If you have visited any of the major beaches in Phuket then surely you have noticed there are an abundance of parasailing operations working from sunrise until sunset. They spend the day pulling tourists around the coves, dangling from a parachute for a quick thrill. Quick is the key word here, the average ride is about 4 minutes long.
I decided this would be a good opportunity to get a different vantage point for some photographs and wanted to give it a go. After all everyone that visits Phuket gets shots from the various view points, but without a drone it's a little more difficult to get one back at the shores.
For 2 days I went around to various beaches to see if there were operators and timed the duration of each flight. I found Karon and Patong beach to have the most operators and the longest flight times and Karon was the winner with just over 5 minutes in the air and the lowest price. I had managed to talk the operators down from 2000 baht per person to 1000. Keeping in mind it was low season and there were not a lot of people buying flights so it was relatively easy for me to get a deal for myself and my friend who was accompanying me that day. At first the operators wanted us to do a tandem flight where we were both attached to the same chute but I wanted solo flights so I could get various shots.
My friend went first, she was pretty nervous but everyone assured her that the operators do this all the time and there is little chance of error. It took about 5 minutes for her to get strapped into the rig and for the operators to setup the chute. The boat pulled the rope taught and she was told to run. Just like that she was up in the air, dangling from a parachute over the ocean. Behind her was an operator sitting on some of the rigging. He had no safety equipment on, no harness, not even a rope. He was just sitting there on the rope steering the chute. I thought that looked pretty crazy and after asking was told no I could not sit there for my ride.
After a quick trip around half of the bay, out from the center and up to the North end and back, the chute started to descend. A group of several Thai men reached and grabbed as my friend was about to touch the ground and they caught her, holding her and the chute secure. They released her from her bindings and that was it her ride was over. She seemed really excited and happy. All of that fear she had before take off was completely gone.
Next up it was my turn. Because I had my DSLR with me I started to take a video from after my harness was on until after take-off when I wanted to start taking photos. Take a look at how long it takes to get ready and what the first moments of lift off are like below this paragraph.
As you can see it gets a bit hectic right at lift off. Once I was in the air I had to hold onto the left grab handle to keep myself upright and try to snap photos with my right hand. This was while the wind was extremely turbulent and shaking my whole body around and water sprayed up from the ocean below. It was not ideal conditions for taking shots but I did what I could to take a couple. I eventually gave up on the idea and just decided to enjoy the ride. In hindsight I should have gone several times. The first couple just to see what the environment was like and to get used to maneuvering around before taking a bulky camera up with me and then a couple more times to take the shots. Honestly though, I don't think a handful of images would be worth 5000 to 10 000 baht.
The view was pretty cool, the best perspective was when we came back along the beach. Looking down at all the people, seeing my favorite restaurant Tony from a new vantage point and of course watching the ground come closer and closer. On final decent it feels like you are coming towards the ground very fast. When you watch someone else landing it doesn't really look like they are coming in very quickly but from the perspective of the rider its actually quite quick. Luckily there were several Thai men waiting to attempt to catch me when I landed. To give you an idea of what that was like, it reminded me of watching someone hit a strike at 10 pin bowling only instead of flying around the pins stuck to the ball.
All in all parasailing is fun. If you have ever done it somewhere aside from Phuket you may not find it any more interesting than your last trip but if you have never experienced it, you should give it a go. Your best bet is to get a group of people together and go negotiate a good price per person for all of you. If you want the longest ride go to Karon beach. If you plan to take actual photos using a full sized camera go more than once. The first time leave your camera on the ground. A GoPro with a head band mount would probably be best but you will not get the same high quality photos you would with a DSLR. Also if its images you are after, make sure you use a lens that has stabilization and be sure to tell the operators to make sure you DO NOT get dunked into the ocean. They like to do this to add to the excitement and it will ruin your gear.
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