Frecks on a ridge in American Samoa
This is where you’ll soon be able to learn about excellent places to see and things to do in Kauai and other places Frecks has been. Stay tuned! #smelltheroses
Back in 1993, my friends and I used to drive up to the end of the Wailua River where there was a deep pool to swim in and have fun. It’s also where one of the canals for the sugar cane water system starts. This canal diverts water from the river into the canal right there and goes around the corner of the mountain into a cave and comes out the other side back into the canal. It was real scary but we wanted to try to float through the cave and come out the other side. We thought a lot about how we could do it without drowning. So we floated a tennis ball at the mouth of the cave and had our friends look for it on the other side. When it came out on the other side of the mountain, we floated a bigger ball to see if it would make it through. We put a soccer ball and a beach ball through, and they all made it. Once in a while the ball would have some dirt or slime on it, so we knew it was hitting the ceiling or the walls as it floated through the cave. The really scary part? Rain in Kauai would raise the river really quickly as it rushed down the mountains.
Finally, the day came when I put all my scuba gear on and tied a rope around my waist and went for it. I had an underwater light with me. We picked a day when there wasn’t much rain, and luckily I made it to the other side of the mountain and lived to tell the tale! We thought we could get rich selling this ride, but our business plan kept getting shot down. We made it through the cave, but were dead in the water as far as making some money sharing this awesome ride with other people.
We were daredevils back then. They were still growing sugar cane in Kauai and someone still owned those canals. It was too risky!
But since then, they quit growing sugar cane and someone else managed to get the idea approved and that person is making money off of this awesome tubing adventure. Now, you can float in peace with no worries of drowning. It is all kosher and insured as far as I know.
“Witness Kauai’s spectacular engineering feats as you float down the tropical waterway consisting of open ditches, tunnels and flumes all of which were engineered and hand dug around 1870.” See more at this discount ticket site. #traveltips
Out by #Anahola is a marked trail near the reservoir, but you’ve got to pay attention to see it. You park by the reservoir and walk in to a natural slide that is slicked with water and which is just like a fun park’s slide, only far better because it is entirely the product of nature. There are many small pools and places for you to jump from above. About 100 yards down the trail is the famous pool shown in Jurassic Park—the one that the helicopter descends towards in front of a waterfall. The lowest jump is around 30 feet so it isn’t for the faint of heart.
One of the first times I was out there I was afraid to make the leap. I stood holding the nearest root and thought “Oh man, oh man…” and tried to gauge the depth of the water.
I am not sure if I would have done it if a bunch of teenagers hadn’t come along and bruised my ego. They made a ton of noise as they made their way down the trail, and as I stood there I heard one of them say, “Mister, just get out of the way!” This took me a back a bit, and I waved my arm as if to say, “After you.” These boys didn’t hesitate, and with three abrupt whooshes they were over the edge and out of sight. “Hell,” I said, “If they can do it, I can too.”
Robert Winter is a born protector. Whether he's bodyguarding in Vegas or assessing the damage of hurricane, he's always been the man for the job...
