Oahu, Hawaii: Parasail

Parasailing is a lot of fun and doing it in a tropical place adds to the experience.  This activity gave us an opportunity to get out on a boat and get a high up look at the area.  Here's our experience:

We waited to book this experience until we were in Oahu.  There are a ton of coupons you can find so we didn't really see anything that benefited us in reserving a "seat" ahead of time.  Plus, it isn't hard to find an opening if you book a day in advance.  I did notice that the mid day trips filled faster but we took some of the early slots.

When deciding what company we wanted to go with we looked for safety and experience. However, there was something about this process that made us wonder if the companies were connected in any way.  When we arrived - we discovered that they were all (or at least the 3 companies we were considering) connected!  No matter which of the 3 companies you booked through - you checked in at the same place and got on the same boat.  But - there was a price difference depending on what company you booked through!  Basically, the better the advertisement was the more you paid....  We booked ours through A-1 but they sent us to this X-Treme Parasail "office" for check-in.

Check-in

Getting strapped in.
My son was a little hesitant about doing this but overall he had fun.

On the way up.

This just looked crazy!
My husband and daughter were up there and didn't even notice it!

A dip in the water!

I had my waterproof camera so we could take pics in the air.

Picture from our time in the air (and my sons feet).

More of the view.

When deciding on a company you will need to find a one that can meet your needs.  Here are some things to consider:

• Kids?  Not all companies work with kids.  The company we went through were happy to allow my 6 and 8 year old to participate.
• How high do you want to go?  There are different length lines that will allow you to go higher.
• Pictures:  If you choose to do so, the company we used took pictures for you from the boat with a more professional camera.  You would get a memory card with all the pics for $30.  We brought one camera on the boat for pictures and one waterproof camera for up in the air.  Since we had two groups going up it worked great for us to get pictures of us all in the air and from the boat (without needing the company to take pictures for us).  You can also ask other people on the boat to help take pictures.  They are usually happy to do so if you return the favor.
• Side by side?  Most places sit double occupants side by side but when we did this 10 years ago we were front and back.  Some places offer both options.  We were told that side by side was best for our little ones.  
• Just ridding along?  You can pay a lesser amount to just ride in the boat but not go in the air.  This is great for groups that have people who are not ready for the height.
• Tips - they do ask for them at the end.

On a side note:  you can also charter fishing boats!

To see more, visit my post on Oahu.