Mount Pleasant Magazine July/August 2018

34 www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.ILoveMountPleasant.com | www.BestOfMP.com feature “While you can get pretty high kiteboarding, you eventually have to come back down. On the Flyboard, you can hang out 35 feet in the air all day, as long as you have gas in the jet ski.” Another major appeal of this innovative sport comes with the fact that newbies can pick it up within a matter of minutes. No long, intensive practice sessions are required. “A less-recognizable, standout feature would be the incredibly short learning curve,” said Pannier. “If you try to learn how to wakeboard, surf or kiteboard, you are going to spend hours, if not days, learning the basics. For sure, there will be countless painful sessions to just stand up on a wave or make a successful tack on the kiteboard. Most of our first-time flyers are up and flying within five to 10 minutes.” Those who don’t consider themselves particularly athletic seem to take to the sport rather quickly. “The basics are so much easier to master, and that’s because there are not a million things to think about,” said Pannier. “Just stand straight and try not to move too much. I don’t mean to downplay how incredible of a sport it is by saying it’s easy to learn. The pros are doing quadruple backflips from 40 feet in the air. It’s awesome to see just how much people have pushed the limits in the past six years.” As if the lure of getting airborne under the Lowcountry sun wasn’t incentive enough to give Flyboarding a try, Hydrofly takes it to another level with a picturesque oasis in the form of a floating tiki hut. Set on the Bristol Marina in downtown Charleston, this two-level sanctuary provides a place for your crew to gather in between taking to the sky. Coolers for food and beverages and hammocks for swaying await. Wade in the water by lounging on a nearby oversized float. When the sun dips and splashes the sky in electric pastels, tiki torches are lit up, creating an unmatched ambience. Parties of up to 24 guests can congregate on the floating island, and some packages even boast a complimentary 24-pack of Corona. “It provides them an awesome venue to hang out and party on while they wait their turn to Flyboard,” said Pannier. “We realized pretty early on that while flying is awesome, most people prefer to just hang out and drink beer on the water. The tiki hut is the best place in Charleston to do that.” Flyboarding also offers a view one simply doesn’t get by waterskiing. City skylines and tree-spotted, marshy riverbanks take on a new, much-appreciated,