Warm weather, Clear Sky, Endless shallow water body, scenic highways, numerous water sports and good food – these thoughts weren’t just dreams anymore, they became real in my recent trip to Key west, southernmost tip of Florida, USA.
I was there all the way from Toronto, for this Christmas, trying to escape from the Canadian winter for a few days. I and couple of my friends were there in Key West making a day trip (out of our five day trip in Florida and Orlando)
The major focus of our trip was on the half a day adventure trip called ‘Ultimate Express’ organized by the water adventure tourist company called ‘Fury’. It turned out to be a worthwhile trip.
After boarding one of their majestic Catamaran boat from the dock, the guests were greeted by the Captain making announcement of the details of the trip, and introduction of the crew members. Some salads and refreshments were given, and we headed straight into the shallow crystal blue waters, seeking adventure.
After travelling for about 15 minutes, the boat anchors itself near a pre-arranged location, ideal for jet skiing and not very far from parasailing. And then the guests are teamed into groups and each group begins with one of the following activity.
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Jet skiing
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Parasailing
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Canoeing/kayaking
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Swimming and water toys
As each group finishes their activity that they started with, they move on to the next activity and to the next one and so on. In the meantime, your catamaran boat acts as a base for the guests, to keep their bags and personal belongings, and to have refreshments in between.
As one can easily guess, the most exciting part of the trip was jet skiing, and parasailing.
Jet skiing – Guests are given basic instructions and each pair of guests are given a jet ski (sort of water scooter), and then the fun starts … wroooom… If you are first time jet skier, like me, you will simply love the experience. And if you are lucky, you will get your own ski (depending on the number of people in your group). Me and my friend got a solid half an hr to drive that amazing piece of machine, and we had fun accelerating through/against the waves.
The next and best experience we had is the parasailing. A small boat comes and picks up a group of people and takes you to a separate place where you are buckled up behind a speeding boat, with a parachute on your back and you are let go…it was a really amazing experience as you are carried away by the blowing wind against the speed of the boat…as the crew member lets the rope get more lengthier you move farer and higher….and that’s when you get this spectacular view of blue paradise below you …(oh yeah, I forgot to mention . it’s a bit scary when u look down )
The best part was when one of the crew member wobbles the rope from beneath as you are flying really high above the water – he he , it did scare the hell out of me, but it was fun to think about it after landing down.
One of the crew members also took his SLR out and clicked some amazing picture of us, and later burned them in a CD and sold it to us for 20 bucks…. Those pics were worth the money though, because you wouldn’t have got them otherwise..… its actually a smart thought there..kudos.
And then you are back to the catamaran once again, and they provide beer for refreshments once you are done with driving the jet skis…..and after swimming for a while in the water, trying to climb one of those big water toys, and after doing some kayaking…we started our journey back to the shore.
At the end of the trip, the captain delivers this ‘Thank you’ speech, and strongly advises (a little weird though) to leave tip for the crew members.
Overall the trip was wonderful and definitely worth the money you pay for it.
Trip tip: Do take some swim attire with you (shorts, towel etc.), take some cash with you to tip the crew, private parking facilities are available close to the dock, upon arrival each guest should produce a piece of id and obtain boarding pass at the FuryCat kiosk located close to the dock, you also need to sign a waiver form. And yes, there is washroom in the catamaran, but not really sophisticated.
What is Fury? Fury is a water adventure company providing various packages of activities for the Key West visitors.
What is ‘Ultimate Express’? Is a 3.5 hour tour package that gets you a chance to parasail, go jet skiing, swimming, kayaking and play on water toys? If you have enough time, you should try a full day package which is supposed to cover more activities and provide more fun.
