Kohala Canopy Zipline Adventure

Eight ziplines, six sky bridges, and a final rappel make this the only full canopy tour on the Big Island. Tree-to-tree means you stay in the canopy the entire route: no climbing up and down stairs between zips.

Two guides run every tour, certified through the Association for Challenge Course Technology, leading the safety briefing and staying with the group on every platform. The signal worth paying attention to in the reviews is not the enthusiasm but the specificity: guests repeatedly note that they could tell safety was the priority, which is a less common five-star comment than excitement about the zips themselves.

The course itself sits on private land above Hawi in North Kohala, the dry, windward-shadowed side of the island where afternoon showers tend to pass quickly rather than settle in. The forest is old-growth, dense enough that one April 2026 reviewer compared the suspension-bridge sections to an Indiana Jones set. The six sky bridges get nearly as much screen time in reviews as the lines themselves, which is a fair reflection of how the tour is built: zips and bridges are roughly balanced, not zips with bridges as filler.

Getting to the top: the Pinzgauer ride

You start at the Kohala Zipline base in Hawi with a check-in, weigh-in (the 70 to 270 lb limit applies to everyone), and safety briefing. From there, the group rides a Pinzgauer, an Austrian-built six-wheel-drive truck, up the access road to the start of the course. The ride is part of the experience: most guests are not expecting an ex-military vehicle to be the way up.

Top speed on the longer lines reaches about 45 MPH. Several lines are short connector hops between platforms; the longest ones are what most reviewers describe as the rush. There is one rappel near the end of the course, which surprises guests who expected the descent to be another zip.

Practical details before you book

Two guides accompany every group of up to eight. Adults pay $245; ages 8 to 12 pay $220. The tour runs roughly 2.5 to 3 hours from check-in to return. Bring closed-toe walking shoes and pants, capris, or knee-length shorts. Tank tops and short-shorts are not allowed. Rainwear, water, and a snack of macadamia nuts, trail bars, and fruit are included. GoPro rental and a guide-operated photo system are available for purchase at check-in.

Cancellation is full-refund with 24 hours notice for standard tours, 72 hours for private bookings.

This tour suits visitors who want a canopy experience without a Kona-side drive, families with kids over eight comfortable with heights (guides regularly help nervous kids work through the first platform), and people who want a half-day activity in North Kohala that pairs naturally with a visit to Pololū or the King Kamehameha statue in Kapaʻau.

Kohala Zipline was founded in 2011 by the team behind Hawaii Forest & Trail, one of the longest-running guided tour operators on the Big Island. The course is certified through the Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) and inspected twice daily. Kohala Zipline is a member of the Sustainable Tourism Association of Hawaiʻi and supports the North Kohala Community Resource Center, Friends of the Future, and the Three Mountain Alliance. We list them because they hold their own standards higher than the regulatory minimum, and the consistency of their guides shows up in every review.

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.