Floating on Water...I mean Hydrofly.

Author:

Whitney Currin

July 05, 2016

Turns out that it's fully possible... given you’ve got the balance to sustain yourself.

Hydrofly brings floating on water to life and this is what it looks like:

I had heard a good bit about this Hydrofly and the fun that goes down at the Tiki Hut so I inquired with some friends. I reached out to my friend Britton Boomer who typically frequents the Tiki Hut. The next day we set out for the adventure, snagged up some Persimmon Cafe sandwiches, some brews, and were off.

You show up at Bristol Marina and are picked up and taken out to the Tiki Hut:

The Tiki Hut is a makeshift two-story pontoon boat with a huge float attached and almost always four to five boaters tied up as well.

Took me quite a bit to figure out how this was done and to get comfortable with the—my equilibrium seemed off seeing as I couldn’t even manage to walk on the floating dock without falling. The owner, Sam, in addition to all the people out there that had tried Hydrofly before, kept telling me “it’s easy... it’s all about balance.” Obviously this wasn’t my skill of the day so I sent my friend Anna Lynch out as the guinea pig and road along on the jet ski with Sam.

Honestly, it was one of the coolest things to be on the jetski hearing Sam explain to Anna how to own the flyboard because believe me—it was by no means easy.

The flyboard is connected to the rider's feet and it is connected to a 50-foot hose, which is then connected to the jetski. When the driver accelerates the jet ski, the water being pushed from the propeller is redirected into the 50-foot hose, which forces the rider into the air—or should I say, “to infinity and beyond” because that’s totally what it looks like.

After this takes place it is all balance. If you put too much weight in your toes then you fall forward and that seems to be the most common mistake to make, however it is an easy fix!

Once your balance is right you can go up to 20 feet in the air!

Next up we had Sam showing us how it was done with stunts and all!

When we were heading back to the tiki hut, I asked Sam how he got the idea to start up a Hydrofly here in Charleston. He is a local guy who went to College of Charleston, which we all know means without even knowing him we could understand that he likely has a love for the water. Sam said he was working in insurance a short time after graduating from CofC but it did not last long because he had his eye on something way more cool. He discovered Hydrofly on Youtube and inquired about it. He quickly ended his time in insurance, went down to Florida to train in Hydrofly, bought himself a flyboard, and—Boom—he created Hydrofly in Charleston.

FYI

With Hydrofly comes the option to try Hydrofly, rent jet skis, rent paddleboards, float on a float the size of two king sized beds, leisurely hang on the Tikihut, or even bigger—rent out the entire show for a party.

Hydrofly typically lasts 20 minutes for $110 but you have the option of purchasing a ½ day package or discounts given the quantity or time of day you decide to go.

Things To Bring: