OC Parasailing

I don’t agree with the previous review AT ALL! Personally, I think that the last reviewer went on a day with poor weather and that was not the fault of the company at all. I as a college student went on the boat with my two sisters and my mom and we had a wonderful time! It was out first time parasailing and we were nervous at first but the crew put us at ease. They were friendly and kept the ride entertaining with music and good conversation. The weather was also great as well and so in that sense we got lucky on our trip. Would definitely recommend to our friends, and even stop by when we are in the area again!

1 star might be unfair… but read the review and then you tell me.
First — what was right… I was able to pay online. The people at the desk were very nice. The boat was there and ready on time. The crew was friendly. The boat was clean. Most importantly — we got back safely, and we had fun.
What was wrong…
Just for kicks, days before our parasailing trip there was a report of 2 teens in FL breaking free from their boat while parasailing and parachuting — without any control — into high rise buildings and eventually crash landing on an SUV and they are in the hospital as I write this. As a result of those news reports I learned that only VA and NJ have any regulations or laws at all about parasailing (note: not MD). So, in all fairness, we left and I was more nervous than usual. But I decided we live by faith and I would not live in fear… I’d done this before and all would be well. Having provided that background, back to our specific trip… and what went wrong…
We got in the boat and they did the usual «here are the life vests, here is the fire extinguisher» deal. Then we headed out to the ocean. The water was choppy and I was fearful my 9 yr old skinny girl would fly out of the boat. I admit it was probably me being over protective, but things like that happen, and they didn’t have her in a life jacket, which I wished they did… and while being thrown about I couldn’t get one to put on her.
Next up, they get the parachute ready and one disappears over the edge of the boat — they are mumbling and looking at each other oddly. Then they say «So if our engines go out…» Talk about losing confidence. Honestly, they should probably say that when they are talking about where the fire extinguishers are as a routine issue… but in this case it was clear they were concerned… not that we’d die, but that they’d have to deal with not having a working engine — while we’re in the ocean.
I didn’t think that meant we’d die so we prepared for lift off… first up was my 24 yr old son and his girlfriend of the same age. He’d been twice before — at least twice — she’s never been. They suit up, take off, and fly — all is well. They come in without incident and with smiles. Then it’s my turn –and I am going tandem with my 9 yr old daughter, who had also seen the same news reports about the FL incident. We suit up, we take off, we’re flying. All is well… visibility is low — can’t see very far… water is cloudy… can’t see much… no real ocean life to enjoy. That is all because of storms coming up the coast in recent days, and not the fault of this operation at all… but was kind of a bummer. Then it’s time for them to bring us in closer and «dip» us in the ocean… they try twice. They can’t. We feel several jolts. I am told later by my son and his girl friend that the captain radioed in and told them that something broke… when asked if they could bring us back onto the boat, he said «I think I can.» Nice. Well the good news is that we did get back without incident. But you can imagine we were less than excited about the mechanical issue.
Once back in the boat, we headed for land… along the route, the captain and mate begin to apologize, and to tell us that they told their boss 2 weeks ago that part was going to fail, but he was too cheap to get a new one.
Extra nice, don’t you think?
Despite the FACT that we had no injuries, a very nice crew, comfortable boat and a good time was had by all… well, I still have to rate it a 1 «Eek. Me thinks not.» because I will not be parasailing with them again and I can not recommend them.