Kottke, in turn, enlisted the help of Gabriel Riela-Enoka and Wendy Ernst, tech gurus turned photographers. Using Snapsportz’ camera technology, Ernst and Riela-Enoka engineered a wireless automated camera network that runs completely on the existing solar power system. (The experience also led to the launch of a new company, Aloha Pixels.) Finally, a wireless Internet connection was created, using relays and boosters to transmit images from cameras to the controller station at the Aloha Pixels base camp.
“You take a lot of stuff for granted when you have Internet and power and everything right at your fingertips,” says Ernst. “It’s a bit of a challenge [in the Valley], but we like the whole green factor, and I see that there is a trend going to these green solutions. Tour operators try to get into more exclusive locations for adventure tourism, but there is a need to be low impact.”
SHOWING THE WAY
Other than one truck full of water, Kualoa Ranch’s zip tour operation has been entirely self-sustaining since opening in January 2015.
Even within Kualoa Ranch, the zip line tour is setting an example. The Ranch holds Sustainable Tourism Certification from the Hawaii Ecotourism Association, but the zip tour is the only part of the property that is entirely self-sustaining. It’s become a local beacon of environmental, economic, and social responsibility—something Morgan calls “a triple bottom line.”
The zip line tour’s water supply comes from gutters, affixed to the roof and the edges of solar panels, that channel rainwater runoff into a 3,000-gallon, gravity-fed water catchment system.
While the solar equipment and installation represented a substantial initial investment, it was still less costly than traditional solutions. And the tour’s virtually non-existent operating costs have more than paid for the initial investment, in the form of ample revenue and happy guests.
It’s been so economically viable, in fact, that solar panels are finding their way onto other roofs around the resort. “It’s been working so well with the zip tour, that they thought, ‘Why not for the rest of the ranch?’” Hughes says proudly.
“I think in the future we’ll see more people [adding solar],” says Hughes. “A lot of our guests have commented on it. They like that it’s green, and their adventure is something they can feel good about.”
BY THE NUMBERS
KUALOA RANCH
TREETOP CANOPY ZIPLINE TOUR
• 2 miles from main resort
• 3-hour tour (2-hour tour plus
1-hour commute)
• 7 tandem zip lines, 2 suspension bridges, 3 hikes
• 10 tours per day,
10 guests per tour
• 3 guides per tour
• 5 feet: maximum height from
the ground for most platforms
• 90 feet: highest point above the ground on the tour
• 1,287 feet: length of the longest
zip line
• 25: number of staff
(20 guides, 4 drivers, 1 manager)
• 30 solar panels, 2 inverters,
12 batteries
• 3 days: how long the water and power systems can operate
without being replenished
