Spotlight: Costa Rica - Aerial Tram Tour

Spotlight: The Aerial Tram Pacific Tour, also known as the Teleferico del Pacifico, is run by Rainforest Adventures. It promotes itself as the only guided tram tour in Costa Rica. The aerial tram is located in a lower elevation rain forest near the Pacific Ocean, hosting a different variety of plants and animals than those living in the cloud forests of Monteverde. The aerial tram offers visitors a unique view of the rain forest.

Location: The Aerial Tram Tour is located near Jaco, Puntarenas Province.

Cost: $60/adult, $30/students & children

Time: The tram runs at 7:30, 9:30, noon and 2:00 pm. The whole tour lasts one hour.

Description: The Aerial Tram Tour takes visitors above the jungle canopy so that they can get a bird's eye view of the rain forest with the idea of seeing animals that you wouldn't necessarily see from the ground. It is a good idea, and the aerial trams felt safe. Unfortunately, we didn't see many animals. We saw a couple of birds in the distance, but I was hoping to see a toucan. I didn't see any, but our tour director saw one. Unfortunately, he was on a different tram. We did see a sloth.

a sloth

Toucan

small waterfall

      After the tram ride, we did a small walking tour around the complex that included a Butterfly Garden, a Medicinal Plants Garden, and a Terrarium (with reptiles and amphibians). We saw turtles, caimans, snakes and poison dart frogs. Although the "poison dart frogs" aren't poisonous in captivity due to their diet, we did spot one in the wild while there.

iguana

pineapple plant

poison dart frog

Rating: 3 1/2 stars (out of 5)

Things You Should Know: - Don't go off the trail; there are poisonous snakes in the area, but they stay off the trails during daylight hours.
- The tour guides are bilingual. It is expected that visitors will tip their tour guide.
- Rainforest Adventures also offers a 5-in-1 package that also includes: zipline excursions, waterfall climbing, a sky bridge tour, and nature trail trek. There are other adventure packages available at their website.

Sky Bridge

Nearby: Jungle Crocodile Safari, Los Quetzales National Park, Carara National Park, Manuel Antonio National Park