The Waipio flumes are old man-made water runoffs that to people like us, serve as very fun water-slides! Three words come to mind when I think of our adventure to the Waipio flumes: mysterious, exciting, and breathtaking. Mysterious because few people know about it. To get here you have to cross private property, walk half a mile over ginger roots, then hike the mile long trail that hugs the mountain wall. Exciting because it is not a maintained trail. It is purely locals or people like us that found out about this gem and have decided to make the trek. Breathtaking because the view is spectacular. You really feel like you are in a tropical rain forest. You’re standing on a mountain that makes up a circle of lush mountains, some with tall waterfalls streaming down them.
Once you make it to the flumes, you walk up the mud alongside it, sit at the top, and slide bear butt (or on a floatie) down it! You can walk through the tunnel at the top of the flume to the next flume, just don’t hit your head. It was by far the coolest experience we had on our trip to Hawaii!! ♦
Tips:
- Wear good shoes! There is so much mud and the trail along the mountain is narrow and uneven.
- Prepare to get dirty.
- Wear a small backpack and pack a lunch. Don’t bring much to carry, you want to have two free hands to use.
- Bring a floatie ring to sit on when sliding down the flumes, it feels better than riding down it bear butt though we did it and wasn’t so bad.
- Plug your nose when sliding down the flume, you hit the water pretty hard.
- Don’t bother the cows when crossing private property. Keep a good distance, especially if a calf is nearby.
