Parasailing in Boracay

I have to say that the highlight of my trip, next to finally seeing the world-renowned white sand of Boracay for the first time, is being able to experience parasailing and helmet diving. We came to Boracay without a plan, just hotel reservations which we only made a few days before our trip. Although our mind was set that we’re definitely doing the parasailing and helmet diving, we didn’t have a contact person to help us in booking for these activities. I think someone initially gave Joie the contact number of a tour guide, but he was charging us PHP3500 per person! That’s too much considering that we went there during off peak season. We also met a tour guide along Station 2, and he charged us PHP1900 per person. Not bad! But one of the employees of Sunshine Place, the place where we stayed, recommended someone to us. He charged us PHP1500 for the parasailing and PHP350 for the helmet diving. We saved PHP50 per person! Haha!

Anyway, the first thing we did was the parasailing. (I'll tell you more about our helmet diving experience on a separate post.) A boat brought us to some sort of their “headquarters” which is found in the middle of the sea! A speedboat then picked us up. They briefed us while gearing us up, telling us that if in case we wanted to go down before the 15-minute “ride”, we should just motion our hands in such a way that we’re creating imaginary circles. I started to practice it because I was so sure that I would chicken out and quit in the middle! It didn’t help that Joie asked the kuyas whether they already had casualties. According to them, there were two Korean tourists who died because apparently, they still wanted to push through even if it was too windy. They ended up dying, and the agency employing the guides paid a large sum of money (PHP50 million, if I remember it correctly) to the victims’ families. They assured us though that they stop operations when it gets really windy. That was not an assurance! Haha! To make things scarier, Joie asked once again what would happen if the parachute tears down.

Kuya: Ay nangyari na ‘yun Ma’am. Napunit ‘yung parachute!
Me: Ano???!!!
Joie: Anong nangyari dun sa mga sakay?
Kuya: Wala. Laglag lang sa dagat. Basa lang sila!
Me: Wow ha, Kuya! Nakakapanatag ng loob ‘yang kwento mo! Haha!

Jeff and Joie volunteered to go first. I didn’t object given that I was really scared. I’m quite afraid of heights. My lula level is unbelievable! Alam niyo ‘yung ride sa Star City na parang nasa barko tapos sway sway ng up and down lang? Nagsuka ako dahil dun! Papanik nga lang ako ng MRT, nasusuka na ako e! =))

When it was our turn, I felt like throwing up! I was really excited because I have always wanted to do something as extreme as this one, but I was also so scared. I told myself, “Shet naman! Kaderder kung sumuka ako sa ere!” Anyway, one dilemma that we were having was whether we’d do the parasailing with our sunglasses on. Wala pang isang taon ‘yung Ray-Ban ko! Hindi naman pwedeng mag-launch ng "Search and Rescue Operations" para sa shades ko in case malaglag sa dagat! =))

We ascended slowly which is probably why my nerves finally got at ease! When we were already up in the sky, I totally forgot how scared I was! I felt invincible. I felt so proud of how I pushed myself to the limits. And I felt really stupid for being so scared! Haha! I think I would have regretted it if I didn’t do it.



And yes, I didn’t do that circle thingy that I initially practiced! \m/