 15 minutes that Sky Adventures asks you to arrive at their operations center in advance before participating in any of their tours.

Arenal Sky Trek minimum age limit

For years, Sky Adventures maintained that their minimum age limit for participation in the Sky Trek canopy ziplining tour was 12 years old. Then they swapped their minimum age limit to a minimum height limit (1.2 meters tall). In 2017, Sky Adventures announced that children as young as 5 years old would be allowed to participate because they obtained equipment that was suitable for children weighing 10-40 kilograms. 5 years old remains the current minimum age limit for Sky Trek canopy ziplining tour participants.

Arenal Sky Trek maximum weight limit

The current maximum weight limit for participation in the Sky Trek canopy ziplining tour is 300 lbs. Individuals who exceed the maximum weight limit will be evaluated by Sky Adventures‘s technical staff according to their height and physical condition to determine eligibility for tour participation.

Arenal Sky Trek discounts

Don’t miss our Sky Trek canopy ziplining tour discounts:

Sky Trek Canopy Ziplining Tour (includes one-way tram ride)(Arenal)
Sky Trek Canopy Ziplining Tour (includes one-way tram ride) and Sky Walk Hanging Bridges Tour Combo (Arenal)

QUESTION TO COMMENT ON: Have you experienced the Arenal Sky Trek canopy ziplining tour before? If so, what did you enjoy about the experience?

Pura vida!

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