Kohala Zipline

COMBO TOUR OPTION: Kohala Zipline also offers a Zip and Dip Tour that includes transportation from Kona or Waikoloa area, the 8 Line Zipline Course, and the Kohala Country Waterfall Hike! The Zip and Dip is offered on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday and only has 8 spaces per day!

Kohala Zip and Dip Rate (KOHZ7)

$299.00 per Adult, $299.00 per Child (8-12)   (plus 4.712% Hawaii sales tax)

Kevin's Activity Tips:

Kohala Zipline is a sister company to Hawaii Forest and Trail, a very well respected tour operator that we've used for years to send our clients on waterfall hikes, Kilauea Volcano tours, and the sunset and stargazing experience on Mauna Kea. That gives this new course instant credibility because Hawaii Forest and Trail and the owner, Rob Pacheco, has a commitment to the highest level of quality in everything they do. I met with Rob for lunch just before doing the tour, and he explained to me all the things that make their course unique. As I walked across the first bridge and onto the platform at the start of line one, it was immediately obvious that this course is indeed unique. Looking out over the platforms that were high in the trees, seeing the LONG suspension bridges running from tree to tree … the scene is reminiscent of the magical Ewok forest of Star Wars fame! This is a cool forest setting unlike any other!

The first zipline was a short trainer line, and on this line you learn how to control your speed … this is the only course on the Big Island where you have the ability to do that. All the other courses you stop by hitting a brake that is deployed by the guide on the receiving end of the line. They do that here too, just in case a guest still comes in too fast. But slowing yourself down is easy … and it makes for a very smooth landing and gives you more hands-on involvement during the tour. These lines do run a lot quieter because of the nylon coating on the cable, which makes the forest feel more pristine. When you land at a platform you are still high up in the trees, so before disconnecting you from the zipline, the guide attaches you to a belay point on cables around the tree.

After a few more ziplines that got longer and longer, we encountered the first set of suspension bridges. They are long, high, and the steps are p r e t t y f a r a p a r t (see the slideshow above) … making for a heart thumping crossing for most folks. While on these bridges you are clipped to a belay line that removes the DANGER of falling … but not your FEAR of falling … haha. These high and long suspension bridges will play with your head at first, but as you learn to trust the equipment you'll reach a point where trekking high in the trees is a truly memorable experience! I felt like a flying squirrel at times!

Halfway through the tour you will take a break from the trees, and the only way down is to do a 30 foot vertical rappel! Sounds intimidating … you've never done that before right??? Neither had I! The guide explained it clearly, demonstrated it for us, and with one guide at the top and one at the bottom it was easy … and it was a blast … and was my favorite part of the tour! You get to do one more of these rappels at the end of the course too!

After our brief break from the trees, the next zipline starts high up on a ridge and zips back out to a platform to return you to the trees for the second half of the tour and your feet won't touch the ground again until the conclusion of your adventure. Some of these lines are long enough and the trees tight enough that you can't see the landing platform from your "take off point" which adds another level of excitement to the experience! The final tandem racing line is almost a quarter of a mile long. All in all, this tour takes ziplining to another level … literally … with the whole experience lifted off the ground.

The Kohala Zipline course is pretty and offers a great feel for the north shore forests; while this course has a seasonal stream it doesn't offer waterfalls. There is one very awesome waterfall zipline course in the Hilo area that we also highly recommend if you are up for a drive that will take an extra hour or so each way. If so, you should also see the Umauma Zipline Experience. While they are a further drive from the Kona and Waikoloa resorts, they do offer a thrilling zipline tour with amazing views of more waterfalls than I could count (while zipping past them at high speed)!

By the way, zipline tours do not require any special levels of upper body strength … guests wear a harness and are clipped into the zip line pulley using redundant lines. When you see photos of zippers holding onto a bar or a strap, it's just for steering purposes to keep facing forward. You don't actually have to hold on to hold yourself up! These courses are professionally installed to the highest level of zipline industry standards. Weight restrictions have nothing to do with the ability of the line to hold someone's weight … the lines are engineered to hold the weight of a pregnant elephant! If a person is too light, they may not make it all the way to the other side. This isn't really a safety issue as the guides can easily deploy a line and pull the partially unzipped zipper to the other side … or in the case of Kohala Zipline you can easily get the rest of the way by pulling yourself over. But this process adds time and delays the tour. A person who is over the weight limit would come in just a little too fast on many lines, and create braking issues that could be jarring. So, weight limits are there for everyone's safety and enjoyment of the tour.