Monteverde is famous for their ziplines because they are the first ones to set up a zipline in Costa Rica. Actually, they set up the zip line not for fun and entertainment but for a completely different reason: to send lunch.
The workers who collected coffee would go out deep in the jungle and they didn’t have the time or energy to walk all the way back so they set up these cables in the trees to send their food down. What a genius idea!
Nowadays it’s one of the most popular tours and activities to do in Costa Rica. If you ever get a chance to go, do it!
The feeling of soaring over the cloud forest is one you won’t ever forget, in fact ziplining is one of the essential experiences in Costa Rica! You might conquer your fear of heights forever after it and the Selvatura Park in Monteverde is one of the best places to do so.
Selvatura Park in Monteverde
We went to the Selvatura Park to enjoy a full day of ziplining, hanging bridges, lunch, butterfly and hummingbird garden and the insect, snake and frog exhibition.
Ziplining
The ziplining was obviously the highlight of the day and it was like no zipline I’ve ever done before. You can’t go upside down or do any tricks on these ziplines and I was disappointed at first but I soon realized why.
You are so high up in the trees that it would be much safer to zip line normal and you don’t want to miss the view. There are 15 cables and 18 platforms that give you one of the most spectacular views of the cloud forest.
It was my brother and our friends’ first time zip-lining so I was excited to see how they’d like it. I’ve never been to Monteverde before so I was equally excited as well. I couldn’t wait to see the look on their faces, especially when we got to the last cable.
Selvatura Park has one of the longest ziplines in Costa Rica and it is the only one that is located within the Monteverde Cloud Forest. You fly through the forest and each cable goes higher and longer.
They just recently opened a new circuit in the park using Deltex wired carbon fiber technology which makes the cables quieter, more resistant and environmentally friendly. Selvatura is the only place in Monteverde to use this material!
Right before you do the last cable, they redirect you to a platform where you can tarzan swing (optional). I had watched a video of this on Youtube from 2010 but they changed it to make it safer. It was still exhilarating and not as scary as it looked in the video.
The last zip line is 1000 meters! (1 kilometer or .6 of a mile). That is LONG! And this one took you right above the forest. It’s so long that they make you go in pairs or else there isn’t enough weight and you would most likely get stuck in the middle.
This view was absolutely breathtaking, you could see all around you for miles and miles. Unfortunately our GoPro decided to take a vacation and ruined the videos we took of that zipline but I’ll never forget that view.
Hanging Bridges
After the zip line, we walked to the hanging bridges. There are 8 of them total that go around the park and you can watch people ziplining. It’s a good walk, around 3 kilometers with lots of animal viewing opportunities.
The bridges range from an altitude of 36 feet to 180 feet and they are very strong. It can hold up to 80 people on one bridge, spanning 5 feet wide.
Hummingbird Garden
There is a little garden where you can go and visit hummingbirds. There are 4 feeders and tons of these little beautiful birds humming around. I think there are at least 6 or 7 different species of hummingbirds present and there was one big purple one that was my favorite, but way too fast for me to get a picture.
Out of the 800+ species of birds in Costa Rica, hummingbirds are definitely one of my favorites.
Lunch
Lunch was included in our ticket price at the park’s restaurant. They offer you an appetizer of soup or salad and a main entree, a casado with sirloin steak, fish, or rice with chicken.
Butterfly Garden and Reptile Exhibition
For animal lovers, this is the place to be if you’re in Monteverde. Selvatura Park has a huge butterfly garden with over 50 different species. This tour comes with a guide and he showed us caterpillars, different cocoons for different butterflies and gave us general information about the main species in Costa Rica.
Next they took us to the snakes, frogs and insect exhibition. This part also included a guided tour in both Spanish and English.
Insect Collection
The insect collection is pretty amazing – it’s the world’s third largest private collection. There are no live animals, just the collection by Dr. Richard Whitten a world renowned etymologist. Instead of freaking me out, I was completely in awe seeing all the different sizes and species of insects.
There are huge scorpions, spiders, butterflies the size of your head and cockroaches the size of your hand. I knew Costa Rica has big bugs but these are on a whole different level!
