Last Sunday, Jeff and I went parasailing in Myrtle Beach with my writer friend, Kimberly Duncan. 
Soaring high in a Carolina blue sky, hundreds of feet above the Atlantic cannot be described simply. It is exhilarating and breathtaking, a thrill of the finest sort.
Just as breathtaking, for totally different reasons, was the banana boat ride that took us out to the parasailing boat. Several times, my life flashed before my very eyes. But once we got up there….. it was fabulous! As we climbed higher and higher, it got very quiet and peaceful.
Perhaps because it requires no training, parasailing is probably the most popular of the water bound opportunities provided by Ocean Watersports. An experienced Captain and crew do all the work. Participants, carefully harnessed to a specially designed parachute, leave and return from the back of the boat. You don’t even have to hold on! The boat zooms off, lifting the parascender into the air. Ocean Watersports has boats that are powerful enough to pull two or three people at a time! Safety is paramount. The company trains its operators comprehensively and insists on the latest in marine and parasailing equipment.
Easter through October, Ocean Watersports opens at 9 AM. Earlier appointments may be available with reservations. Mornings seem to offer the best chance for spotting sea turtles and dolphins at play.
They also have hour and half hour rates to rent Jet Skis and a Banana Boat Ride! Now, I’m our little Banana Boat ride would have actually been quite fun if we had had calmer seas…. (I’m telling you….. the waves MUST have been about 6 feet!…OK, well, maybe 3).
You can make reservations, as well as purchase tickets and gift certificates, online. Questions welcomed at 843-445-7777, or visit the website at
Kimberly is the editor of Lowcounty Companion, a nature-based guide to the Myrtle Beach, Conway, Georgetown, and Pawleys Island SC areas. You can find all kinds of interesting articles about the area at http://www.elowcountry.com/about-lowcountry-companion.
