Zip through the tree-tops in just about any Costa Rican tourist town

Nothing screams Costa Rica more than a strapped-in tourist screaming their way across a rainforest canopy. 

Billed as the ultimate ¨eco-tourism¨ experience, zip-line canopy tours (which originated in the Monteverde area but are now offered in just about every one-pulperia tourist town in Costa Rica)  are not necessarily the best way to enjoy the country´s natural assets. If you haven´t already scared the wildlife off with all your excited yelping, you´re shooting way too fast over treetops and thundering waterfalls to notice the sloths, howler monkeys or quetzals en route. 

Zip-line canopies use a system developed by canyoners. It utilizes a series of lofty treetop platforms linked together by horizontal transverse cables. You get hooked onto the cable, step off the platform and then off you go - ¨flying¨ through the treetops. If you want to slow down, you apply pressure to the cable with your gloved hand. 

Companies offering zip-line canopy tours are springing up in Costa Rica all the time. Competition is fierce and each company that opens claims to have the highest cables, fastest zip-lines, longest trails, largest platforms, lengthiest suspension bridges, best staff and safest construction.

Naturally, not all zip-line canopy tours are created equal and many tourists - quite understandably - are concerned about their personal safety. Although zip-line tours are a darn site safer than driving a car in Costa Rica (honestly, just about anything´s safer than driving a car in Costa Rica), there have been a handful of freak accidents, including a person who fell off a platform after unclipping themselves to take a photograph, and a guide who was struck by lightening. 

But in debate about whether to zip or not to zip, the answer in a cinch is yes - zip!