ON PARASAIL: A BIRD’S EYE VIEW OF LANGKAWI
My fear of heights is
undeniable. Swimming skill is nearly
nil. But when presented with a breath-taking
landscape hundreds of feet above a vast body of water and a new adventure to
unfold, I succumbed.
I am glad my friends
arranged a memorable itinerary for this Langkawi sojourn. Everything was pre-arranged and I was just
there to enjoy and this makes me fortunate to have them as travel buddies. For a good introduction, it was a heavenly
ride, gliding with a parasail on clear skies and with good friends to share the
experience with.
Upon arrival at the Langkawi
International Airport around 7PM, noticeable is the airports’ interior which
include the famous characters of Mickey, Minnie Mouse and Goofy suspended on
air riding a parachute. It’s so
coincidental that we’re three in the group as well. Would we look the same while on air?
Serving as a welcome signage
in Langkawi, parasailing must be a “must-do-when-in-Langkawi”
thing, I told myself. I was standing at
the booth of Naam Sports, a premier leisure and water sports company in
Langkawi, Malaysia while waiting for my travel buddies arrival at Langkawi
Airport from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Morning came. After breakfast at our booked hotel, we were
fetched by a shuttle van en route to Tanjung Rhu beach as our destination. Upon arrival, we were ushered to the office
of Naam Sports, which is just right across the beach. And there we met a friendly
Filipino staff who gave us a briefing of what to expect on this water sports
activity. Since we intend to do the
activity together, we were asked to weigh-in first as a safety precaution and
if the parachute can hold us up in the air.
Fortunately, it can.
Together with other
tourists, we were ushered to a speed boat which would take us to the middle of
the Langkawi archipelago. It is no
ordinary speedboat to begin with. The
marketing director was on board as well, enough reason for us to know how
dependable and safe this activity will be. We were boarded on a Sea Osprey, a
state of the art parasailing vessel.
Naam Sports is the only certified and fully insured provider of
parasailing adventures in Langkawi. The parasails
are also custom-made with a variety of safety features to ensure a smooth sail
even on turbulent wind. Safety is the
main focus of the company, thus, the crew are all well-trained, life vests and
harnesses come in various sizes to fit different types of physique and more
importantly the passenger bar is adjusted according to one’s weight.
With that credentials, my
fear of heights lessened and I am more than excited to be floating 500 feet
above the Langkawi archipelago.
We were the last ones to do
the parasail. The parasail can carry up
to a maximum of three and I’m glad it can.
I need support for this ordeal.
When our time came and respective harness were attached, I had mixed
feelings. There’s no backing out after
all.
In no time, after the
screaming and ranting, we were suspended in air. The limestone cliffs at Tanjung Rhu was a
sight to behold and the Langkawi archipelago in general on a bird’s eye view. It was good that one of my travel buddies was
able to bring his underwater camera and that he was able to document the
scenery and the experience up in the air. As for me, I continuously grip the
straps while on suspended air as I glance at the scenery down under.
It was 10-minute ride up in
the air. We were asked beforehand if we
want to deep in the water before landing on the Sea Osprey and of course we
agreed. The 10-minute was short for my
travel buddies while it was so long for me.
But, I would be more than willing to experience the same all over again.
Location: Tanjung Rhu,
Pantai Cenang, Kuah, Langkawi, Malaysia
Rates: RM265 single; RM430 double; and RM645 triple
+60 (4) 963 9200
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