Parasailing with Young Child

[#1TravelMom]

Has anyone parasailed with young child. We have friends traveling with us on the EPIC (Costa Maya, Roatan, Cozumel). They want their 5 year old to parasail.

[Cuizer2]

Has anyone parasailed with young child. We have friends traveling with us on the EPIC (Costa Maya, Roatan, Cozumel). They want their 5 year old to parasail.

 

First of all you should check to see if the vendor even allows someone that young to participate. Next, even if they do the parents better make very sure that the harness will securely hold a child that small. If the child fall out of the harness the impact with the water will likely kill the child.

[#1TravelMom]

It sounds like a bad idea to me, but I told them I'd try to find out. My little one will be five and I wouldn't even consider it.

[Cuizer2]

It sounds like a bad idea to me, but I told them I'd try to find out. My little one will be five and I wouldn't even consider it.

 

Well, I didn't say it, but I think it is a bad idea also.

[quincytoo]

Well, I didn't say it, but I think it is a bad idea also.

 

I agree as well, we let one of our sons do this in Nuevo when he was 16 and it took all he had to pull the strings so he could land properly. I would be afraid for a small child to have the strength and know how to do this.

[kitty9]

I just did a quick check and the sites I went to all had the minimum age as 12 to parasail. Personally, I would never, ever allow a 5 year old to parasail.

[Naomi John]

Has anyone parasailed with young child. We have friends traveling with us on the EPIC (Costa Maya, Roatan, Cozumel). They want their 5 year old to parasail.

 

My 7 year old did a three person tandum. She is smallish for her age and she had a blast. This was at Mr. Sancho's Beach Club in Cozumel. The Cruise sponsored parasailing may have an age limit.

 

This is all up to the childs parents. I would not let her go alone. She has parasailed tandum 2 times since, once in Orange Beach, AL and again in Cozumel, this time off of Paradise Beach.

 

Here is a Picture DH took of her in the air:

 

[DaniellefromOttawa]

Beautiful picture Naomi!!

 

My son went parasailing here in Canada when he was 6. It wasn't planned ahead of time, we were at the beach and had watched several kids his age do it, so started asking questions. The harness was designed for kids his size (50 - 70 lbs). The owner was the boat driver and had been doing driving for many years. We watched a few get started and land, they took off from the beach where employees held onto them until they were in the air and at the end the boat swung around so the employees caught them in the air before their feet even touched the sand. The kids didn't do anything, just sat there and enjoyed the ride. He absolutley loved it!

 

I would certainly ask a lot of questions, and like anything there are risks, but proper safety protocol can minimize them.

 

Danielle

[jaybird from SC]

Has anyone parasailed with young child. We have friends traveling with us on the EPIC (Costa Maya, Roatan, Cozumel). They want their 5 year old to parasail.

I would be concerned about safety precautions....Often we forget that we are on foreign soil and that their safety regulations might be very different than those in the USA.

[cruisinreunion]

Friends of ours did this on NCL private island. Their DD age 7, went up with her dad and had a great time. I would feel more comfortable this way than letting a young child go alone.

[Cuizer2]

Beautiful picture Naomi!!

 

My son went parasailing here in Canada when he was 6. It wasn't planned ahead of time, we were at the beach and had watched several kids his age do it, so started asking questions. The harness was designed for kids his size (50 - 70 lbs). The owner was the boat driver and had been doing driving for many years. We watched a few get started and land, they took off from the beach where employees held onto them until they were in the air and at the end the boat swung around so the employees caught them in the air before their feet even touched the sand. The kids didn't do anything, just sat there and enjoyed the ride. He absolutley loved it!

 

I would certainly ask a lot of questions, and like anything there are risks, but proper safety protocol can minimize them.

 

Danielle

 

The safest way to begin and end is to be winched off and then back on a moving boat.

[MyMoses]

First of all, does the 5 year old want to parasail? It sound like from the post that the parents just want him to. I think that's really weird. Anyway, I would not be comfortable with a child that young doing it either. I agree that if they were to do it, then to do it from the back of a boat. I can't tell you how many times I've seen adults dragged across the sand face first during take off from the beach. I can't imagine subjecting a child to that. I would not permit my dd to do something like this until she was in her teens.

[mariaw8889]

she had just turned 6. we felt perfectly safe.

[Cuizer2]

she had just turned 6. we felt perfectly safe.

 

So did the person on the zip line - just before it broke.

[sandytoes03]

she had just turned 6. we felt perfectly safe.