Overall
Selvatura Park in Monteverde has one of the best ziplines in the area and also showcases the wildlife and nature in Costa Rica extremely well. For the 2 short days we spent in Monteverde, we got a great value for our money.
My brother and our friends had an amazing time and I would go back in a heartbeat. What better way to enjoy the beauty of the Costa Rican cloud forest than soaring over the top of it?
Our video of ziplining at Selvatura Park
Tips for Visiting Selvatura Park in Monteverde
- Wear closed toe shoes or sandals like Yeison’s KEENs.
- It is chillier up in the cloud forest so bring a jacket. Make sure to bring a rain jacket in rainy season since it’s likely it’ll rain or sprinkling
- There are lockers to put your backpacks while you zipline
- Tarzan swing is optional and has a weight limit
Read about the Sky Trek Ziplining in Monteverde here. It’s another canopy tour that’s really fun!
Want to read more about Monteverde? Check these posts out!
Monteverde, Children’s Eternal Rain Forest and Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserves
Children’s Eternal Rain Forest
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Hi, would you know if they would let my 5-year-old (turning 6 a week after our Costa Rica trip) do this zipline activity? Thanks!
Hi Grace, I think so. Their website says children are considered 4-12 years old.
We’ve booked the extreme package directly through Selvatura’s website. We got a confirmation number but no indication what time our tour starts? Do you know if there are different tour times? If so, what is the best time to go? Should we go directly to the park and just wait for the next available slot? I’ve send them an email and called them but haven’t gotten a response. So I’m hoping you can shed some light about the Selvatura logistics since you’ve done a tour with them and have recommended them. Do you also recommend wearing pants instead of shorts if the tour is in February? Thanks!!
Hi, I don’t remember exactly what time we went (we went in 2013) but it was early in the morning. Have you tried to contact them on Facebook? Companies in CR usually respond pretty fast on there. The cloud forest is quite cool so long pants is nice but it’s not absolutely necessary since you’ll be walking a lot.
Hi, thank you for your website, so much useful information for my upcoming trip to Costa Rica. We are going to Monteverde for 2 days (November 29 and 30) then going to La Fortuna/Arenal area for 5 days, followed by Manuel Antonio area for 5 days. What else do you recommend we do in Monteverde? Are we better to do ziplining in Monteverde or La Fortuna since we have more time there? Thanks!
Hi Alison! If you go ziplining, either MOnteverde or Fortuna are great places for it. We did Sky Trek in Arenal and Selvatura in Monteverde and both are super fun! Sky Trek also has one in Monteverde. I actually liked the Sky Trek zipline in Arenal better because you get incredible views of the rain forest, Arenal Lake and Arenal Volcano. I think the Monteverde cable is a bit longer, but either one is amazing. If you want a bit more adventure, you can also go bungee jumping in Monteverde. If you want to see more wildlife, take a night tour in Monteverde, you can see tons of wildlife that only come out at night and it’s easier to see the 2 toed sloths since they are more active at night. Or if you really like birds, take a bird watching tour as Monteverde is one of the best places to see the stunning Resplendent Quetzal and other birds that are only found at high elevations in the cloud forest. Have fun!
Hi there! My family and I are coming to Costa Rica right around New Year’s, and ziplining in Selvatura sounds like a blast. Would you recommend making reservations in advance? Does it fill up? Or can you just show up? Love your blog… thank you so much for all your help!
Hi John! I would definitely make reservations before hand, it is very busy during New Years as its peak season so you’ll want to reserve your spots! Have fun! Selvatura Park is awesome!
Who do you recommend booking this adventure from?
Hi Tiffany you can book it from their website. Or, depending on where you will be in Costa Rica you can book it from the tour companies there. If you’re going to be in the Coco/Hermosa Guanacaste area, we have some recommendations for tour companies who do the Selvatura Park tour. Let us know!
That looks pretty cool
That looks like so much fun – except for the those creepy crawly things!!
It was a ton of fun! I’m just glad that the insects were not alive and very much behind the glass. Some of them were mind-blowingly big!