Hawaii Vacation Tips - Tiki Travel

W weirduncletiki Member Grape Town, California Joined: Mar 26, 2002 Posts: 756	W weirduncletiki Posted posted on Wed, Apr 28, 2004 12:05 PM On The Big Island (Hawai'i) there's an activity called Flumin' Da Ditch. Along with guides and fellow travelers you'll kayak down several miles of old sugar cane irrigation flumes. The excursion starts in their headquarters in Hawi, North Kohala. There's a briefing and short video to watch and then you'll be crammed into a van for one of the bumpiest, shakingest rides through cow pastures you could imagine. The kayaking itself is calm, but if you're prone to seasickness take a Dramamine for the van ride! Once you've arrived at the flume departure point, ask to be in a kayak with a guide so you'll be able to more easily hear the history, legends and ghost stories that are told along the pleasant drift. You'll be given a light that straps onto your head(miner-style) and then you're off. The scenery is beautiful. Very lush, with many tropical plants and flowers as well as mountain and valley views. At several points the flumes cross bridges over deep valleys, if you're not into heights, don't look down! There are also may tunnels that the flumes enter. The longest takes about twelve minutes to go through and this is when those forehead lights come in handy as there's no natural light in there. Not a good place for the claustrophobic. North Kohala is a very rainy area of the island, but even if it does come down (as it did on our trip), the rain was warm and the ride was still pleasant. We disembarked at a point where wild cinnamon was growing and were able to chew on some leaves. An unexpected fun treat! Once back at the office there are chips and soda and Hawaiian Sun drinks as refreshments. So Flumin Da Ditch is an agreeable experience. Certainly not a thrill ride (except for the van), but a nice way to pass a couple hours seeing the sights and talking story in a very unusual way. I'm certainly glad I did it, but I'd spend the hunk of money it costs on a scuba dive next time I'm out that way. http://www.flumindaditch.com/flumin/index.html -Weird Unc [ Edited by: weirduncletiki on 2004-04-28 12:08 ]

On The Big Island (Hawai'i) there's an activity called Flumin' Da Ditch. Along with guides and fellow travelers you'll kayak down several miles of old sugar cane irrigation flumes.
The excursion starts in their headquarters in Hawi, North Kohala. There's a briefing and short video to watch and then you'll be crammed into a van for one of the bumpiest, shakingest rides through cow pastures you could imagine. The kayaking itself is calm, but if you're prone to seasickness take a Dramamine for the van ride!
Once you've arrived at the flume departure point, ask to be in a kayak with a guide so you'll be able to more easily hear the history, legends and ghost stories that are told along the pleasant drift. You'll be given a light that straps onto your head(miner-style) and then you're off.
The scenery is beautiful. Very lush, with many tropical plants and flowers as well as mountain and valley views. At several points the flumes cross bridges over deep valleys, if you're not into heights, don't look down!
There are also may tunnels that the flumes enter. The longest takes about twelve minutes to go through and this is when those forehead lights come in handy as there's no natural light in there. Not a good place for the claustrophobic.
North Kohala is a very rainy area of the island, but even if it does come down (as it did on our trip), the rain was warm and the ride was still pleasant.
We disembarked at a point where wild cinnamon was growing and were able to chew on some leaves. An unexpected fun treat!
Once back at the office there are chips and soda and Hawaiian Sun drinks as refreshments.
So Flumin Da Ditch is an agreeable experience. Certainly not a thrill ride (except for the van), but a nice way to pass a couple hours seeing the sights and talking story in a very unusual way. I'm certainly glad I did it, but I'd spend the hunk of money it costs on a scuba dive next time I'm out that way.
http://www.flumindaditch.com/flumin/index.html

-Weird Unc

[ Edited by: weirduncletiki on 2004-04-28 12:08 ]

Post #88667 by weirduncletiki on Wed, Apr 28, 2004 12:05 PM