Ziplining in St. Kitts with Sky Safaris

Ziplining in St. Kitts

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We didn’t waste any time after arriving in St. Kitts a week and a half ago—we hit the ground running from the first morning, and immediately set out to up our heart rates by doing a little ziplining through the lush rainforest at Wingfield Estate.

Ziplining in St. Kitts with Sky SafarisZiplining in St. KittsCan we just talk for a second about how fun ziplining truly is? I’ve gone in so many different places—from Vancouver to Barbados, Cuba to Montana—and never fail to have a blast. This trip with Sky Safaris was no different.

Ziplining in St. Kitts with Sky SafarisTo start, all the equipment seems brand new and state of the art. This is not always the case with zipline outfitters on tropical islands. I don’t know about you, but I definitely don’t want to be zipping 250 feet above the forest floor on a janky rope secured by questionable caribiners. Sky Safaris uses the trolley system, which you carry from line to line and allows you to lounge backward in a comfortable seat (others simply use a harness rig). I also feel much more secure ziplining with this method.

Ziplining in St. Kitts with Sky SafarisThe course is set up so that you do a practice run at a line down by the visitor’s center, then ride in the back of a truck about 10 minutes up the mountain, deep into the rainforest.

Ziplining in St. Kitts with Sky SafarisZiplining in St. Kitts with Sky SafarisOnce there, you’ll ride four very long lines down, ranging from 500 to 1,350 (nearly a third of a mile!) long. I loved that the most about this course: the length of the ziplines was enough that you could really enjoy your surrounds. And each implements a spring-bank brake system, meaning even when you hit 40mph, you don’t have whiplash when you swoop in for your landing.

Ziplining in St. Kitts with Sky SafarisThe Sky Safaris team is super personable (read: funny!), but also efficient. Because they get so many visitors from cruise ships—at least eight of which come through the nearby port town of Basseterre each week—they have the flow down to a science. As soon as one zipliner is getting helped down, the next one is sent across. That way, it took us just over an hour to complete the course despite us being a group of 15.

Ziplining in St. Kitts with Sky SafarisZiplining in St. Kitts with Sky SafarisAt around $100 a person, the cost for the canopy tour may be a bit steep for some—particularly if you’re traveling with a large family—but can you put a price on this view? No, no you cannot.

Now, your turn: Have you been ziplining? Would you ever try it?

COMMENTS
  • April 7, 2014

    Love the photos! The first and longest run was my favorite. Love it when you can actually enjoy the scenery on zip line rides!

    • April 8, 2014

      I conveniently edited out your screams 😉

  • April 8, 2014

    I love your travel blog and photos. Really awesome pics. Thanks to share your travel tips and experience.

  • April 8, 2014

    This is like my dream! I loooved ziplining in the south of France although it’s not even close to what you did in St Kitts but it looks like the ideal combination for seeing the landscape and having fun. Plus, rainforests are always a good addition to the mix hehe ^.^

    • April 8, 2014

      That sounds equally scenic and beautiful!

  • April 8, 2014

    Ah! The concept of ziplining always evaded me every time I hear about it. I know what it is, but I never REALLY know what it’s like until I saw your video above (which was awesome, btw!). It looks like such a FUN thing to do and I will definitely look into doing one next time I have the chance to do so!

    • April 8, 2014

      Thanks, Pauline! It’s a whole lot of fun…if you aren’t afraid of heights 😉

  • April 8, 2014

    Love the video! Your adventures look amazing, definitely increases my wanderlust / jealousy haha.

    http://www.charactersandcarryons.com

  • April 8, 2014

    I went ziplining once and it was enough for me. I prefer to enjoy the view from the ground!

    • April 8, 2014

      Well, we could have used a photographer so… 😉

  • April 8, 2014

    Wow – looks like so much fun and what views!! I did my first and only zip lining in Costa Rica over 11 years ago at the Almonds and Corals resort. My niece and I were the only ones doing it then so we had lots of time – luckily! I remember getting a bit cocky and over confident and screaming ‘I’m the queen of the world” as I threw myself off the platform….all of a sudden I stopped half way across between platforms and they had to come out and get me. Oops! Regardless I absolutely loved it. I definitely would like to try what you did with the little seat and hanging on to the bar rather than the way I did it with heavy duty gloves on.

    • April 8, 2014

      Haaaaa! I’ve always been afraid that was going to happen to me, but so far, so good/no getting stuck (*knocks on wood*). And I had forgotten about the gloves and how you had to stop yourself–the trolleys definitely make for a more leisurely zip!

  • April 8, 2014
    Amanda

    Next time you come to Louisville you should check out the Mega Caverns. They’re the only underground ziplines in the world.

    • April 8, 2014

      That sounds AMAZING! I just posted my Southern Living story to Louisville today and was saying how I want to plan a late summer trip back!

  • April 8, 2014

    I’ve never been zip lining, but think I am more along the lines of Ayngelina — I prefer to keep my feet on the ground!

    • April 8, 2014

      How about you two make up our paparazzi? 😉

  • April 8, 2014

    I’ve done ziplining many a time and believe it or not it costs almost $100 to zipline with the big company in Chiang Mai, Thailand! So I’m not surprised to see that cost on a Caribbean island one bit. Most recently however I did it on a great course in Mindo, Ecuador. I think it was around $25 and it was amazing!

  • April 9, 2014

    We’ve considered splurging on the zipline adventure here in Chiang Mai, but it’s hard to justify spending over a month’s rent on it. We just don’t have enough in our budget at the moment! It looks absolutely amazing, though!!!

  • April 11, 2014

    It seems that you surely had a lot of fun. I also wanted to try ziplining myself but doesn’t have enough guts though.

  • April 13, 2014

    Cubaaaaaaaa!!!!

  • May 15, 2014

    Jan 23, 2014 Sky Safari St. Kitts:
    http://youtu.be/QGtAt3XHLLQ

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