Kualoa Ranch
49–560 Kamehameha Highway, Kaneohe, Oahu, Hawaii
Kualoa Ranch is a one-stop adventure playground and a highlight for many travelers to Oahu. Stretching from the verdant folds of the Koolau Mountains to the tropical sea, the 4,000-acre (1,619-hectare) working cattle ranch is one of the largest tracts of accessible nature on Oahu and offers visitors a huge variety of ways to interact with Hawaii’s stunning landscapes, from ATV rides and zipline adventures to film site tours.
The property is divided into two areas: the northerly Kaaawa Valley with its many movie locations and Hakipuu Valley, fronted by an 800-year-old Hawaiian fishpond and the site’s Secret Island Beach.
Guided Kualoa Ranch activities include bouncing along on an ATV tour, exploring the trails on a horseback ride, soaring through the jungle canopy on a zipline tour, cruising by catamaran around Kaneohe Bay, discovering Oahu’s famous film sites on a movie tour, and sunbathing on a white-sand beach. You can book Kualoa Ranch tickets for individual excursions.
The ranch can be visited for a single activity, on a full-day adventure tour, or on a circle island tour that also visits other top Oahu sites such as Diamond Head, Makapuu Beach, and Kaneohe Bay. Choose from nearly a dozen themed activities, including unique options such as a farm-to-table look at the property’s ranching and a tour of Kualoa’s modern fruit orchards.
All onsite experiences are part of fully guided tours, and reservations should be made at least 24 hours in advance.
Kualoa Ranch offers lockers, a gift shop, a visitor center, and a restaurant, Aunty Pat’s Cafe, which serves dishes featuring Kualoa-grown meats and vegetables.
Insect repellant and rain jackets may be helpful on jungle tours.
Horseback riding tours are limited to visitors ages 10 and up; ATV tours are limited to those 16 and over.
Some tours include round-trip transport from Waikiki hotels.
The property is set 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Waikiki Beach and about 11 miles (18 kilometers) north of Kaneohe on Oahu’s windward side. It’s possible to take public transit via The Bus from Waikiki (Bus 55 runs past the property), but most visitors drive themselves along the scenic coastal roads or choose a tour that includes hotel pickup and roundtrip transportation.
The ranch is open daily from 8:30am to 6pm. While each tour departs several times per day, active tours—like ATV riding and ziplining—are best done in early morning or late afternoon to avoid midday heat. Year-round temperatures on Oahu are almost always between 70°F (21°C) and 80°F (27°C), so there is no bad time of year to visit, though rain showers are most common between November and February.
Kualoa Ranch’s natural beauty is so scenic that its backdrop has been featured in numerous Hollywood movies and TV shows. Choose a movie site tour and hop aboard a green bus for an off-road ride into cinematic history. Take photos in one of the Lost bunkers, hide behind the log that shielded Jurassic Park visitors from stampeding dinosaurs, and check out the Hukilau Cafe, where Adam Sandler’s Henry first met Drew Barrymore’s Lucy in 50 First Dates.
The ranch offers a 90-minute standard movie tour, a 2.5-hour premier movie site tour, and a special 90-minute Jurassic Park Jungle Expedition, all with multiple daily departures.
The tour cost at Kualoa Ranch depends on which tour you book. The ranch offers various tours and packages, from horseback riding to ziplining, and the cost of each varies. A package that includes multiple activities is the best value.
Tours at Kualoa Ranch last between 90 minutes and three hours, depending on your chosen tour. There are many ways of exploring Kualoa Ranch, from a short ATV or e-bike tour to a zipline tour or a tour of Hollywood movie filming locations. The duration varies from tour to tour.
No, you cannot walk around Kualoa Ranch without a tour. The ranch is privately owned, so you must book a tour to explore it. However, the gift shop and restaurant are open to everyone, with or without a tour.
Yes, there is parking at Kualoa Ranch, and it is free. If you do not have your own transportation, you can book round-trip transfers from Waikiki and Honolulu through Kualoa Ranch or visit as part of an island-wide tour that includes hotel pickup and drop-off.
Kualoa Ranch offers a wide variety of tours to choose from, including ATV tours that allow you to explore the valleys, ziplining tours over the forest canopy, movie-themed tours that take you to the filming locations for such movies as Jurassic Park, guided hikes to waterfalls, and horseback tours.
You should dress for the heat at Kualoa Ranch, where many areas are exposed to the hot Hawaiian sun. Dress in light clothing and wear sunscreen, sunglasses, and a sun hat. You should also wear comfortable closed-toe walking shoes and carry a light waterproof in case of rain.
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