If you have only one full day in Monteverde and want to do and see as much as possible, then Selvatura Park is a fantastic park we recommend you to visit.
This adventure eco-park has a variety of activities to enjoy, perfect for a day in the cloud forest. And since Selvatura Park sits at nearly 1600 meters (5250 feet) in elevation, you really get the cloud forest experience!
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Location of Selvatura Park
Selvatura Park is 6.7 kilometers (4.16 miles) from Santa Elena town in Monteverde and 150 kilometers (93 miles) from San Jose.
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How to Get There
You can use Google Maps, GPS or Waze to get to Santa Elena.
If you do not have a rental car, Selvatura Park offers transportation for free for those booking their packages. If you book individual activities, there will be an extra charge. There are no public buses to the park.
If you rented a car, you can drive to the park yourself. We do recommend a 4wd or high car to get to Selvatura Park because the road is unpaved with potholes and steep at some parts.
Parking is free.
This is the same road you will take to get to Bosque Nuboso Santa Elena. You can read more about Monteverde road conditions including the road to Selvatura Park.
From Santa Elena, Selvatura Park is about a 15-20 minute drive. From San Jose, it is about a 3.5-4 hour drive.
Hours
Selvatura Park is open everyday from 7 AM to 4 PM.
Selvatura Park Video
Below is a video of our visit to Selvatura Park. Reserve your Selvatura Park passes here!
You can see what the park is like and what all the activities are like!
Activities and Passes
Selvatura Park has hanging bridges, ziplining, butterfly garden, reptile and amphibian exhibit and sloth sanctuary center.
You can choose to do whichever activities you want or book the day pass which includes all activities.
We highly recommend to make reservations in order to guarantee your spots, especially if you want to go ziplining or do a guided natural history walk.
IMPORTANT: Due to the higher elevation, please have a jacket, long pants and closed toed shoes.
Book your Selvatura Park passes here!
Selvatura Park Zipline
Their canopy tour consists of 13 cables, 15 platforms, 1 tarzan swing and 1 cable that is 1 km long that you can upgrade to Superman.
The Selvatura Park ziplining tour is hands down, one of the best in Costa Rica because of the stunning views, friendly staff and safety (they use Deltex wired carbon fiber technology which makes the cables quieter, more resistant and environmentally friendly).
As Selvatura Park sits quite high in elevation in the cloud forest, you truly feel like you are flying over the forest!
On our last trip, our group was rather large of about 40 people. We were joined by many families, with kids as young as 4 so the park is very family friendly.
All the little kids went with a guide but on the short cables, they went by themselves.
Ziplining in Monteverde is definitely one of the best things to do in Costa Rica!
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There are three cables where you go in pairs and you have to go in pairs because the cables are so long, they need extra weight to make sure you get across! It was a ton of fun for us to zipline together.
Before the last cable, you have the option to go on the tarzan swing. Although we didn’t go, all the kids went and it was so funny to watch them scream and swing high into the cloud forest.
The last cable is 1 kilometer and this is the one where you can upgrade to do it Superman style or you can go normal in pairs.
We decided to do it normal style and go as a pair and WOW! You’re literally soaring over the cloud forest, feeling like a bird.
The views take your breath away as you zip over the canopy. All you see around you is cloud forest for miles and miles. It was such a great experience to zipline over the cloud forest together!
If you want to do the last cable superman style, there is an extra fee to upgrade.
For adventure seekers looking for the ultimate thrill, definitely pay the extra fee because you WILL feel like superman and is worth every dollar for that experience!
I did the Superman during our second visit and holy smokes. It was INCREDIBLE! We went at the end of January so we had fantastic weather and I could see the cloud forest canopy tops, stretching for miles and miles on end!
Hanging Bridges (Guided or Non Guided)
After the zip line, we walked the hanging bridges on our own. If you have ever wanted to experience suspension bridges and walk so close to the tops of the forest canopy, this is the best way to do it. The bridges allow you to get so high up for views only birds get!
The trail is very nice as it well maintained and easy to walk. It is not dirt as they put down these concrete/brick paths.
