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Diamond Head Parasailing

Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head Crater from the air, while parasailing

The van that drove us to the dock

The yellow boat that took us parasailing

We found a 50% off coupon for Diamond Head Parasailing in one of the tourist magazines that are freely available at the airport and other locations in Waikiki. We had never been parasailing, so we thought it would be fun to try it out. Overall, the parasailing experience was pretty tame, but still enjoyable. It provided a nice view of the surrounding area. I thought the company (Diamond Head Parasailing, or X-Treme Parasail) was unprofessional, but they did manage to pick us up, take us parasailing, and bring us back near the hotel, so it wasn't all bad.

We booked our parasailing trip one day in advance with Diamond Head Parasailing, by calling the number on the coupon we had. They told us the pickup location would be on Don Ho street, which was a 3-minute walk from the Embassy Suites. The bus that picked us up was labeled "X-Treme Parasail", so we weren't sure if it was the right company. We asked the driver, and he assured us it was the correct company (without actually checking).

On the ride over, our driver played some loud hip hop music. I thought that was quite unprofessional. The drive to the dock (located at the Fishermans Wharf area) was approximately 15 minutes. The driver had us sign a waiver on the drive. Upon arrival, we paid with a credit card. They required us to have the credit card with us so they could swipe it.

Our group had a 10-minute wait for the boat to arrive. They loaded 12 people onto the boat, and then we set off. People went up in groups of two. We went last. The boat was playing music while we were out on the water - otherwise, it would have been pretty boring. The boat was very loud, and made it difficult to converse.

The boat had small storage bins under each of the seats, but I wouldn't recommend putting anything too valuable in them - water still managed to get into the bins and get things pretty wet.

The water on our visit was pretty choppy. One member of the group threw up, and two others had headaches.

The boat operator dunked most people into the water up to their necks on the descent. We told him we would like a dry ride (so we could bring a digital camera with us). He nicely obliged, and kept us dry. We took off from the deck of the boat, and landed back on the boat deck about 7 minutes later. The parasailing was quite a bit of fun. We got a really nice view of Waikiki beach and diamond head crater. I found the ride very smooth compared to being on the boat. The breeze from the wind was really nice and cooling on a hot day.

When the boat got back to shore, the operator encouraged us to give tips. He told us that as much as they appreciate $5, it didn't really go very far. I thought that was also quite unprofessional - obviously he didn't want a $5 tip too badly.

We waited approximately 15 minutes for the bus to take us back to Don Ho street, where we walked back to our hotel.

Cost

We paid $35 per person for this experience. This took advantage of a 50% off coupon that we found in a magazine. I doubt anyone actually pays the full price - their website lists cheaper prices.

Estimated Visiting Time

One group in the air (yellow parachute) as seen from the boat

Allow 3 hours for this experience. Only 1 hour of that time will be spent on the boat. The rest of the time will be spent waiting or getting to/from the dock.