Zipline Kauai

One of the coolest activities on Kauai, Hawaii, is the zipline. 

Here's my experience with it so far: at camps my kids have attended in the Missouri Ozarks, the waterfront generally contains a zipline. This is a tight cable sloped downhill, above the water. The kids climb a ladder, grab a loop of rope attached to a pulley on the cable, and zip down the slope until it's time to let go and drop into the water. Zzip! They love it.

Well, it appears that a lot of big kids really like this idea too and have developed it into a eco-friendly, adventure activity in various parts of the world. Like our Ozark ziplines, these new zipline cables slope downhill, and a pulley arrangement holds up the participant.

But in this more advanced version, the person doing the zipping doesn't just hang onto a loop of rope. He is securely buckled into a harness, the safety kind they use when rock climbing. The zipliner also wears a helmet.

On Kauai, there are at least four companies offering an experience like this now. On our next trip, my adventuresome boys and I will be trying this out.  Want to hear more?

Backcountry Adventures offers a chain of seven ziplines descending one mountainside near Lihue. At the bottom, you get a picnic lunch and a swim, all for about $120 plus tax. The experience lasts about 3 1/2 hours. Ages 12 and up, 100-250 lb.

If it rains, which is definitely possible in these rain forest parts of the island, the show goes on--just wear a
poncho and proceed.

Outfitters Kauai offers a chain of four ziplines it calls the Kipu Falls Zipline Trek, all within a slot canyon near Kipu Falls not far from Lihue. This half-day activity features ziplines side-by-side in places, so you can slide down, screaming and hollering, alongside your buddy doing the same thing.  Then participants hike a short distance to Kipu Falls, where they can swim at the base of the waterfalls and swing on rope swings into the water.  This  4.5-hour activity is open to kids aged 7-14 (about $94 plus tax) and adults (about $120 plus tax). This is in the island's somewhat rainy eastern region near Lihue. Outfitters Kauai also offers the Kipu Falls Zipline Safari. This is a series of activities that includes one zipline at a waterfall. This full-day actiivity costs about $165 plus tax for adults, about $145 plus tax for kids under 14 (ages 7 and up can zipline).  Participants:

• Kayak two miles on a rain forest stream.

• Take a short walk and then a ride on a wagon to a Swiss Family Robinson-style house built around a Banyan tree.  Eat lunch here.

• Zipline 275 feet across a waterfall and river, returning by suspension bridge.

• Walk to rain forest swimming holes at waterfalls, including Tarzan swings. Spend some time doing this!

• Take the wagon to a trail, and walk to the river landing.

• Return by powered double-canoe, towing the kayaks.

Just Live, Inc., offers its Treetop Zipline Tour--by day and also by the light of the full moon. The Treetop Tour consists of six zipline runs, a swinging suspension bridge and a rope bridge 60 or 70 feet in the air, and 7 aerial platform transfers. Participants are gliding 60 to 80 feet above the ground in a forest of pine trees 200 feet tall, so it's not really the tree tops you are seeing--more like their middles.  This 3-hour tour is for ages 9 and up, 70 to 275 lb, and costs about $115 per person plus tax. This is also in the island's somewhat rainy eastern region near Lihue.

Princeville Ranch Adventures offers its Zip N' Dip adventure. Unlike the other outfitters, this one operates near Princeville on the north shore.  A series of eight ziplines and one suspension bridge take you through a rain forest to a hidden swimming hole at a waterfall, where you enjoy lunch, swimming, jumping, and floating on inner tubes.

This 4.5-hour adventure is for individuals who are 80-280 lbs and in good physical condition. It costs $135 per person plus tax.

There are activities-booking companies that can book you on any of these.

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