Horizontes’ Safety / Quality Standards

Horizontes has been at the forefront of the Costa Rican tourism industry’s efforts to develop safety guidelines for adventure sports and other activities enjoyed by tourists.

At the start of the 2000-2001 high season, we equipped our guides with walkie-talkies and cell phones to increase the safety of our tours.

In addition, we recently hired an external consultant to evaluate risks associated with volcanoes, airports, river rafting and canopy tours in Costa Rica. Brief summaries of his findings, and some of his recommendations, are below.

Airports and Airlines

In May 2000, the FAA placed Costa Rica’s Juan Santa María International Airport in the top category with respect to international safety standards established in a 1948 agreement promoted by the International Civil Aviation Association.

The airport, just outside Costa Rica’s capital city San Jose, was honored by IATA in 2003 for its comfort, range of services and helpfulness of airport staff in its annual poll of passengers. Juan Santamaria ranked second among 23 airports in the Americas and Caribbean handling fewer than 15 million flyers annually, according to an annual IATA poll.

Costa Rica’s second international airport, Daniel Oduber in the northwestern hub city of Liberia currently receives flights from Toronto, Montreal, Atlanta, Houston, Minneapolis and Miami.

For domestic flights, Horizontes uses Grupo Taca affiliate SANSA, and Nature Air. Nature Air also provides service to Granada, Nicaragua. The following guidelines should be followed on all domestic and international flights.

Canopy Tours

Because of the inherent risk involved in using mountain climbing equipment and the lack of a regulating body in Costa Rica, Horizontes does not include canopy tours in itineraries unless clients insist. We hope to be able to recommend canopy tours in the future when the Costa Rica-based Adventure Operators Association begins regulating and certifying local canopy operations.

  • Be sure to completely understand and follow all the safety instructions.
  • Do not participate in activities if you have doubts about your physical ability
  • Use only the canopy tours recommended by Horizontes.
Volcanoes

Costa Rica has approximately 9 volcanoes, most of which are inactive. Many of the active volcanoes have been dormant for centuries, but a few-including Arenal and Turrialba - are definitely awake.

In Jan. 2000, the government of Costa Rica instituted new safety regulations for the area around Arenal. The new regulations restrict construction and regulate visitation in a 5.5 km (3 mile) radius around the volcano’s crater, and establish four zones of greater and lesser risk within that radius.

In February 2001, Horizontes conducted an independent study to determine where each hotel in the area is located with respect to the risk zones. We are committed to selling space only in the hotels that have submitted the vulnerability studies required by the Costa Rican government, and have shown us they are prepared with evacuation plans in case of an emergency.

Due to volcanic activity in the area late in January 2001, we are currently not selling space in hotels near Volcan Turrialba. The following guidelines should also be followed for tourism in volcanic areas.

  • If you see abnormal activity, get away and report it to the nearest authorities.
  • Don’t ignore warning signs. Stay within designated areas. Don’t use trails that lead to the volcanoes.
Rafting

Thousands of people enjoy thrilling trips down Costa Rica’s scenic rivers every year. More than two dozen companies run river-rafting trips in our country. Horizontes is committed to working only with established, professional companies with good safety records, and adheres to the following guidelines:

  • Verify the presence of at least two safety kayaks.
  • Always wear life vest and helmet.
  • Follow all instructions.
  • Rivers should never be run at night, and passengers should not voluntarily swim in the river.
  • If you are in good health and reasonable physical conditions you should have no difficulty in rafting. If you have back
  • problems that might be affected by the raft bouncing through rapids; or if you have heart or blood pressure condition
  • that might not be up to excitement of white-water rafting, then perhaps rafting is not the ideal activity for you.
 
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