Hawaii Ziplining with Nathan (& Tips for Your Zip)

Zippity doo dah, Zippity aye,
My friend, Nathan went zippin’ Tuesday.
Plenty of adventure and smilin’ that day,
Zippity doo dah, Zippity aye.

With fear and some reluctance, my friend Nathan Kam flew over to Maui from his Oahu home to experience ziplining for the first time. I followed his day of adventure via his twitter account. Nathan didn’t just try one zipline course, he tried Skyline Eco Adventures’ two  courses (Kaanapali and Haleakala) in the same day. That was thirteen zips in one day! Way to kick your fear’s butt, Nathan!

Nathan posted a video of his experiences which I thought gives you a great idea of what ziplining is like. Check it out! (Email subscribers, please click here to access the video.)

I had my own zipline experience on Kauai that I too feared, but found to be absolutely exhilarating. I felt like a kid, with a daredevil alter ego.

If you meet the age and physical requirements, I highly recommend you give Hawaii’s ziplines a try. Here are some ziplining tips:

• You’ll find ziplines on the islands of Kauai, Maui and later this month (November 2009), the Big Island will have its first zipline.
• Each zipline company has different age and weight requirements. For example, when I took the Princeville Ranch Zip n’ Dip tour, there requirements were that you must weigh between 80 and 280 pounds and be age 12 or older.
• You need to be in average or better physical condition to zip.  You can’t zip if you’ve had recent injuries or surgeries.  Expectant mothers shouldn’t  zip either.
• You probably shouldn’t have an extreme fear of heights.
• You should wear sunscreen and mosquito repellant.
• Bring water, 16-oz per person is recommended.
• You should wear shorts that are mid-thigh length or longer.
• Since you’ll need to run on to the ramps at the end of each zipline, you should wear sneakers or something similar.
• Bring a hat
• If you have long hair, bring something to tie your hair back.
• Bring a small backpack to store your water, wallet, cameras, etc when you zip.
• Be prepared for the possibility of rain. Tours will operate rain or shine. Actually, we experienced rain on our tour. We were wearing quick drying clothes.
• Have fun with it. Give your lungs a workout as you zip across these isolate ravines. Andy and I enjoyed practicing our Tarzan yells.

Have you ziplined in Hawaii? How was your experience? What additional advice would you like to pass along?