Sky Adventures in Costa Rica

I went to Costa Rica last December and had the most unbelievable time. As a multi-post series, I'll talk about how I traveled there as a single, millennial female and the crazy story of how I booked my flight 18-hours before my flight departed on a later blog post. Today though, I wanted to highlight my favorite adventure on the trip, zip lining and tubing in Arenal Park with Sky Adventures. 

---

Sky Adventures is a adventure Costa Rican tour operator with locations in Arenal Volcano region, near La Fotuna, and in Monteverde. I had the pleasure of visiting the one in Arenal where I booked a package deal for Sky Trek, zip lining above and through the rain forest,  and Sky River Drift, tubing down a river. 

They pick you up directly from your hotel and bring you to the adventure park. Once you arrive at the main building and check in area, they give you a few moments to put your items in guest lockers, which are free to use. Woohoo for free! Then the whirlwind of the adventure begins.
They whisked me away into the gear room to outfit me with my zip line harness, gear, gloves, helmet, and GoPro camera, which I decided to rent from Sky Adventures.
One of the four guides went over the basics, rules, and safety instructions of zip lining on a test line before our small group of 10 was taken to the sky tram which took us to the beginning of our adventure.
The tour took 2.5 hours and we zipped down seven lines, with the longest line being about 2,500 feet long. Halfway through the zip line adventure we landed in a treehouse where juices and water were provided. There were also televisions showcasing photos they were taken along the way to prompt guests purchase their photographs. 

At the end of my zip line adventure, I returned my gear, and enjoyed my lunch in the main restaurant, as part of the package deal. It was a typical Costa Rican meal with rice and a protein. I scarfed it down quick, because my tubing adventure was starting in 30 minutes. After basically inhaling my lunch, I rushed back to the gear counter and was greeted by my two tubing guides and apologized to them for being a little late. They said not to worry, because I was the only one on the tour. Score! But that was because a crazy rainstorm just started. Not score! It didn't matter to me though, because I was going on this adventure no matter what! 

Gluten free lunch

In order to get to the river, you had to zip line down three way-too-slick-because-of-rain lines, hike through the forest, and then get lowered down from a platform 150 feet above the river. I have a slight fear of heights, so I had my eyes closed part of the way, and because of that, I elegantly crashed into the rock wall next to the river then plopped down into the water. It was great.
I walked across the river to get my tube that I would be riding down the river. One guide floated ahead of me, and one guide floated behind me. The guide who was floating behind me offered to take photos with my phone that I had in a waterproof case, which was so nice of him. 

150 feet down into the river

The rain was pretty steady the entire time and the river currents were stronger because of the rain storm. Luckily I only ate s*** once when I ran into the guide ahead of me who go stuck between boulders.
The ride was filled with twists and turns, with a few calm points, but overall it was exhilarating. The whole trip down the river took 45-mintues.
We exited the river and walked to an outdoor pavilion where they had towels and hot sugar cane drinks available. The guide told me that the boiled sugar cane drink was a popular Costa Rican drink. It hot drink was much appreciated, because I was cold from the river water.
Once we dried off, a shuttle took us back to the main building, where I gathered my things from the locker and took a shuttle back to my hotel in town.
If you're looking for a top notch adventure with top notch facilities and guides, Sky Adventures should be your next stop in Costa Rica.