This is great because even if it rains, your shoes don’t get super muddy as it’s not a full dirt path.
Book your Selvatura Park passes and activities here!
The bridges range from 170 to 560 feet and takes around 1.5 hours non guided. If you want to do a guided tour, they offer guided nature walks that takes around 3 hours.
On a guided tour, you have more options to see wildlife and you’ll learn more about the cloud forest.
Although it is difficult to see animals in the cloud forest because the forest is just so dense and the forest is so big, there are options to see monkeys, sloths, hummingbirds and even the Resplendant Quetzal.
If there are any two activities that you should do at Selvatura Park, in our opinion it’s the zipline and hanging bridges. It’s the perfect combination of adventure and nature!
Selvatura Park offers a package with ziplining and non guided hanging bridges – it is the Gold Pack.
Click the link to book your Selvatura Park passes and activities!
Lunch
They have a restaurant where you can have lunch. They offer traditional Costa Rican lunch, coffee, juice and dessert. You can go to their restaurant and pay for lunch when you get there.
Butterfly Garden and Reptile Exhibition
Selvatura Park has a huge butterfly garden with over 30 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 reptile and amphibian exhibition. This part also included a guided tour in both Spanish and English.
Sloth Sanctuary
This is a new exhibit, their sloth sanctuary. They have around 10 two-fingered sloths that were transferred over from another center on the Caribbean side.
These are sloths that were rescued (from injuries, abandonment, etc.) and now live permanently in the centers.
This is also a guided tour for visitors to learn more about sloths in Costa Rica. It was a great experience to see sloths up close and learn more about the animals and their environment.
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.
If you only have 1 full day in Monteverde, this is a great way to spend it!
If you have two days in Monteverde, the second day can be spent hiking at El Tigre Waterfalls or on a birdwatching tour! Don’t forget a Monteverde Cloud Forest night walk!
Get our mini Monteverde itineraries in the link to see what we recommend for 1, 2 ,3 and 4 days!
Book Your Selvatura Park Passes!
Click the link to book your Selvatura Park passes and activities!
Lisa Carr says
Loving your website! We are definitely doing the canopy tour. Deciding whether or not the hanging bridges is also necessary. Do you really see any different views than you see on the ziplining canopy tour? We will be doing El Tigre the next day so we will get to use more natural hanging bridges then. Thanks!
Sammi says
Yes, it’s a different experience to walk through the canopy tree tops than ziplining over them. Definitely recommend the hanging bridges. Also the forests are a bit different in the Selvatura Park forest and the El Tigre forest.
Julie says
Hi Sammi we are deciding between treetopia hanging bridges/zip line vs Selvatura Park, Monteverde Cloud Forest I’m confused isn’t all in the cloud forest?
Sammi says
Correct, both of these parks are in the cloud forest, Selvatura Park is a bit higher into the cloud forest than Treetopia. They are pretty much right next to each other
Julius Felipe says
We’re headed to Monteverde in early December. Since you’ve done all three, would you recommend 100% Adventura, Sky Adventures, or Selvatura for ziplining? Thank you.
Sammi says
I’d say for more extreme ziplining, 100% aventura because they have a crazy optional tarzan swing and two superman lines. For best views, either Sky or Selvatura. If you want more activities (sloths/butterflies/reptiles/amphibians), then Selvatura and you can do a full day with animals, ziplining and hanging bridges there. If you just want ziplining, either Sky or Selvatura, they are both great and the parks are right next to each other. Sky hanging bridges are nice too.
Isabel says
Hello Sammi,
We will be in Monteverde 12/26/23 and are interested in doing only Non-guided hanging bridges and zip lining. I understand the Gold package includes the Non-guided hanging bridges and zip lining; however in the website, the earliest entrance seems to be 8:30 for the hanging bridges. Do you know if there is a way to access the bridges as soon as the park opens at 7:00?
Thanks,
Isabel
Sammi says
Hi Isabel, yes it is possible to go to the park at 7 AM to walk the hanging bridges and then go ziplining at 830 AM. The time is for ziplining as that has to be scheduled, the non guided hanging bridges doesn’t need to be scheduled since no guide is booked.
