Ok, this blatant allusion to CSI Miami came after seeing photos of the panoramic views you get from parasailing over the turquoise waters of this amazing city. With the psychedelic colours of the shore and the buildings flashing on the computer screen, the song immediately came to mind, along with the vision – almost a hologram – of Horatio sliding his glasses off and cracking a pun.
However, to get back on track: the Parasail Miami Beach company will give you wings and allow you to soar up to 600 feet above the sparkly Atlantic ocean where you’ll have the most unforgettable view ever: gazing down you might catch the lazy movement of a manta ray or a sea turtle swimming through the waves and a sweeping glance over the inland will show off the historic Art Deco District, the Biscayne Bay and Ocean Drive. Look at Miami in a different way, from the sky, dangling under a balloon that’ll gently carry you on the wind.
So what is parasailing exactly? According to wikipedia it’s a “recreational activity where a person is towed behind a vehicle (usually a boat) while attached to a specially designed parachute”. Of course this is a spot on definition, but rather boring. The sensations this technical description are void, nothing in comparison to the anticipation of feeling the balloon raising up slightly into the air, the speed of the boat increasing at the same rate as the tingling in your stomach, the exhilaration of finally being airborne and being pulled high up into the cloudless Miami sky. And once the adrenaline rush subsides somewhat, the breath taking view will make you gasp; if the water is calm enough you can even say dolphins, coral and pretty fish swimming below you.
Did you know the first parasail happened in 1961? A Colonel Michel Tournier tied a parachute to a tractor and drove down the muddy fields in France. Two years later the Pioneer Parachute Company began manufacturing them and actually coined the term “parasailing”. Since then it’s a sport that has rapidly increased in popularity – it’s the ideal child born of combining waterskiing and hand-gliding to allow you to feel as free as a bird and relax into the ride.
And how better to see Miami’s skyline? As mentioned previously, whilst skimming the white crests of the waves and once high up in the sky, you’ll be able to see the famous art deco buildings; the bright colours of which are an ode to the daunting task Miami undertook to transform from a mangrove swamp into an attractive city where tourists flock season in and season out. This orange, pink and yellow district contains the largest concentration of 20’s and 30’s resort architecture in the world! And when you’re confronted with the beauty and contrast of the colours, shinning like beacons across the water, remember that they are the result of a fabulous fusion of cultures and movements: ancient Greek, Egyptian and Mayan decorative motifs, Machine Age sensibilities and Cubist paintings all contributed to Art Moderne, as Art Deco was known before.
If you can’t wait to be floating through the air in the warm Florida climate, your eyes catching on the shocking hues of the city’s buildings, then we can make life easier for you: book one of our apartments in Miami and remember, as The Who sing in CSI: “I know there’s a place you walked, where love falls from the trees…”. Welcome to Miami!