What do you get when you combine the vibe of a lazy river tube ride and lush, tropical mountain landscapes? Mountain tubing on Kauai, of course! This incredible trek takes adventurers tubing through an old sugar cane plantation irrigation canal and tunnel system – and it looks absolutely spectacular.
Perfect for individuals of all ages, the tubing tours are operated by Kauai Backcountry Adventures, located in Lihue. Visitors are fitted with helmets, headlamps, gloves and shoes before setting out on the 2.5-mile journey.
Kauai Backcountry Adventures/Facebook
Running through some of the most remote land on Kauai, this tubing tour will give visitors the opportunity to see majestic mountains, and the Wailaleale Crater while lazily floating along the canal.
Melanie Lukesh Reed/Flickr
The waters originate near the summit of Mount Wailaleale – one of the rainiest spots on the planet – and is channeled through a canal system that was once used in the irrigation of sugar crops.
Kauai Backcountry Adventures/Facebook
The water is typically three feet deep, and the current will move you along fast enough that you won’t need to paddle.
Kauai Backcountry Adventures/Facebook
Melanie Lukesh Reed/Flickr
Hand-dug and engineered by Chinese plantation workers in the 1870s, the Hanamaulu ditch system – featuring a series of canals, tunnels and flumes designed to bring water from the waterfalls and streams of Mt. Wailaleale to the sugar cane fields below – is truly a feat of historic engineering.
Kauai Backcountry Adventures/Facebook
Sugar production ceased in 2000, and since the irrigation system was no longer necessary, Kauai Backcountry Adventures opened a two and a half mile stretch of the canal in 2003.
Kauai Backcountry Adventures/Facebook
With gently flowing waters, breathtaking scenery, and some pretty stellar tunnels – one of which is nearly one mile long – to explore, this tubing tour is as relaxing as it is exciting. But don’t take our word for it: check out this cool video detailing the experience below.
Kauai Backcountry Adventures/Facebook
Melanie Lukesh Reed/Flickr
Have you ever gone mountain tubing on Kauai? Share your experiences and photographs with us on our Only In Hawaii Facebook page.
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