A Kauai Tubing Adventure

A Kauai Tubing Adventure
By Donna L. Hull—Special Guest Contributor

.

.

.

.
You’re on a sandy beach in Kauai where turquoise water laps at the shore as you sip a Mai Tai. Smell the sweet fragrance of Frangipani blossoms while ukulele music floats in the air. But, wait, there’s another side to this tropical paradise.

“Back down into the water and Chris will place the tube behind you,” says Jenny, one of our guides. Cold water laps at my knees when I step into the Hanama‘ulu Ditch and over 150 years of sugar plantation history. For the next hour, I’ll float on a pink inner tube down an irrigation canal on 17,000-acre Lihue Plantation.

Kauai Backcountry Adventures offers exclusive access to the former sugar cane kingdom, providing transportation, guides and equipment including a hard hat with headlamp plus gloves. Guests wear bathing suits, water shoes and courage.

In Hanama‘ulu, tubers board a Pinzgauer, a sturdy 4wheel drive transport vehicle, for the picturesque drive to the ditch. Jenny, formerly from Phoenix, shares facts about the area’s history as the Pintzgauer bounces along.

Stopping at an overlook, we gaze at Wai'ale'ale Crater. In the distance, waterfalls decorate Mt. Wai'ale'ale, their thin white ribbons streaking down a canvas of green trees, plants and vines.

When the tubing starts, San Diego native, Kathleen, leads the 11-member group of children and adults. The briskly moving water propels riders down the ditch at two mph. Tubes spin and twirl bouncing off fern-covered rock walls and into each other.

Kathleen calls out, “Arms and feet in. Headlamps on.”

The dark mouth of a tunnel appears. After entering, my tube hits a wall and spins me backwards. All I can see are the bobbing spots of light from the headlamps of fellow tubers. Laughs and squeals echo off volcanic rock. We will spend 70% of the tour underground, floating through five narrow tunnels.

The Hanama‘ulu Ditch funnels water from Mt. Wai'ale'ale, the wettest spot on earth, down to the sea. Constructed around 1870 to irrigate the sugar cane fields, thousands of workers picked, hammered and clawed the waterway through the mountainside.

Exiting a tunnel, Kathleen corrals the group when we approach a flume. Overhead, a log pole spans the canal allowing tubers to hold on until it’s time negotiate the slight drop. Chris and Jenny stand at the bottom keeping tubers right side up as as one by one we take the plunge and hurtle towards the next tunnel. Letting go of the pole, my tube drifts towards the edge and over the flume. Whoa,” I scream as water drenches me.

.
“If you’re brave, don’t turn on your headlamp,” Kathleen says at the mouth of the last tunnel. The spooky darkness doesn’t last long. Popping out ino the sunlight, we slowly drift to the exit point.

The Pintzgauer transports the group to a clearing where a small waterfall splashes into a swimming hole. Guests gather under a covered pavilion for a lunch of deli sandwiches, potato chips, soft drinks and cookies.
.
The water isn’t turquoise, no ukuleles are playing and there are no Mai Tais. I’m wet, dirty and exhilarated. Adventure tastes good.
.
If you go:
Kauai Backcountry Adventures
1.888.270.0555

www.kauaibackcountry.com

.

.

About Donna Hull
Donna is a freelance writer specializing in active travel for baby boomers. Her goal and focus is to share her travel experiences with other baby boomers, encouraging them to get up off the couch and go. Through her blog "My Itchy Travel Feet," Donna advises baby boomers on where to go, what to do, and how to do it. She also encourages boomers to share their travel experiences with her readers.

.

.

.

.

Photo source: Kauai Backcountry Adventures