Maui Zipline Tours

ACTIVITY TIPS

Ziplining is fun and addictive, and it is one of the most popular vacation activities in the state of Hawaii. We offer an outstanding selection of ziplines for our clients here on Maui, and we're sure you'll have a great time on any of these tours.

We have arranged the tours on this page in the order we think they fall in terms of "level of adventure." All will give you a positive, memorable zipline experience. We rate Kapalua Zipline the most extreme, with the longest and fastest lines ... and Kaanapali Zipline tied for second place on the adventure scale. Maui Zipline in the third spot on the adventure scale has shorter lines than the first two, but each line takes off from a high platform that accentuates the feeling of "height." And while Haleakala is fourth on the "adventure" scale, that doesn't put it in "last place" ... if you have never ziplined before and you are bravely trying to overcome your fear of heights this would be the BEST choice for you. We aren't here to tell you which is the "best" zipline, we want to help you decide which is the BEST zipline for you.

While you are having a great time zipping, there are trained guides who are there to make sure that you stay safe at all times. You don't need to know anything about ropes and harnesses and knots ... you just need to be able to follow their simple instructions. The harness and safety lines are carrying your weight at all times while you are zipping; no upper arm strength is required.

The most important piece of advice when planning a zipline tour is to pay attention to the fine print ... the minimum and maximum weight requirements which vary from course to course. All the tours have a minimum weight because too little weight and the person zipping won't make it all the way to the end of the line, and will roll back to the middle. This is not a safety issue at all as all the courses deal with this almost daily once or twice. They've got a retrieval system which is perfectly safe ... one of the guides shimmies out on the line with a rope attached to to their harness, and once the "stuck" person is clipped onto the guide, another guide pulls both of them back to the end of the line. If it happens once or twice during a tour everybody laughs and hoots and takes pictures during the "rescue." But if someone is too light and under the guidelines, they may get stuck on the majority of the lines, and it slows the tour pace down to a crawl as the retrieval process is time-consuming. It can also affect the tours that are following your group. So ... minimum weights are there for a reason ... to keep the tour flowing smoothly and ensure that everyone has a good time.

Exceeding the MAXIMUM weight limit IS a safety issue. It isn't an issue for the capacity that the line can hold; these lines are engineered to be able to hold up a pack of elephants. The issue is gravity, speed, and the capabilities of the braking system at the end of the line. The heavier someone is, the "hotter" they come in at the end of the ride. If a guest is over the weight limit, their excessive speed could cause them to get a whiplash-like jarring injury when they hit the brakes, or in extreme cases even cause the braking system to ... well ... break. If the brake breaks, that would be bad for everyone else who is waiting to zip.

Minimum and maximum weights ARE enforced at all zipline locations. As you check in you will at some point stand on a "blind scale" which can only be seen by the staff. If someone falls outside of the weight restrictions at checkin they will be denied participation in the tour ... and they will NOT get a refund. I know this sounds harsh, but for safety of the tour, the enjoyment of all participants, and the integrity of the reservation process, they must enforce these guidelines. When you make a reservation you will be asked for the body weight of each participant no matter which zipline tour you take. DO NOT MISREPRESENT the body weights of anyone in your party. If you have someone who is borderline, the best thing to do is to book the tour for the second half of your vacation, and when you first arrive on island swing by the zipline operator for a quick check of their weight. If it turns out someone in your party isn't going to be able to do the tour, we must know this at least 48 hours before the start of your tour in order to be able to get you a refund.