Everyone knows about Queenstown and its epic bungy jumping. Most people have heard about jet boat rides as well, but have you seen Flyboard Queenstown in action yet? Flyboarding is a pretty new (and awesome) addition to the list of extreme activities in the adventure capital of the world. So we went and checked it out!
Here’s everything you need to know about Flyboard Queenstown.
Flyboard Queenstown – practical
Flyboard Queenstown is, according to their website, the only Flyboard operator in Queenstown. They started out in early 2014, and have been giving people superhero-like experiences since. How will they do that, you ask? Well, your feet will be strapped to a Flyboard, which is connected through a hose with a jetski. The jetski will basically push water through the hose, which will blast out of the jet outlets on the bottom side of the Flyboard, and lift you up in the air. If you manage to stay balanced, you’ll be flying like a superhero above the water. Excited yet?
The Hero Flight will cost you NZ$149 for 20 minutes in the water, the Superhero Flight is NZ$199 for 35 minutes. Both of these options include a wetsuit, a life vest, a helmet, a towel, and an additional 5-10 minutes of onshore training by a certified Flyboard instructor, before you hit the water. You only have to bring a swimsuit to wear underneath the wetsuit. You can book a time slot through the Flyboard Queenstown website.
If you want to score a great deal, you should check the BookMe website first though. We did, and paid only NZ$99 for the Superhero Flight. That’s a 50% discount!
Like with most activities, there’s an option to buy video and photo material of your experience. The guy going with you on the jetski films you and takes pictures with a GoPro while you’re flyboarding (or at least trying to). You basically buy the micro SD card that was in the GoPro, with (in our case) 8GB worth of videos and photos. It’s slightly less professional than the video you get when you do the AJ Hackett Kawarau Bridge Bungy, but that can be an advantage too, if you know your way around iMovie or something similar. We only paid NZ$40 for all this material which was quite a good deal in our opinion.
Brecht’s Flyboard Experience in Queenstown
As recommended by an Irish couple we met on our liveaboard dive trip to the Great Barrier Reef, Brecht searched BookMe for a Flyboard Queenstown deal. Their slogan, “Fly like a superhero!”, got him pretty excited, so he booked a time slot to go flyboarding. I passed. It was autumn and the water looked freezing!
The morning of the flyboard session, we drove over to Lake Wakatipu. The is just a party tent on the shores of the lake, so finding a parking spot can be a bit of a pain. We were lucky to find a free spot on the nearest, but very small, public parking. There’s no parking fee.
Two guys were setting up a party tent when we arrived near the lake. We only realised this was the Flyboard Queenstown office, when they put up a flag saying “Flyboard Queenstown”. They were very friendly and helpful, and after a short explanation, a signature, and a change of outfit, Brecht was ready to hit the water.
Brecht had the time of his life, flying like a superhero and doing tricks on the Flyboard. He got the hang of it pretty fast and hovered pretty high above Lake Wakatipu. The mountain backdrop made for some awesome shots of Brecht on the Flyboard. I wasn’t the only one that noticed, a couple of other photographers stopped to take some pictures too. Flyboarding is indeed a head turner, like they claimed on the website.
Should you go Flyboarding?
Although I passed up the opportunity to go flyboarding because of the cold weather and fear of failure, those excuses turn out to be the weakest ever. Flyboard Queenstown claims anyone can do it. They only thing they ask is that you feel confident in the water. Everything floats though, so no need to be scared of drowning.
It was autumn, and the water of Lake Wakatipu was pretty cold. However, Brecht confirmed that you can hardly feel the cold through the wetsuit thanks to the adrenaline pumping through your body. He was exhilirated when coming out of the water: “Best money spent in Queenstown!”.
To sum it all up, Flyboard Queenstown might be the best bang for the buck in Queenstown. When comparing to the jet boat ride with Shotover Jet and the AJ Hackett Kawarau Bridge Bungy, with Flyboard Queenstown Brecht got the most fun for the least money. Don’t get discouraged by the cold, just try it! They guarantee you’ll fly like a superhero!
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