Small children ziplining

[cherbear4000]

For those that have done the Zip N dip through Victor Bodden, any one take young kids? Like ages 2 and 4 young? On the website it says children younger than 5 can tandem zip with their parents. Has anyone actually done that? How was it? Did it feel safe? Also do you think a 7 and 9 year old would have an easy time?

[Mom2B&Z]

I think it depends how adventurous your 2 and 4 year olds are. Our 4yo took one look at the zip line and decided to stay on the ground. I would have been fine with him going in tandem with me, but he didn't want to do it and he is fairly adventurous. I did tandem with our 6.5 yo on a couple of lines because neither of us would have made it the whole way on our own, but otherwise he was fine going by himself.

[Monkeylala]

Just a little something to think about,

No zipline in a first world country would allow todllers that age to zipline, tandem or not. There is a reason for this, If something did happen there is not good hospital or emergency care on Roatan, Something "looking" of "feeling" safe has nothing to do with safety.

There is no national safety board or inspections, Roatan can make up the rules as even if there were any there is no enforcement, Just as most boats for diving, snorkeling, water taxi etc.. would miserably fail a coast guard inspection.

Look at how the helmets, caribeaners clips and such are handled, the manufaturers say if these things were even simply dropped on a hard surface they should not be used

[Mom2B&Z]

Just a little something to think about,

No zipline in a first world country would allow todllers that age to zipline, tandem or not. There is a reason for this, If something did happen there is not good hospital or emergency care on Roatan, Something "looking" of "feeling" safe has nothing to do with safety.

There is no national safety board or inspections, Roatan can make up the rules as even if there were any there is no enforcement, Just as most boats for diving, snorkeling, water taxi etc.. would miserably fail a coast guard inspection.

Look at how the helmets, caribeaners clips and such are handled, the manufaturers say if these things were even simply dropped on a hard surface they should not be used

While I agree with you in principal, I have to disagree with the age of the child being an issue. The reason they have children go in tandem with an adult is purely physics - they don't have enough weight to generate the speed needed to get to the end of the line. That's why DS1 and I had to go together on several lines. Plus you don't want a small child upset on a line alone. The VB lines are not like many in the Caribbean - you don't do your own breaking, your hands never touch the line and all you do is hang there and enjoy the ride. For these reasons, small children can participate.

I will say that VB staff handled the helmets very carefully, there were no obvious signs of damage (and yes, I'm aware there are not always obvious signs of damage with helmets), the staff were cautious and respectful of equipment and safety was certainly paramount.

I do agree that partaking in any activity in a 3rd world country with questionable health care is risky; however I do think, at least with the VB lines, that the risk is minimal. We installed a car seat and booster in the vehicle that brought us to the zipline, which I think is indicative of how I felt about the safety of the ziplines. Others may make different choices, which I can certainly respect; however this was a great choice for us.

[Monkeylala]

I have to disagree with the age of the child being an issue

We can all agree or disagree, but the fact remains it would not be allowed in First world where there is healthcare and emergency services, also finding a helmet that truly fits and works rather than simply following their rules. I don't know about the zipline equipment but none of the helmets the scooter folks rent are DOT or certified by any highway safty dept

[Twintriple]

We went zipping with VB a few weeks ago. My 7 year old son went alone and was fine, loved it. They used the same brand equiptment that the cruise ship had for the rock wall - Black Diamond and Petzl. They use the double line, and would clip you in while you were in the tree stands so in theory you don't fall off the stand. There was a family right behind us that took 2 of their children who were less than 5 tandem. After the first fitting on the smaller child, who looked to be somewhere between 18 months and 3 years, he took a few steps and the harness fell to his ankles so they had to tightened it again. Another problem was that there were waiting periods in the tree stands, in a confined area where mom could not put him down, so basically she had to carry him the whole time which he was not happy with. He seemed fine during the zips, but cried much of the other times - especially when a brief storm passed and we stood in the tree stand and waited for the rain to let up. There really were no places to stop the tree tour either, as I overheard her asking if they could just walk back. The other thing that concerned me was even though he had a harness, if ever she lost her grip on him, children of that size are so top heavy, with the difficulties they had adjusting him in his harness, I could envision his little legs slipping through the harness and him simply falling head first. She really only had one arm to hold the child as she needed to hold the rope to steady herself and keep upright. Didn't look very safe to me, and from the looks on the mom's face most of the time, I don't think they had much fun either.

[mitsugirly]

We took our 3 year old last September and she actually zip lined by herself and had a BLAST.

 

Here's my review with a link of pictures at the bottom of the review: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=30662590&postcount=23

[goldne]

Our youngest zip lined tandem in Mexico at age 2 and had a great time while 5yo zipped on her own. no helmets gloves etc were used and it felt very safe. I think a 7 and 9 year old would be fine...the hardest part is stepping off the platform for that first zip, after that - piece of cake!