ATVs Discontinued at Kualoa Ranch

[ramkam]

We received a call yesterday from Kualoa Ranch that the our reservation for the 2 hour ATV excursion in July was being cancelled because it was no longer being offered. We were offered a switch to multi-passenger UTVs or a refund.

 

[Lilsia]

Thanks for the update. I am kind of surprised as it seems to have been very popular. My daughter and I did the 2 hour horseback tour and loved it. We crossed paths with the ATVs a couple of times.

 

[chainkid]

So glad I chose to do the ATV tour on big island . I would have been so disappointed to have them cancel. It was a fun 2 hour tour but I wanted to try something new and on the big island they allow you to take a 5 year so that was deciding factor for us. Kualoa was fun . wonder why they cancelled it. Seemed pretty tame.

 

[wilbret]

Is the multi passenger utv just for your group or are you talking a shared ride? Utvs are actually way more fun and safer, i think you’ll like it... look up Polaris RZR for reference

 

[ramkam]

The website for the ranch looks like they may still offer 1 hour ATV tours. The UTVs seat four, however on our new reservation they signed us up for two UTVs for our party of four (two people per UTV).

 

[olafLover]

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[Sepo]

Not sure if it's the reason, but maybe it's because of people like me I had a really hard time controlling the ATV and at the little test run they had you make, he said if I didn't get the hang of it right at that moment, I couldn't go (way to motivate somebody ). I managed, but found it really, really difficult! Maybe they had too many troubles like that?

Do you think your specific vehicle may have been the issue, or just the overall nature of it?

 

[Stlhawkeye]

Our family of 4 did the UTV tour today, absolutely fantastic. Two hour tour and our guide was unbelievable, Lena was her name I believe. We did the 11:15 tour, then drove up the North Shore, ate at the food trucks at Sharks cove just before Waimea, I think. Checked out the huge sure, then headed south and caught the last hour of the Dole plantation just for snacks. Then back to Aulani by 6.

 

[dieumeye]

Our family of 4 did the UTV tour today, absolutely fantastic. Two hour tour and our guide was unbelievable, Lena was her name I believe. We did the 11:15 tour, then drove up the North Shore, ate at the food trucks at Sharks cove just before Waimea, I think. Checked out the huge sure, then headed south and caught the last hour of the Dole plantation just for snacks. Then back to Aulani by 6.

Thanks for this report. I've literally been thinking about doing this exact itinerary one day and wondering if it was feasible to do 2hr UTV, North Shore shrimp truck, and Dole Plantation in a day without feeling too rushed. Was there a lot of traffic congestion on the road?

 

[Stlhawkeye]

Thanks for this report. I've literally been thinking about doing this exact itinerary one day and wondering if it was feasible to do 2hr UTV, North Shore shrimp truck, and Dole Plantation in a day without feeling too rushed. Was there a lot of traffic congestion on the road?

Not a ton, mainly just after Waimea but it was only 10-15 min. There has been huge surf the past few days so I’m sure that created more traffic. We were in and out of the Dole Plantation in 30 minutes, but we only did the gift shop and dole whips/fresh pineapple. I wasn’t planning to do it, figured we wouldn’t have time, but then added it on once I saw we still had 90 minutes till it closed. It was pretty wide open traffic wise once we turned south.

We took H3 across at about 8:30, stopped and walked the beach just before the ranch, then checked in early and wandered around. It wa a perfect day and we never felt rushed. We hung out at Sharks Cove for maybe a couple hours. Ate at the shrimp and taco trucks, both were fantastic. Waimea bay was packed so we skipped it. Hope this helps!

 

[olafLover]

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[jerseygal]

The four of us, DH, me, DS, then 26, youngest DS, 18 did the ATV's in 2014. None of us were ever on an ATV and it literally was the BEST! We had such an awesome time for that hour. It wound up being just the four of us and the guide. Our youngest was last in our group, and the boys were amazed at how Mom handled the ATV. I consider myself more "anxious" than the norm on new experiences but I just loved it. Our sons are very athletic and I was turning around to make sure that the youngest was with us, lol, he lagged behind a bit. I tell people that Kuloa Ranch was the BEST, the highlight of our trip! So wonderful. Perhaps there was an accident? I thought that the ATV's were "controlled", they could not go above a certain speed. Disappointed to hear, if we return to Aulani, we would have definitely done the ATV's again. Would still return to Kualoa Ranch the BEST!

 

[wbn36]

They still do ATV - just not the 2 hour tour anymore