Jon says
Hi Sammy!
With only one day in Monteverde, would you suggest only staying in the Selvatura Park, or it would be worth it to do the hanging bridges, and then go for a hike in the Reserva Bosque Nuboso? Considering we will be doing the Guachipelin full day pass later in the week!
Sammi says
If you have only one day, I’d stay at the park as Selvatura Park is higher in elevation and is in proper cloud forest (it is right below the Santa Elena Reserva Bosque Nuboso). To get the full experience you can go for a guided hanging bridges walk if you are interested in learning more or having the guide spot some birds. The hanging bridges over the cloud forest is incredible so unless you’re like super super into hiking, it’s not necessary to rush over to the other cloud forest reserve.
Lara Henry says
Hi! Looking for clarification on the cancelation policy. It is 100% refundable if canceled within 48 of booking it? Or 100% refundable if canceled at least 48 prior to the reserved date of activity?
If the latter… how far in advance do late January dates generally book up? I am a solo traveler, and have flexibility but also want to leave room to stay longer, leave earlier from proceeding destinations 🙂
Sammi says
It’s refundable if you cancel with at least 48 hours prior to your tour date and time. You can definitely wait for January like you don’t need to be booking it now. I’d recommend probably a week before your trip
Lynnette Craig says
Hey Sammi. We will be coming in January. Wanting to purchase the Gold package for 5 adults to do Ziplining and Hanging Bridges. We also have 1 adult who cannot do ziplining and will just want to do the hanging bridge tour. How far in advance for a January 14th, 2024 trip should we book? Is there a risk of it getting full at that time?
Thanks.
Sammi says
HI Lynette, January is high season but you still have some time as of now. I’d just recommend booking it before the end of the year or before Dec to guarantee your spots.
Sarah says
Hi again! We are getting super excited to arrive next week. A quick question about the weather — weather apps show rain all day every day in Monteverde. Is that likely? We’re trying to figure out if booking Selvatura ahead of time is worth it if it might be raining the whole time. Thank you so much, this site has been so so helpful.
Sammi says
In rainy season it will usually show rain all day but it’s not really true (unless there is a tropical storm/wave), it is usually on and off rains. For activities during rainy season, it’s best to book earlier in the mornings.
Sarah says
This site is so great! You’ve saved us so much research/planning already. I am wondering — we are coming at the end of August and staying for 4 nights in La Fortuna before heading over to Playa Hermosa for 4 nights. But we really want to see the Cloud Forest. Is there a tour that takes you from La Fortuna to Monteverde for the day or is that just too far for a day trip? Would it be better to change our last night in La Fortuna or our first night in Playa Hermosa to add a night in Monteverde? Thanks so much for your thoughts!
Sammi says
A day trip is in my opinion too long and not worth it. You could take out one night in Fortuna and one night in Hermosa to have two nights in Monteverde or take out just one night to have one night in Monteverde.
Sarah says
Thank you, Sammi, that’s what I suspected. Would you think, trip wise (we’re flying into and out of Liberia) that it would be easier to go to Monteverde first, then La Fortuna, and end in Hermosa? Thanks again for all this incredibly helpful info!
Sammi says
Sure, you can do it that way. Or La Fortuna – Monteverde – Hermosa.
Lara says
Is it possible to bring your own food into Selvatura? We are scheduled for the 7 hr full day experience, and I only see one restaurant.
Sammi says
No, you can bring food but you cannot bring it in or eat it inside the park. You will have to leave it in your car and then when you want to eat, leave the park, eat the food in the parking lot and then re-enter.
Weronika says
I see that 4×4 is recommended to get to the park. I will be driving Geely GX3, do you think I will make it without problems?
Sammi says
You should be OK as the Geely has a bit higher clearance, just go slow as it’s narrow in some parts with low curve visibility and some pot holes.
Dee says
The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and Selvatura Park are too different places right? If so is it worth it to go to both if you have the time?
Sammi says
Correct they are two different places