"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
That could become a familiar sound from tourists in Waikiki — and not just those standing up on a surfboard for the first time.
A beach activities operator wants to establish what would be the first zip-line thrill ride in Hawaii’s busiest oceanfront resort area.
Waikiki Beach Activities Ltd., the exclusive pool and beach service provider for Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort, has sketched out a conceptual plan to operate a zip line over Hilton’s oceanfront lagoon.
The company recently sought permission from the state Board of Land and Natural Resources to set up a test line that would simulate a ride from the top of the hotel’s six-story parking garage, over the Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon and landing above a grassy area in front of a public parking lot.
Waikiki Beach Activities said in its application that Hilton approves of the plan, and that ridership could be up to 250,000 people a year.
"Due to the growing popularity and demonstrated safety of zip-line activities throughout the Hawaiian Islands, WBA (Hilton) proposes to operate a daytime zip-line experience that would provide the general public with a one-of-a-kind sightseeing experience," said a letter from the company to the Department of Land and Natural Resources, which owns the land around the lagoon.
Hawaii’s natural beauty and big tourism industry have made zip lines a growing and lucrative business throughout the state over the past dozen years.
The first zip-line course in the nation was built in Hawaii in 2002 on Maui, according to a state auditor’s report that estimated more than 700,000 people a year go on the largely unregulated high-wire rides annually statewide.
With common advertised prices cited in the 2012 report ranging from $30 to $200 per ride, annual industry revenue in Hawaii would be $21 million to $140 million based on 700,000 rides.
There were 22 known zip-line tour operations in the state in 2012, according to the report, which cited statistics from the Activities and Attractions Association of Hawaii. Since then, more have been set up, including the first elaborate operation on Oahu that opened with seven pairs of zip lines in the hills of Kahuku above farms earlier this year.
The first commercial zip line on Oahu was a 400-foot-long ride from a tree over a miniature golf course at Bayview Golf Course in Kaneohe.
Two more Oahu property owners have announced plans to get into the game: one in Aiea where a developer is trying to obtain environmental approvals to establish a series of zip lines on conservation land above the Royal Summit residential subdivision, and one at Kualoa Ranch.
In Waikiki, some Waikiki residents aren’t too sure that zip-lining is a good fit for an urban beachfront resort area.
John Popovich, general manager of the Ilikai, a tower of mostly condominium owners that partly fronts the Hilton lagoon, said residents have had issues with activities and development at Hilton Hawaiian Village in the past, including luau held on the parking garage roof and construction of a bar by the lagoon.
Popovich said he hopes and expects Hilton will share more information about the zip-line plan with its neighbors.
"The board and the homeowners would like to learn more about it," he said. "Owners are concerned about their views."
Waikiki Beach Activities is in an early stage of exploring the feasibility of its plan. The company told DLNR that its proposed test will provide information about the visual impact, ideal position and engineering issues prior to design and development.
The company said a landing platform will be contained on a mobile vehicle that will be driven and secured in a lawn area past the makai edge of the lagoon beach each morning and then removed each evening. The landing zone will be high enough so that the ride poses no hazard to pedestrians or swimmers below, the company added in its application letter. And at the end of each day, the wire line for the ride would be coiled up on a mechanical drum, the letter also explained.
Safety is something the industry in Hawaii has so far managed to uphold relatively well, with no customer deaths. However, two employees have died in the past four years: one who fell this year after trying to prevent a rider from rebounding backward at the end of a ride on Maui, and one who fell during a test ride on a new course on Hawaii island in 2011 when a support tower collapsed.
The death this year prompted some lawmakers to reconsider trying to impose safety regulations on the industry. The 2012 audit advised against regulation, citing injury levels that are higher for other activities such as archery, snowboarding and football.
"Generally, we found the aerial adventure course industry, which includes zip lines and canopy tours, has a good safety record, given that certain risks are inherent in such activities," the report said.
It’s unclear what permits would be necessary for the proposed Waikiki zip line. The takeoff area is Hilton property. The landing spot and the lagoon are state property, though Hilton controls use and maintenance of the lagoon area as part of a 1955 agreement tied to initial development of the resort.
Hilton expects to pay the state rent for use of the landing area, the application letter indicated.
The land board is scheduled to vote Friday on whether to allow the test. The exercise would involve hanging a test line over the lagoon Oct. 20-22 and possibly sending a 20-pound dummy down the line to simulate a rider.
"We want to test to see if it’s viable," said Jerry Gibson, the area vice president overseeing Hawaii for Hilton Hotels & Resorts. "It would be kind of fun if we can make it work. This is something that could be very exciting."
