Kohala Ditch Adventure

In front of Pinzgauer

Feb 22, 2012 Marnie and Jon Isaacs, Donna Cherrier and I ventured North to the Kohala Ditch Adventure.  The entrance was just past Hawi.  Hawi is a little town that is full of art galleries, quaint old plantation worker homes, and a couple good restaurants.  We snacked on the 1 ½  hour drive and arrived at 1:00pm, a half hour before our scheduled departure.  Here is another site describing the tour.  This company also offers ATV adventures to the beach, the mountain, or both.

Inside Pinzgauer

We got to watch the group of ATV adventurers mount up and ride off before our Pinzgauer ride up the Kohala mountain starting our trip.  We had 8 in our group.  Amazingly, a cute young couple with us was from Wasilla, AK!  The ride included a cool drizzling rain which is typical in this area.  But by the time we started our trip, the rain stopped. 

Hola and a flume

We walked along the ditch for awhile to our put in point.  There are several spots where there is a gate and boats cannot go through, and we walked past one to get to where we could get into the boats.  The boats are like kayaks, except they are inflatable and have no seats, just a puffy middle.  One can hold up to 5 people, but it would be knees up crowded. 
In the first boat, our guide Hola was in front, then Donna, and I picked up the rear and was given a paddle and headlamp.  Jon and Marnie were next, and then two couples paddled the boat bringing up the rear.  We were instructed to turn on our headlamp before we went into a tunnel.  Paddling was mainly keeping the boat from hitting the sides of the ditch.  The current was sufficient to keep us moving.

There were ten tunnels.  They are dark.  Headlamps were necessary.  Hola said, "What happens in the ditch, stays in the ditch".  The first one was curved, so we could not see any light.  Hola pointed out Japanese writing on the walls in several of the tunnels.  She was quite knowledgeable.  She had stories to tell and gave us lots of information about the tunnels and the area throughout the whole journey.  I wish I could remember all the facts about the construction.   I think she said this whole system was built by Japanese workers in 1906 who each earned $1.00 per day.  It was, and still is, used to irrigate the area for farming.  About 7 people lost their lives building the ditch, mostly from premature dynamite blasts.

In 2006 the area had an earthquake and much of the ditch was destroyed.  Two years later and 5 million dollars, the ditch was repaired by the corporate owners, and the tours resumed.  The tour company leases the ditch.  Donna Cherrier remembers going on a tour before the earthquake.  Our guide said she was one of the original guides when the tours started in the 90’s. 

view along the way

The second tunnel was the longest, 1,800 feet.  However, you could see the end the whole time so it didn’t seem so long.  One tunnel was “air conditioned” so we tried to hurry through it.  Even if it was a hot sunny day, we were in the tunnels most of the time, so I was glad to have my long sleeve rash shirt on and paddling shorts. 

Our group in a flume

Hola asked us at one point what tunnel we were in.  I hadn’t counted after the second one, but I said 6.  We were actually in the 9^th tunnel.  Along the way she pointed out a sledge hammer head, and a bucket, both left behind by workers.  This irrigation system has been in use for over 100 years and still functions well.  True, you can see lots of holes in the concrete reinforcement along the sides, moss growing, drips in the tunnels, but what an engineering feat!  We traveled a total of 2 ½ miles and dropped about 9 feet in elevation.  When we disembarked, we were served water and fruit drinks and macadamia nuts. 

The drive back to the headquarters was in jeeps this time, with the dripping boats tied on top.  We changed clothes and left our tip and finally headed out.  We got a 20% off coupon for a return trip or for the ATV adventure.  I want to take that one.

Pololu valley sign

Don’t you always want to go to the end of the road?  It was just 15 minutes away to the Pololu valley lookout.  There used to be a nice hike into the valley from there but Hola said the earthquake took out portions of the trail.  The whole drive from home was 67 miles north past Halaula to the lookout.

The drive past Hawi to this point looks out onto the seas between the Big Island and Maui. This is very treacherous waters. We could see the white caps as far as we could see ocean.

We drove back along the Kohala coast looking for whales and checking out some small beaches and camping areas along the way.  One beach was the end of an old plantation railroad line.  The train station was still there with a date of 1930 engraved on it. 

View of valley

We did see a couple whales before joining the main highway off Hwy 270.  Donna said she bikes from around this juction into Hawi and back.  It is a slow, steady gentle climb, and then downhill on the way back if you want to try.

I really appreciated Jon driving us the whole way and back.  He had three women in his car!  And the Big Island is BIG!