 

 

What a great picture! You all look like you're having so much fun!:D

[nursiegurl]

I took my son parasailing in Cozumel last year when he was 6. It was tandum and you started and ended from the boat. I was nervous, but he really wanted to do it and had a blast. After we got up in the air, I feld perfectly safe and wouldn't think twice about going tandum again. (I'm not quite ready to let him go on his own though) :)

[jmom5]

my five year old son went parasailing with us this past september and he absolutely loved it - they did only allow it with an adult doing it in tandem with him.

[MariaNC]

Not something I would consider for young children. Two women died in NC or SC last summer para-sailing from a boat. Freak accident, don't remember the specific details except they slammed into the water-dead on impact. It's a long fall.

[Naomi John]

Not something I would consider for young children. Two women died in NC or SC last summer para-sailing from a boat. Freak accident, don't remember the specific details except they slammed into the water-dead on impact. It's a long fall.

 

Two days ago a three car pile up happened on a local street in my town where a child died, will I avoid putting my DD in the car and driving on the street, nope. A little over a year ago, a plane crash landed in the Hudson River, I fly out of New Orleans, over the Lake and River where pelicans and seagulls are in full force, would I stop flying, Nope.

 

Will I let an accident put me in a state of fear? Nope. Disney, Six Flags, etc. have all had horrible accidents. People choose to jump out of perfectly good planes and die.

 

But. if a company says a child under the age of 16 can go alone, don't use them.

 

DH does the parasailing with DD, ( And took a darn good pic of her I might say). I got this thing about heights and the movie JAWS that keeps me from going up and in open water. :eek:

[crusinmama06]

put me in a state of fear? Nope. Disney, Six Flags, etc. have all had horrible accidents. People choose to jump out of perfectly good planes and die.

 

However

 

The difference between Disney, Six Flags, the plane that landed on the Hudson and a parasailing company in Costa Maya is one thing - regulation

 

How many safety inspections do you think Disney is governed by? Every time you walk into that park - I can guarantee that even the turnstile is governed by a safety code.

 

And that's the difference. Anyone can grab a boat and a parasail and call themselves a "licensed parasailing operation" in some of these small depressed islands. You can tell when they have things like "All Ages Welcome!"

 

So no -- don't live your life by fear. You don't want to keep your child locked in the house when another child dies in a car crash. But you also don't stick the child on top of the car going 90. ;)

 

We take calculated risks with our kids. How much risk is up to you. But don't depend on what the VENDOR says. Use common sense. The vendor is out to make money. And they are not controlled by the government regulations that we have in the US and Canada.

[flowerboy]

My 5 year old just parasailed tandem with me had a blast, but still liked to jetski better which I thought was more dangerous.

[joejo]

However

 

The difference between Disney, Six Flags, the plane that landed on the Hudson and a parasailing company in Costa Maya is one thing - regulation

 

How many safety inspections do you think Disney is governed by? Every time you walk into that park - I can guarantee that even the turnstile is governed by a safety code.

 

And that's the difference. Anyone can grab a boat and a parasail and call themselves a "licensed parasailing operation" in some of these small depressed islands. You can tell when they have things like "All Ages Welcome!"

 

So no -- don't live your life by fear. You don't want to keep your child locked in the house when another child dies in a car crash. But you also don't stick the child on top of the car going 90. ;)

 

We take calculated risks with our kids. How much risk is up to you. But don't depend on what the VENDOR says. Use common sense. The vendor is out to make money. And they are not controlled by the government regulations that we have in the US and Canada.

Very well said.

 

It is not something I would ever consider; however, I'm sure that the kids dad would feel it was fine.

 

All I keep thinking about was that parasailing death near Cancun last year.... I think if I was serious about doing something like this with my kids, it would have to be either in Canada or the US, never in a less developed or less governed nation. I love Mexico to pieces, but I think I apply high standards to safety while there.

[CruizinMom2c]

Wow..I had no idea a 5 year old could parasail....definitely something for us to look forward to in a couple years. My husband and I have never parasailed ourselves...so it will be a new adventure for all of us :)

 

 

(The pictures in the post are adorable!)

[jam82]

Having been parasailing and had the rope break at 500 feet I'm thinking I wouldn't do it with a 5 year old. It's not just the impact of hitting the water hard, it's what you do when you come up. The worst part wasn't the impact or the time spent underwater, but coming back up out of the water with the parasail still inflated and being pulled out to sea at a very fast rate of speed. It seemed like forever until the boat made it back to get me and then the operator had to get in the water to undo the tangled parasail in the wind. This was on a very windy day in Grand Cayman. I did not book this through the ship, but my ship excursion to the Stingrays was cancelled to weather that day.

 

I not saying I wouldn't go do it again, but as far as taking kids, I would make sure that they were good swimmers and had a reasonable chance of handling a malfunction in case things didn't go as planned.

[japeka]

Not something I would every consider with a 5 year old. WOW!