If there is one tour that you do near the Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica, this hanging bridges tour has got to be it. It’s a several mile easy hike through primary and secondary forest, and your cross six hanging, suspension bridges along the way. We used a guide through Jacamar Tours, which was booked through our resort – Nayara Gardens, and we booked a private tour. I was super nervous about this experience because I’m not really great with heights, so I didn’t want to slow others down or embarrass myself in front of too many people. Our tour guide was excellent, knowledgable, and super patient with me!

Having a tour guide in this area is an absolute must. They will point out all sorts of wildlife and tell you about the trees and history of the area. You will definitely miss out on a lot of information as well as wildlife viewing if you aren’t with a professional guide. I highly recommend it.

The forest in this area is absolutely stunning and lush and natural. Our favorite trees were the “broccoli” trees that looked super cool from below, swaying in the wind.

Along the way, we saw beautiful flowers.

We also saw a whole array of wildlife, to birds and bats, to lizards and snakes.

The absolute highlight, though, was seeing the blue jean poison dart frog. It’s about the size of the distal phalanx of your pinky finger – not even an inch long. It makes a huge racket, which is why it was a bit easier to spot. But the red body and blue legs were just too cool.

OK so you want to know about the bridges themselves, right? They are super safe and seem extremely sturdy. In fact, there were folks working on one of the bridges when we were there, and they keep them well maintained. I am just about six feet tall, and the sides of the bridges came up to about my chest, so you feel pretty secure while you’re walking across.

The bridges do sway a bit and bounce as you walk. The up and down motion for me was fine, but when the bridge tilts slightly with your weight, it feels a little yucky. Some of the bridges are a bit shorter, but the super tall and long ones were pretty scary, especially as you got closer to the middle. I get vertigo and dizzy, so for me, it was a massive accomplishment just walking across. I looked straight ahead, and missed out on the supposedly amazing views, but I also felt pretty dizzy and needed a break at the other side. I was pretty proud of myself for not completely freaking out, and honestly, it did get easier on the last few bridges, so you do get used to the feeling as you go.

The views of the surrounding area and the Arenal Volcano in the open visitor area are spectacular.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch here along with some pretty aggressive coati, which is an animal in the racoon family. One of them stole a whole bunch of our pineapple..

You absolutely must do this tour if you are in the area, and if I can get across the bridges, so can you!