Kauai is known for all types of activities and attractions like snorkeling, hiking, and whale watching. However, consider tubing if you are looking for a less well-known activity to participate in on your next getaway to Kauai.
Kauai is home to miles of hand-dug canals once used to irrigate sugarcane plantations. Today, visitors and locals alike float down these trenches on tubes for some relaxing yet delightful entertainment. Want to learn more before you book your floating adventure? Parrish Kauai has you covered with our guide on tubing in Kauai.
Tubing in Kauai: A History
Sugarcane has been big business in Kauai since the early 1800s when sugarcane mills started popping up on the Hawaiian Islands. Fertile soil and the islands’ climate made them great places for growing sugarcane. Sugarcane plantations in Hawaii grew and sold sugar, shipping it by steamship back to the continental United States.
In 1870, the Lihue Plantation ordered workers to dig ditches and tunnels to create what would become known as the Hanamaulu Ditch. These hand-dug ditches ran through plantation land to bring water from Mount Waialeale to the plantation’s sugarcane fields.
By the 1920s, Hawaii’s once-booming sugarcane industry began to falter. The islands’ share of the United States’ sugar market diminished, and many plantations moved to other parts of the world for cheaper labor. Lihue Plantation was able to hang on and continue sugar production for decades after Hawaii’s sugar industry’s initial downfall, but ultimately closed in 2000.
Kauai Mountain Tubing Adventures
After Lihue Plantation closed, Kauai Backcountry Adventures opened a section of the ditches up for tubing tours. Their mountain tubing adventure tour has been entertaining patrons ever since.
On their Kauai mountain tubing tours, participants peacefully float through the canals and explore tunnels before stopping for a picnic lunch. Along the way, Kauai’s lush jungle provides a fantastic backdrop for this fun ride.
Kauai Backcountry Adventures will provide you with a tube and a helmet equipped with a headlight, which riders use for seeing in the tunnels. One thing they do not provide is water shoes. If you plan on joining this Kauai mountain tubing tour, be sure to bring some, as your shoes are sure to get wet during your excursion.
There is More Wet and Wild Fun in Store on Kauai
Tubing is just one way to have some fun in Kauai’s pristine waters. Whether you are interested in scuba diving, surfing, or simply wading in the ocean, Kauai has all of your favorite water activities.
If you need a place to call home on your next vacation to Kauai, choose the island’s leader in hospitality, Parrish Kauai. We have vacation rentals near some of Kauai’s best beaches. To stay with us, please check availability online or call us at 1-800-325-5701.