How this zipline directory is compiled

Nine fields, one source per figure, and a status column that is checked rather than assumed. The method, in full, so the tables can be judged on it.

Why a method page exists

Most zipline round-ups are assembled from other zipline round-ups. That is how a course that shut in 2024 is still described as the longest line in Hawaii, and why two guides can give the same course six lines and eight lines on the same afternoon. A comparison is only worth reading if you can see where the numbers came from, so this page sets out the method before the tables ask to be trusted.

The nine fields

Every course in the directory is recorded on the same fields: name, island, area, number of lines, longest single line, maximum height above ground, minimum age, rider weight range, and operating status. Fields were chosen because they change the decision. Price is deliberately not among them, because it moves faster than a static page can follow and because it is the one figure every operator publishes clearly.

Sourcing rules

• Operator first. Figures come from the operator's own site, help pages or booking conditions. The source is named on the course profile.
• No estimates. A missing figure is a dash. Filling it with a plausible number is how errors spread, and it is the single most common failure in this niche.
• Conflicts get published. Where an operator's own pages disagree, both numbers are noted.
• Status is verified separately. Line counts rarely change; whether a course is running changes often, and it is the field with the shortest shelf life.

What closes a row

A closed course is not deleted. Its row stays with the status marked, because the specifications remain part of the record and because people search for those courses by name for years afterwards. Deleting them would leave the same question unanswered that sent someone here in the first place.

What is out of scope

Aerial adventure parks with short practice lines, ropes courses and canopy walkways are not counted as zipline courses here, even where the same operator runs both. Neither are private or backyard installations, which are built to no standard and belong in the safety discussion rather than in a comparison of commercial courses.

Why price is not one of the fields

Price is the one figure every operator publishes clearly and the one that changes fastest, which makes it the worst possible column in a static comparison. A table that says $220 and is three months old is worse than no table, because it looks precise. Specifications behave the opposite way: a course's line count and longest span are stable for years, so they are worth recording and worth comparing.

How a row gets changed

Three things change a row. The operator publishes a different figure, in which case the profile is updated and the source note changes with it. A reader sends a correction with a link to the operator's own page, which is the fastest route and the most welcome. Or the operating status changes, which is checked directly rather than inferred from the absence of bookings.

What does not change a row is another guide saying something different. That is how the errors in this niche propagate, and treating other listings as sources is precisely the mistake this method exists to avoid.