Wakeboarding, the ultimate ride.

Malaysia's ever-sunny tropical weather and countless pristine beaches provide the perfect excuse to indulge in water sports like scubadiving, snorkelling and yes, wakeboarding. If you have't heard of wakeboarding before, then consider an activity that's not only a boat-load of fun but an excellent way to stay fit and trim. Just add water :)


Ramp it up!

The name "wakeboarding" may be not ring too many bells to those who are new to it, but simply put, wakeboarding is what you get when water-skiing and snowboarding get married and have a baby. With some distinct surfing elements thrown in for good measure.

In fact, so much fun is wakeboarding, and so easy to learn, that once you've got the hang of it, you'll never want to give it up again. It really is that awesome.

The pre-wakeboarding days

Back in the 1980's something called ski-boarding started gaining considerable attention amongst the snow-loving crowds in the US and Europe. Ski-boarding slowly but surely developed into the ubiquitous fun in the snow activity now known as snow-boarding.


Need for speed!

Meanwhile, those not so blessed with steep slopes and annual thick blankets of snow several months decided to provide an alternative means of forward thrust to enjoy their ski-boarding: a speed-boat.

The boat tows the board-rider on a lake, the sea, basically any body of water that's big enough and not too choppy. Speeds are generally about 25-50 km/h, more than enough to provide a decent set of wake waves on either side of the rider.

A new sport was born, wakeboarding

Apart from the great sensation of speed, wakeboarders also get stoked from using the boat's wave wakes as ramps to do all kinds of aerial acrobatics. And these days, don't be surprised when you see wakeboarders get serious air, spin this way and that, go fully inverted, land with an almightly splash and then keep just blasting away behind the boat as if going for a midday stroll.

Now, in the same way that snowboarding has brought about a cultural revolution in the ski industry, wakeboarding has reinvented the realm of waterskiing. In fact, with over 3 million active participants globally, wakeboarding is now the fastest growing water sport in the world.

Read more...