Kapolei adventure park offers soaring thrills — and zombies

Jim Owen knows all about adventure. When he was 17, he spent a year in Thailand as a Rotary Youth Exchange student. While there, he lived a monk’s life at Wat Chom Tong monastery near Chiang Mai for a month — wearing a plain cotton robe, never speaking, eating just one meal a day and meditating from dawn to dusk.

At 20, Owen took a year off from his studies at Hawaii Pacific University to travel around the world. He visited 10 European countries, including Greece, Denmark and the Czech Republic. He rode camels in the Thar Desert in India, helped a man who owned a land-mine museum clear explosives in Cambodia and hiked to the base camp of Mount Everest (17,590-foot elevation) in Nepal.

After Owen received his bachelor’s degree in international business from the university, he hit the road again, this time stopping in Machu Picchu, Sri Lanka, Borneo and Laos.

After all that adventuring, taking on the role of Coral Crater Adventure Park CEO came naturally. In six years, he turned the dusty 35-acre site formerly owned by the U.S. Navy into the ultimate playground for thrill seekers. Ten of those acres are a 60-foot-deep crater where, in the late 1940s, the Navy dug up coral to build runways at Barbers Point Naval Air Station (now Kalaeloa Airport).

“Coral Crater exemplifies our philosophy that life should be fun,” Owen said. “You can have a blast just by being outdoors and trying activities you don’t normally do.”

Did you ever dream of being Spiderman? Get a taste of the superhero’s high-flying antics on the 60-foot Aerial Adventure Tower, which tests your pluck and agility as you cross wobbly wooden bridges, glide on a surfboard mounted on a rail, climb a 50-foot wall and then free-fall back to solid ground.

“Even with a full body harness and a carabiner system that keeps you connected to a safety line at all times, the tower activities are big psychological as well as physical challenges because you’re 25 to 50 feet above the ground,” Owen said.

“We’ve learned that nearly everyone is physically capable of conquering the challenges. The difference for some individuals is getting over fears, which is easier with family and friends encouraging them. That is part of what makes this an incredible team-building experience.”

The adrenaline rush continues at a course with six zip lines rising as high as 70 feet and ranging from 300 to 900 feet long. Participants soar over the crater at up to 35 mph, and when they near the end of each line they don’t have to think: A state-of-the-art braking system slows their speed. Kids weighing 40 to 60 pounds can zip tandem with a guide.

Prefer being on terra firma? At the steering wheel of a two-seat ATV, you can zoom around sharp turns, over ruts and rocks, up and down hills and past thick stands of kiawe, monkeypod and Chinese banyan trees. Expect to get jolted, bounced and dirty (even muddy, depending on the weather), but it’s all part of the fun of off-road exploring.

“You have to be at least 18 years old to drive our ATVs, but a child as young as 4 years old can ride along with his or her parent,” Owen said. “And if you want to tackle the course at a slower pace, you can do that on an electric bike.”

Coral Crater’s newest offering is the Zombie Apocalypse Rescue Mission, a laser tag-style experience. The scenario: A virus is transforming people all across Oahu into zombies. Rogue militants have imprisoned the doctor who has developed the antidote for the virus.

You’re in the elite squad that has been assigned to rescue the doctor from Camp Zombie, so he can distribute the antidote and stop the zombie invasion. You must find him in the camp, which is populated by zombies, and transport him safely back to headquarters.

“The camp looks like a real camp, with a guard station, barracks, a hospital and laboratory,” Owen said. “What’s cool is the weapons are replicas of M4 tactical laser guns. They’re not plastic neon toys; they’re constructed from real M4 bodies. They’re the full weight and have 30 percent of the recoil of actual M4s, so when you’re shooting zombies you feel that.

“During the mission, you’ll be free-falling, riding off-road, zip-lining in the dark and searching for clues to get in and out of the buildings just like a Navy SEAL.”

According to Owen, Coral Crater has attracted a surprising demographic since it opened in January. He was expecting the park to draw teens and families with young children, and while that has been true, he’s also seeing a lot of retirees and honeymooners.

“People are happiest when they’re spending quality time with their friends and family,” Owen said. “They bond when they’re playing and laughing together, and there are plenty of opportunities for that at Coral Crater Adventure Park.”

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.