Costa Rica Travel & Tourism – New records have been broken in Jaco! For the first time ever someone has surfed in the air, yes surfed in the air. His name is Robert Corea, one of the owners of Jaco Ropes along with Jason Mueller and Zlatko Piskulich ophthalmologist at Clinica Visualiza. The record was broken back in August and after a few months of practice while waiting for permits the business opened in October.
The concept is not new, it is classified as a ropes course and has become increasing popular in North America and especially in Europe. The course consists of 13 different activities, each one tests your abilities but almost anyone can complete and if you can’t then one of the instructors will lower you down safely with a belay system at any time. The tour is above all great for families with children and couples/friends that want to compete against each other.
First a safety talk where the instructor insures that you are attached with 2 safety straps at all times that can be pulled on to help with stability. The adventure starts by climbing up a ladder to the first platform where the first zip line is located, but wait this is no ordinary zip line, they have objects on each side that you can reach out and hit with your hands and feet. The first bridge after the zip line is really easy and can be done with no hands but the second bridge is a little different and offers a little more of challenge. Continuing on you have to walk hanging on to the ropes for stability, after climb up a short ladder a zip line takes you over to the most challenging obstacle the tire pass which can be made really easy by just relaxing in your harness. The cargo net is really fun and you feel like a monkey up in the jungle trees. Here we go! Let’s surf in the air then walk across a series of swings to make our way to the Tarzan swing, wow that’s a good time. The last activity is called the monkey pass where you walk across pieces of wood then the instructor rappels you down to the ground.
The adventure has just started for those who wish to tackle the rappel down the giant 120’ cieba tree, the participants learn how to rappel on their own but there is always an instructor there just in case and an automatic safety device. The adrenaline is starting to pump as you take the zip line over to the Quickjump freefall but the hardest part is yet to come with this forty foot jump.
A sense of accomplishment boasts out after completing everything and the fruit afterwards is well deserved. The feeling of once being scared is taken over by an attitude of “I can do anything” The best part about the new activity is that you get to enjoy some exercise in the outdoors and you have a chance to see some birds like the toucan, macaw or a variety of other species.
Jaco Ropes offers birthday packages at an affordable price and the team building is a hit for corporations. The employees learn to work better together by completing different tasks united as a group. There are some really fun games where the teams have to make a net out of rope and carry around each member collecting balls to throw in the basket and many others to keep everyone on their toes. The packages include food for the day and options are available for a conference room and accommodations at Doce Lunas.
Next up for the property that already has a motocross track, bmx ramps, running and mountain bike trails is a small canopy tour. It will be designed to be short and fun and only cost about half the price of a normal canopy tour, this will sure to be a hit for budget travelers
Jaco Ropes is open 7 days a week. The tours run at 8:00am, 11:00am and 2:00pm. It is best to make an appointment before visiting but drop ins are welcome. The phone number is (506)2643-4820
