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A First-Timer’s Guide to Parasailing – What to Expect, What to Wear + When to Go

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Parasailing is one thing I never thought I would talk myself into. This is mainly because I didn’t know what exactly it all entailed other than it combined two of my big fears – heights and the potential to drown, haha. (I’m not a very strong swimmer, so water makes me a bit nervous.)

Hopefully, this post will help clear up what to expect when you go parasailing for the first time and convince you to actually do it! I’m so glad my sister-in-law talked me into it, because we had a blast – despite my irrational fears, haha! (My family ended up going as a group of 5, and my sister-in-law and I went together.)

This post will explain parasailing, what to expect when you go, how to dress for parasailing and when the best time of day to go parasailing is! Enjoy!

Parasailing in Myrtle Beach

What is Parasailing?

Parasailing is when you are attached to an open parachute and are getting towed by a motorboat. I’m sure every parasailing place has different heights they can take you, but we were told we were over 300 feet in the air when we were getting pulled.

parasailing

What Time of Day is Best for Parasailing?

So, the time of day you pick to go parasailing is actually really important. Obviously, the weather is the biggest concern when it comes to parasailing and conditions need to be ideal to go out. It’s actually best if you can get an earlier morning time, as it will be less windy in the morning.

We actually had to push our time back, though, due to heavy fog in the morning, and we didn’t go out until nearly 1 p.m. However, it was still a good time! So, don’t be discouraged if you can’t get the earliest time.

parasailing in Myrtle Beach

How Should I Prepare for Parasailing & What Should I Wear??

You have your time booked, and now you just have to wait! You don’t need any type of experience to go parasailing, and you don’t need to do anything special before you go. The place you book through should provide you your own life jackets and harness.

I would, however, recommend wearing swim bottoms that fit you very well. At least when we went, they dipped us in the water just before bringing us in, which could’ve been bad if we were wearing loose-fitting bottoms! Haha. (Below is the swimsuit I wore for parasailing, you can click here to shop it.)

The guys just wore swim trunks that tied. And my father-in-law also wore a T-shirt, but that’s it. Nothing too crazy!

The swimsuit I wore for parasailing – bottoms that fit well are important!
parasailing
Getting dipped in the water!

What to Actually Expect When Parasailing

Alright, alright, the most important part of this post! What can you expect when you go parasailing:

*You’ll get your lifejackets and wait on the beach to be transported to your motorboat. I’m sure every place does this slightly differently, but we went when we were in Myrtle Beach and booked through Ocean Watersports. They took us to the motorboat via a banana boat (click here to see what that is exactly). This was scarier for me than the actual parasailing part, haha. I thought for sure I was going to fall off that banana boat! But, once again, my fears were unfounded and the crew got us there and back safely.

*Once you’re on the boat, you’ll either sit down and wait your turn or get strapped into your harness right away (depending on how many people are in your group).

*Your harness will likely be loose fitting – don’t panic! Haha. You’ll be fine.

*When we went, they launched us right from a spot on the boat, which was really easy!

parasailing
Off we go!

*Enjoy the ride!

*I honestly couldn’t tell you the exact time we were in the air, but it felt like we were up for around 10 minutes.

parasailing

*When you come back to land, be sure to keep your legs straight out (as though you’re going to sit on the boat – exactly like when you go skydiving).

Ta-da! You survived parasailing, and I bet you had a wonderful time!

Honest Thoughts – Is it Scary?

I have been working to get over my fear of heights and have forced myself to go bungy jumping and jump out of an airplane at 15,000 feet and also walked along the edge of the Sydney Tower – these were all FAR more scary things to do than go parasailing. My family and I all agreed – parasailing was a lot of fun and wasn’t the least bit frightening. You also were able to see some great views of the surrounding area.

*We also had a great experience with Ocean Watersports, they were professional and safe for our entire experience.

parasailing

Also, I was really happy we spent the 30 some odd dollars on the photos of our experience! I wouldn’t have been able to capture these myself. I’ll include all the photos in a gallery at the end of the post so you can see how many we actually got for that price. (I was impressed.)

Now, I’m curious, have you ever gone parasailing? And if not, would you if you had the chance? Let me know in the comments!

*Click here to see all of my Myrtle Beach posts.

Using a VPN When Traveling

VPN is short for “virtual private network.” A VPN (like IPVanish) sets up a private connection between your device and whatever network you are connected to – so, no one can see your browsing data. It is important to use a VPN anytime you are connected to public Wifi (such as at a restaurant, resort, hotel, cafe, airport, etc.). This is because when you connect to a public network no matter where you are, you run the risk of a hacker grabbing your unencrypted data. Trust me, speaking from experience here…this can put a real damper on your trip if your banking, phone or email get hacked while you’re traveling!

VPNs can also help you save on domestic flights, help you watch Netflix shows not available in the US and more! You can read more about using a VPN in my post “Why I Use a VPN When Traveling and at Home (And You Should Too).”

Travel Insurance

As of 2021, many destinations require having travel medical insurance that covers COVID-19. Squaremouth is the only site that currently lets you filter travel insurance policies for COVID-19 coverage. I, personally, use Squaremouth for finding the best insurance policies for my travels, and I have already used them for trips planned in 2021. They’re also recommended by Forbes! You can click here to get your free travel insurance quote .

Need a housesitter while you are gone?

I, personally, recommend TrustedHouseSitters if you need to find a housesitter/someone to watch your pets while you are away.

How TrustedHousesitters works is they connect home and pet owners with trustworthy, verified sitters who won’t charge to look after your pets, in exchange for a unique place to stay. They have sitters and homes all over the world!

It’s a fantastic way to find trustworthy people to watch your home and pets while you are away. (And on the flipside, it’s a cool way to stay in different areas of the country and world without having to pay for accommodation! I have a friend who literally didn’t own or rent a home for years, and only used TrustedHouseSitters to find the next spot she was going to stay.) 

  • Click here for more information on TrustedHouseSitters.
first-timer's guide to parasailing
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Links à la Mode, June 14th, 2018

Hi! I’m Lindsey, the voice behind Have Clothes, Will Travel. I’m an online shopping aficionado from a small town in Wisconsin who has also lived in Russia, Argentina, Japan & Australia.

32 Comments

  2. I’ve never been parasailing before, but my family and I are going on vacation near the ocean and a lot of us really want to try it out. It’s very good to know that I should expect the harness to feel loose and that it’s perfectly normal. Your tip to keep our legs straight out when we’re coming back down for a landing is really helpful, as well, and I’ll be sure to pass that on to the rest of my family.

    Reply

  3. It’s nice to know that you won’t have to do anything special before you go on parasailing and you won’t have to provide your own life jackets and harness. My best friend and I are interested in parasailing, and we want to make sure that we have everything that we need once we decide to go on parasailing. We’re actually talking about buying life jackets, so it’s great to know that it must be provided by the place that you’ll book. Thanks!

    Reply

  5. How neat! I’ve always though parasailing sounded so much fun. I really might consider it next time we go to the beach.

    Reply

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