Completed: 03/09/2013
Loved the parachute design
Why did I put parasailing on my bucket list? I think part of motivation was to include more water-related activities since I have a fear of the open water, and also because I wanted to put something that was somewhat extreme (being up in the air above the water counts as extreme to me).
As luck would have it, I saw a Groupon deal for parasailing in Hawaii Kai with SeaBreeze Water Sports. It was $59 for a tandem parasailing experience (it's always nicer to be able to share the experience with someone else). I totally took advantage of the deal, getting my good friend Zhihua, who also recruited her cousin and other friend Jessica to jump on the Groupon deal.
Getting ready to go up
We scheduled our 6-person group experience for Saturday, March 9.
Recruiting my partner was an ordeal in itself, but luckily, one of my
best friends (Sharon) was able to come out that day! The weather that
week was clear skies, but on the morning of, torrents of rain just
rushed down in that area. I was extremely worried that we'd be rained
out and started negotiating with Mother Nature. I guess it worked,
because the rain magically stopped when our 10:00 appointment time
arrived.
After we all checked in, we rode out on a yellow banana-looking boat from the man-made bay to the open waters. To me, that was the most fun part of the entire experience, getting to bounce on the waves as we headed out. Later, we met up with a second, larger boat, and transferred over.
After we all checked in, we rode out on a yellow banana-looking boat from the man-made bay to the open waters. To me, that was the most fun part of the entire experience, getting to bounce on the waves as we headed out. Later, we met up with a second, larger boat, and transferred over.
I guess I was pretty excited/scared to go up
Sharon and I ended up being the second of the three groups parasailing.
After getting strapped up, we headed to the back of the boat, where we
got attached to the parachute (which had an awesome smiley face design).
The scaredy cat that I am was pretty freaked out in the air. Side
note: the fair ride that scares me the most is the swings/yo-yo, where
you fly around in a circle sitting in a chair that is held up by only
four chains. The thought of the chains breaking and my flying from my
chair always crosses my mind when I'm on that ride. This thought crossed
my mind as I was parasailing, except that the chains were replaced by
bungee rope.
The ride wasn't too bad; one of the staff guys took pictures while the other guided the boat. There was also a GoPro camera recording us as well. After cruising around in the air for a bit, which was probably at an altitude of 50 feet, we were slowly brought down. But before we were pulled into the boat again, we got dunked a bit in the water. Nice.
The ride wasn't too bad; one of the staff guys took pictures while the other guided the boat. There was also a GoPro camera recording us as well. After cruising around in the air for a bit, which was probably at an altitude of 50 feet, we were slowly brought down. But before we were pulled into the boat again, we got dunked a bit in the water. Nice.
Getting dunked
Our group started getting sick from sitting in the larger boat since the waters were pretty choppy that day. But after everyone got their turn, we headed back on a smaller boat to the shop. After looking at our pictures and video footage, which costs $50 as a complete package for all 6 of us (we were surprised at how cheap it turned out to be), we purchased it and now have evidence of our adventure.
Our adventure ended with lunch at The Shack and buying Girl Scout cookies. Props to the three little girls dressed in their cookie costumes and coming up with songs to sell their cookies. They even accompanied their "Girl Scout cookies, Girl Scout cookies, Girl Scout cookies, please buy some!" with a dance jig. Precious.
