We went to the Hanging Bridges expecting to hire a guide. But we found that the guided tours are only at 8 AM and 2 PM. So we went around on our own, and still enjoyed it, but I think we would have gotten a lot more out of it with a guide. The only wildlife we saw was leafcutter ants and several spider monkeys. We were there at around 11 AM.
The price of admission is $22; a guide is another $12/person.

Our group of 13 (5-77) did this tour and we all loved it. It was fairly rainy while we were there, so many of the animals were less active than normal. This made hiring a guide even more worthwhile. He was able to tell us so much about the plants, habitats, animal behaviors, everything.

I am not afraid of heights exactly, but it's still a bit uncomfortable walking on wobbliness! Not a big problem and didn't bother any of the kids. The views are incredible-everywhere you look. Plants are growing in every conceivable place. Just to view different plants' 'strategies' for finding sun was wild-usually think of animals competing for nutrients. You can hear and see water rushing everywhere. The trail was well-maintained. There was a tiny mudslide from all the rain that week. They helped us over and there were already workers there fixing it.

If you can only do one tour in Arenal, this is it. More adrenaline on skytrek, of course, but this is a better rainforest experience overall. We saw more animals on the safari float (altho raining then too, but hiding animals easier to spot than in the denser area here), but that may not be true in better weather.

My husband and I headed over to the Arenal Hanging Bridges on a clear morning during our visit to the Arenal area of Costa Rica. A note to students – please make sure you bring a student ID or international student ID card with you if you go, b/c you get a 50% discount on your entrance ticket! Though my husband and I are both grad students we foolishly left our ID’s in our hotel locker, so we had to pay full price – aww :( Anyway, the AHB are AWESOME and worth the money, so we didn’t mind. These are a series of suspension bridges built across vast expanses of rainforest in the surroundings of the Arenal volcano area – so beautiful and you see so much tropical vegetation and wildlife! We spent at least 2 hours exploring. There are stretches that are quite a hike so you have to wear appropriate footwear, so be advised. But this is a must-see in the area, in my opinion!

My husband and I visited the Hanging Bridges June 1, 2007. We went early, around 8:00am, and we were the only ones on the trails. It was almost eerie! If we had it to do over again, we would have used a guide because we didn't see that much wildlife, and what we did see, we couldn't identify. We could hear plenty of animals and knew things were there, but we just didn't have the experience to spot them. That said, the trees, root sytstems, spectacular views, and lush surroundings were enough for us. The hike itself was fairly easy, but there is a pretty long uphill stretch that some may find strenuous. The hike took around an hour and half, but we would have spent longer if we had had the time. I think this would be a great family experience, and children would love it.