Parasailing Gran Canaria

You’ve already been watching the parasail glide over the beach of Playa del Ingles. And now you just want to try it yourself. We are ready to pick you up at your hotel in Maspalomas and a take you to your parasailing experience. You will quickly reach Anfi beach and shortly afterwards already start preparing for your very own Gran Canaria parasailing adventure.

Parasailing in Anfi Gran Canaria

You’ll first go by boat. If you look to the stern of the parasailing boat you will see a red circle, similar to a target. This is your start and landing point. Then you will get the gear strapped on. This includes a waist belt, two slings you slip into with your legs, a wider strap that goes under your butt to make it comfortable, and two straps with snap hooks attached. You place yourself on the target at the stern of the boat and the skipper straps the two snap hooks to a pole, which is mounted on the parasailing wing. The parasail is hung on a steel cable with a length of about 300 meters, which waits for its use. But for safety reasons only a maximum of 200 meters will be unrolled. Due to its own weight, the rope hangs strongly arched, so that the parasail and you can reach a maximum height of about 100 meters.

Parasailing Gran Canaria at 100 meters of Altitude

The parasail is already pulling strongly on your body. It fidgets and flutters. The wind and the parachute are just as nervous as you are. The skipper accelerates and suddenly you are being lifted up surprisingly gently. It tingles in your stomach and you notice how the endorphin reaches upper levels. The beach and the boat are getting smaller as the silence around you grows. At some point, you only perceive the draft. You look around and only now realize how uniquely beautiful the view is that you can now enjoy. You will look at Anfis’ Caribbean beach. And you can see the bottom of the turquoise blue water.

To your right you see Puerto Rico with its two marinas and the hustle and bustle in the streets. On your left you can see all along the coastline of Gran Canaria past Arguineguin and even the lighthouse of Maspalomas in the distance. The boat slows down and you lose altitude. A pity, it is already over, you will think. But what is the skipper doing? You will get closer and closer to the surface of the water, but are not being pulled onto the boat. And that’s where it happened. You will drop in the cool Atlantic up to your chest. The skipper accelerates again and you emerge again from the water. He will repeat this before he finally pulls you back onto the boat. Now you are wet, but happy.

What actually is Parasailing?

Parasailing started around the mid-70s. The original idea was to find an alternative to planes to get parachute jumpers into the air. They quickly found that with a rope and a chute you can also lift people to lofty heights that have no knowledge or experience in skydiving. This new attraction quickly became a popular activity for tourists especially in tourist areas like Gran Canaria.

The parasail is a custom-made and can be bought from only a few companies worldwide. There are nozzles- or flap-like openings on the lower rear side of the parasail, which provide the necessary buoyancy. The whole responsibility lies on the skipper he must be well trained and should be experienced. He has to look out for other boats nearby and make sure that the rope, which has been rolled out up to 200 meters, does not tangle anywhere. Up to three people with a maximum total weight of 200 kilograms can be lifted up in the air simultaneously. Children are allowed to fly from about 7 years.