I planned our vacation so that we had tours booked every other day, with a day in between to rest and relax, or do whatever we want (without plans). Because our resort was 40 minutes outside of the city of Puerto Vallarta, we decided that we should at least get into the city for one day to see the sites and browse the shops. While walking around Olas Atlas, the old part of town, I really wanted to go parasailing, and I had heard that you could just go to the beach and do it for approximately $10, so we headed for the beach.
Within 5 minutes of setting foot on the sand, a young Mexican guy was asking us if we wanted to parasail. Unfortunately, he charged us 300 pesos, so, yes, we probably got scammed, but we weren’t in the mood for bargaining and I thought that $30 wasn’t THAT bad. I also forgot that it was Wednesday when we were there, and I had read that they raise prices for the cruise ships that come to port.
I thought it was great, and so did my husband, but it really didn’t last that long--only about 10 to 15 minutes. But the view is pretty impressive, and it’s very peaceful and quiet. They spell out a few instructions, and the most important thing is to listen for their signal to start guiding the chute—this involves pulling on the right harness cord (you definitely need to be strong in your right arm).
The guy who went between my husband and I landed into a crowd of people on the beach for failing to follow the instructions. Our parasailing people only had about a 20-foot section of the beach to work in. We saw others parasailing from the beach along the Malecon, where you don’t need to worry about the gobs of people.
I was able to take my underwater camera up with me (just in case I let go) and took some nice pictures. My husband and I noticed small round bruises on the underside of our biceps in the same location; we think it might have been from the life-jacket/harness combination we were wearing.
We would do it again!!