Smiling Down from Above

Next thing that is crossed off on my list is parasailing. Parasailing is fun, relaxing and not scary at all. I’ve actually done this twice, once in Aruba and once in Florida during a port stop on a cruise.

For those of you who haven’t been parasailing before, here is a summary of what you do.

Hop on a speed boat with a few crazy surfer dudes. Speed off to the middle of the ocean (or maybe just a half mile off shore). Sit on the back of the boat and get strapped to a giant parachute (both times I went, my chute had a giant smiley face on it! I guess parasailing is a happy sport). Then the boat speeds up, they let out the rope, and you get yanked into the air! The crazy surfer dudes who run parasailing excursions also like to dip you into the water by slowing the boat down and letting you sink til you splash into the ocean.

The first time I went parasailing was in Aruba. I was 15 with my family, and family friends who have 3 daughters, twins my age and another one who is 2 years younger. The younger sister and I decided to go parasailing. They strapped us together, one in front of the other, with me in front. Up into the air we go, with minimal squealing, and a giant smiley-faced parachute above us. The coolest thing about parasailing in this area is that the beaches and water are so pristine. The beaches are white, the water is teal and the sun is always shining from a bright blue sky.

So there we are, floating way up in the air, when suddenly we feel ourselves sinking. Uh oh! Dip time. It was fun and refreshing though, and they soon brought us back up in the air. We are looking around, taking in the sites, laughing, and just enjoying ourselves. Then we look down into the water. A few hundred feet below us, we see the outline of a very LARGE sting ray! A real, live, scary beast from the sea! We start yelling and screaming “DON’T DIP US!” Of course they can’t hear us down on the boat; all they see is us waving at them. So they wave back and start to slow down for another dip. OH SHIT! We splash into the water, pull our arms and legs in as close to our bodies as possible, and start frantically looking around for the giant sting ray we saw from the sky. Ahh where is it?! No where to be found and we soon go back up in the air. Maybe it was just a figment of our imagination or maybe we scared it away, but either way it added a fun little thrill to an, otherwise, relaxing parasailing excursion.



The second time I went parasailing was during a port stop of a cruise I was on. We stopped in Fort Lauderdale and my brother, best friend and I decided to go. It was sting ray-free and a lot of fun. Sometimes, the people you are with, make what you are doing that much more fun. My brother and best friend were a blast to hang out with for the day. And the parasail guides were hilarious! Two cute, 20-somethings, tanned from the Florida sun, were joking and flirting and speeding the boat around. It was a lot of fun, and of course, you can’t help but smile when the parachute is smiling at you!



Cross that one off the list!