Fun Family Activity in Hawaii

Wet 'n' Wild Hawaii
Put on your swimsuit and get set for some wild, wet, watery fun. Swirl in a 45-foot-high water funnel. Body surf or grab a tube to ride two-foot swells in a 400,000-gallon wave pool. Speed down a slide that catapults you into the air before you free fall into a 12-foot-deep pool. Experience the thrill of white-water rafting around sharp turns and over steep drops. Get wet, get wild! The name of this 29-acre water playground says it all. Wet ’n’ Wild Hawaii offers rides and attractions that pump up your heart rate and make you scream with delight.

Maui Ocean Center
State-of-the-art marine park with interactive displays attracts thousands of visitors a year. With outdoor touch pools, interactive displays and a 750,000-gallon Open Ocean Exhibit with more than 2,000 fishes, it’s no wonder Maui Ocean Center in Wailuku is one of the island’s most popular attractions. About 400,000 people visit this $20 million state-of-the-art marine park every year, learning about the endangered Hawaiian green sea turtles or browsing the largest collection of live coral in the U.S.

Kualoa Ranch
A 4,000 acre working ranch offers a wide-range of activities and adventure. Fun guided eco-tours go to many locations seen in the 50-plus movies and TV shows that have been filmed at Kualoa since the 1950s, including Jurassic Park. Reserve a full day for a visit; there’s that much to do. For example, go horseback riding, drive an ATV, cruise around an 800-year-old fishpond in a catamaran. Paddle a canoe; rumble through a rainforest in a four-wheel-drive vehicle; stroll through gardens of fruit trees and fragrant flowers.

Panaewa Rainforest Zoo and Gardens
Spy the state bird, the nene (pronounced neh-neh), plus ibis, macaws, parrots, pueo (owl), amakihi honeycreepers, whistling tree ducks and more. The reigning reptiles are the Asian Forest Tortoises, which weigh 50-85 pounds and have large carapaces of 16-24 inches. The free zoo also has a variety of turtles, geckos and iguanas, red tegu lizards, skinks, frogs and a butterfly house. Botanical wonders include the Giant Victoria Waterlily, which seasonally blooms 18-inch blossoms during the summer.

Mountain Tubing
The sugar plantations play an important part in Hawaii’s history, and this unique inner tube tour takes you through the historic irrigation system of the former Lihue Plantation. This water system runs through some of the most beautiful and remote parts of Kauai and provides views of the ocean, coastline, mountains and valleys. The water flow originates near the top of Mount Waialeale, the wettest spot in the world, and is channeled through ditches and tunnels manually created by plantation workers more than a century ago.