Water skiing and Wakeboarding

The predecessor of the modern sport of water skiing was called aquaplaning, which came about when the manager of a seaside resort in California towed some reckless swimmers who had swum too far out back to shore on a big wooden crate, this in 1900.

After the development of motorboats a couple of decades later, water skiis were thought up by two inventors who had skiied on snow. Over time, the sport evolved and international associations formed to foster it.

Simple non competitive water skiing is not difficult, though one must know how to swim to engage in it safely.

Competitive water skiing involves many complicated figures, also done by those who engage in Barefoot Water Skiing.

In Greece water skiing began in 1950, and was called sea skiing, since the main body of water in which it was practiced was the sea.

It is now popular all over coastal Greece with centers that rent equipment and provide training.

Wakeboarding is related to both water skiing and windsurfing (without the sail), and was developed in the 1980s by an American surfer. (It might be mentioned here that surfing was the sport of Hawaiian royalty in ancient times).

Wake boarding now has nearly three million participants in the US alone, it is growing globally by leaps and bounds. The non profit Greek Wakeboard Association (which also promotes kitesurfing) was founded in 1998, along with a similar European association.

Popular locations for this sport are in Halkidha (the main city on the island of Evia (Euboea), Poros (one of the Saronic Gulf islands), and Marathonas (in the Mesoyeia region east of Athens).

The heavily wooded island of Poros is ideal for both waterskiing and water boarding with its long sheltered bay and calm lagoon.

The Passage Ski School and the Poros Marine club have promoted these sports heavily, and the area attracts participants from all over the world, with professional athletes coming to train at the school, using a special watercourse designed for them on the Peloponnesian side of the lagoon at Drepani, accessible from the mainland by road. Barefoot water skiing is also taught at the school, with special classes for children; other water sports available in Poros include Parasailing, which involves dangling from a parchute towed behind a motorboat, and or ‘Personal Watercraft’ (often referred to by the brand name of Jet Skis).

For more info click on http://www.thewwa.com/

The most suitable places for Wakeboarding in Greece are:
Attica (Anavyssos, Varkiza, Lavrio, Loutsa, Galazia Akti Marathonas); Thessaloniki (Agia Triada, Volvi Lake, Nea Michaniona); Chalkis (Sunny Beach); Paros (Chrysi Akti, Nea Chrysi Akti, Tsoukalia, Santa Maria, Pounta); Naxos (Agios Georgios, Mikri Vigla); Mykonos (Ftelia, Kalafati); Ios (Mylopotas); Rhodes (Trianta, Fanes, Prassonisi, Theologo); Achaias (Drepano, Zacharo); Lefkada (Vasiliki); Karpathos (Ormos tou Diavolou); Irakleion (Ammoudara); Skiathos; Kos; Zakynthos; and Santorini.Some video available in YouTube: