A Ziplining experience by Kohala Zipline. Back to all Big Island tours.
Tour Summary: Zip to a cliffside platform, then cross a sky bridge beside a waterfall. Five lines, two bridges, nine guests, and you control your own speed.
Groups cap at nine guests, so a platform never holds a crowd. Image credit: Kohala Zipline 
Guests control their own speed on every line. Image credit: Kohala Zipline The sky bridge runs level with the top of the falls. Image credit: Kohala Zipline One line and one sky bridge reach the waterfall, the newest part of the rebuilt course. Image credit: Kohala Zipline The course runs tree to tree, so the route stays in the canopy between platforms. Image credit: Kohala Zipline Two certified guides run every departure and handle each launch. Image credit: Kohala Zipline - Large photo
Guests learn to control their own speed and body position on the course. Image credit: Kohala Zipline
5 Tour Highlights:
- A zip to a cliffside platform followed by a sky bridge traverse alongside a waterfall, the signature sequence on the rebuilt course
- Hawaiʻi's only tree-mounted spiral staircase, climbed as part of the route
- The island's only full-participation course: you control your own speed and body position instead of riding through
- Five ziplines and two sky bridges with top speeds to 45 MPH, tree to tree, inside a 2,400-acre private nature reserve
- Two certified guides per tour and a nine-guest cap, with Kohala Coast and clear-day Maui views from the platforms
Important: Participants must be at least 8 years old and weigh between 70 and 270 lbs, with no exceptions (all guests are weighed at check-in, and there is no refund for a guest outside the limit). Anyone 13 or younger must be accompanied by an adult; guests 14 and older may zip on their own. You must be able to walk over uneven terrain and handle short walks. This tour is not suitable for pregnant guests, or for anyone with back or neck problems, recent surgery, or an extreme fear of heights. Guests must wear closed-toe walking shoes and pants, capris, or knee-length shorts. Tank tops, tube tops, and short shorts are not permitted.
Tour Information:
| Price: | Adult | Youth |
|---|---|---|
| (excluding taxes & fees) | $155 | $130 |
Price note: The adult (youth) rate increases to $245 ($220) on September 30, 2026.
Tour Provider: Kohala Zipline
Activity: Ziplining
Tour start time: Several options between 8 am and 2 pm; not all times run every day
Duration: 2 hours
Location: North Kohala
Pick-up available? No
Included: All zipline safety gear, rainwear, and drinking water. Two certified guides on every departure.
Cancellations: Guests will receive a full refund with at least 24 hours notice of cancellation. Cancellations inside 24 hours and no-shows are charged the full amount.
Read more: about ziplining in our Big Island ziplining guide.
Read more about the Kohala Canopy Zipline Adventure
One zipline on this course lands you on a cliffside platform, and the sky bridge you cross next runs alongside a waterfall. That pairing is the centerpiece of the rebuilt Kohala Zipline course.
Kohala Zipline tore out its old course and rebuilt it. What runs now is five ziplines and two sky bridges, fewer lines than the old course carried. You pass a small waterfall early on, and the main falls later, at the sky bridge. The route also puts you on Hawaiʻi’s only tree-mounted spiral staircase, which you climb yourself. The operator estimates it at 35 to 40 feet. Nature trails connect the elements, and there is more walking than the old course had, by design, but no single stretch runs more than 25 to 50 yards. Top speeds reach 45 MPH, and you learn to control your own braking and body position rather than riding through as a passenger. It’s the only tree-to-tree canopy tour on the island, and the only one where you do the braking.
Nine guests, two guides, and a scale at the door
Plan on 2 hours round trip from the Kohala Zipline HQ at 55-515 Hawi Road, the historic yellow former Kohala Sugar Co. building in Hawi. Check in 30 minutes before your start time and park in the area signed “ECO TOURS.” A four-wheel-drive van takes you from there up an old sugarcane access road to the course, about 10 to 15 minutes with some light off-road sections. Every tour runs with two certified guides and caps at nine guests, with a minimum of four to go out. Adult tickets start at $155 and youth ages 8 to 12 at $130. Rainwear, water and all safety gear are included. The guide-operated photo system costs $19.99 plus tax at HQ, and a GoPro rental is $40 plus tax.
The weigh-in at check-in comes up in review after review, and it’s not negotiable: 70 to 270 lbs, no exceptions, no refund if you fall outside it. Weigh yourself at home before you book. Bare skin against the harness isn’t allowed, so no tank tops and no short shorts. Wear closed-toe walking shoes and pants, capris or knee-length shorts. Ages 8 and up, with an adult along for anyone 13 or younger. Guests 14 and older zip on their own. The operator rates the course easy to moderate. Cancel at least 24 hours out for a full refund; inside that window and no-shows are charged in full.
Two guides to nine guests, and they shoot the photos
Reviews name the guides more often than any single line: unhurried safety briefings, and patience with kids and with adults who go quiet at the first platform. They tell North Kohala and Hawaiian history between elements rather than reciting it at the start, and they shoot the action photos. If someone in your group is nervous about this, two guides to nine guests is why we’d send them here over a bigger operation.
Start times run 8:00 to 10:00 am and 12:00 to 2:00 pm in half-hour increments, though not every slot runs every day. The drive is about 60 minutes from Kailua-Kona, 40 from the Waikoloa resorts and 35 from Waimea, and there is no hotel pickup, so a 12:00 pm start still costs you the middle of your day. A morning slot leaves the afternoon open for the Pololū Valley lookout or the King Kamehameha statue in Kapaʻau, both a few miles east on Highway 270.
What your ticket pays for beyond the ride
The course sits on 2,400 acres owned by ʻIole, a North Kohala nonprofit, with Kohala Zipline operating on their land. ʻIole is replanting it with native and endemic species to bring it back to a working ahupuaʻa, and part of what you pay goes directly to that. The operator is also planting native trees along part of the course with Terraformation. Cables and platforms are American-made steel, and the climbing hardware comes from Petzl, Dimos and French Creek. The course is built to Association for Challenge Course Technology standards, and the crew inspects it twice a day, once before opening and once before closing. This is Phase 1 of the rebuild. Phase 2 is planned for fall 2026 and adds a rappel.
If you want the course to yourself, a private buyout runs through the operator’s VIP team and can include lunch and door-to-door transport. For a standard tour, book ahead: nine seats per departure is a small inventory, and the four-guest minimum means a thinly booked slot can be cancelled outright.
[Video] Video about the Kohala Canopy Zipline Adventure
About Kohala Zipline
Kohala Zipline was founded in 2011 by the team behind Hawaii Forest & Trail, one of the longest-running guided operators on the Big Island, and that lineage shows in how the course is staffed: two certified guides on every tour, each having passed more than 60 hours of hands-on practical training and testing. It is built to Association for Challenge Course Technology standards on American-made steel, with climbing hardware from Petzl, Dimos and French Creek. They rebuilt the course instead of patching it, and a portion of every ticket goes to the North Kohala nonprofit ʻIole. We list them because the guiding is the product here, not the hardware.
Affiliate Disclaimer
Booking through this page costs you nothing extra and is made directly with Kohala Zipline. We earn a commission from the operator, not from you, and it is what pays for the research that keeps lovebigisland.com free and free of paid placement. We only list operators we would send a friend to. Details on our affiliate links are here.