I recently returned from a vacation on Kauai, one of the islands of Hawaii. I’ll be doing a series of posts reviewing the places we went and the things we did, to help out the next person who comes along trying to Google them, as I had before we left. :) Today, it’s the various “adventures” we went on.
Ziplining
Our first excursion was on the ziplining course of Kauai Backcountry Adventures. The course is made up of 7 lines, which criss-cross a mountainside as you descend into the valley below.
The tour starts back at their warehouse home, where you are weighed (discreetly) to make sure you fall within the safe range (too light and you’ll get stuck in the middle; too heavy, and…). After that you’re given your body harness and a helmet, and you head out and up the mountain for about a 20 minute trip in one of their 6-wheel drive converted Swiss military vehicles, being entertained the whole time by one of your 3 guides.
Upon arrival you get the full safety talk (99% of the game is simply not putting your hands on the line itself as you are zipping down it) and then you tackle what they call their “bunny slope” — a short, relatively level first line on the hillside, to give you an introduction to zipping.
From there, you climb up some stairs onto a small platform, and leap off across the valley, 270 feet above the ground. The next few lines are lower but longer, and the last two are relatively tame — they call them the freestyle lines, where you are free to zip backwards, or spin, or try something else.
Our trip’s guides, Azure and Tim, kept us safe and entertained throughout the experience. The ride down the line was very smooth, and at no point did I feel unsafe, allowing me to enjoy all the awesome scenery.
The afternoon finishes up with a picnic lunch and a dip in a swimming hole, if you’re in to really cold water. Then it’s back in the vehicle to be returned to their warehouse.
I highly recommend both ziplining, and Kauai Backcountry Adventures.
Tubing
We liked the company so much, in fact, that several days later we went back for their other activity, a trip down the same hillside in a water tube, through the irrigation canals dug long ago for the sugar cane plantations.
Once again you start in their 6-wheel drive vehicle, being taken to the top of the hill. You make a brief stop along the way to look at some scenery, then you arrive, get a brief safety demo, and get in the water.
You spend about an hour making your way down the canals at 4-5 miles per hour, passing through 5 tunnels along the way (you’re provided a helmet with a miner’s lamp on it so you can see). It’s a nice, lazy way to spend the afternoon having a few thrills in fairly complete safety (it’s not exactly whitewater rafting).
Once again the trip ends with a picnic lunch and some more swimming if you’re interested, and then it’s in the vehicle and back to your car.
Neither of these activities are particularly cheap — not much is, on Kauai — but I’d have to say that this isn’t as good a value as the ziplining trip is. But if ziplining is too much thrill for you, the water tubing makes for a fun time, too.
Powered Hanggliding
Perhaps the craziest thing we did was take a 60 minute flight on powered hanggliders (also called ultralights, or “trikes”) with the crew at Birds In Paradise.
Powered hanggliding is just what it sounds like — it’s a hangglider with a motor to allow you to maintain altitude and increase your speed. It’s similar to riding a motorcycle, except you’re in the sky and can move in an extra dimension. It’s an interesting feeling, looking beside yourself and seeing nothing but air, 6000+ feet down to the ground.
A lot of it depends on your personal thoughts about heights, but I found the journey to be progressively less terrifying, starting with looking straight ahead for the first 5-10 minutes, and ending with looking all around and enjoying the scenery, as I was steering the glider at the end.
Yep, steering. The folks at Birds In Paradise maintain that it’s not a sightseeing flight — it’s a pilot lesson. They won’t make you do it, but the point is to get you up there and let you navigate around (by holding crossbars connected to the wings, and physically moving the wings around to steer). In my case, the pilot of my trike was taking pictures with a handheld camera as part of the picture package we purchased, so for long periods of time he had both hands on the camera and was looking down, while I navigated. Like just being up there itself, I found that this got less terrifying the more I did it. :)
The ride itself was fairly smooth, and not too noisy. The bumps were about the same as you’d get in your average commercial flight, although you feel a bit more exposed when they happen on the trike. It’s also pretty cold up there, and you’ll definitely need the wind shield on the helmet they provide you.
This activity was the priciest thing we did on Kauai, and I wouldn’t make it a weekly activity, but as a probable once-in-a-lifetime event, it was well more than worth it. Again, I’d highly recommend both the activity and Birds In Paradise.
