Wakeboarding at Taco Lake, Bangkok

If you have ever felt the pain from doing a 100 push-ups or more in one go (or maybe less depending on you), that’s exactly the pain you would feel when you do waterboarding sports. At the end of the 2 hour wakeboarding session, my forearm felt like my muscles were about to burst. There were also times I think I heard my muscles cry whenever I lifted something up.

This was me after 2 hours of wakeboarding

But don’t let the pain fool you. If you’re the kind of person, who knows that there’s a high risk of death or injury when performing the activity, but you still die die die want to do it, and plus point, if you have the water confidence to swim regardless of any water conditions, then wakeboarding would definitely be something you would wanna try, especially in Taco Lake, Bangkok Thailand. 

Wakeboarding in Malaysia are 10x times more expensive compared to Thailand. When I say expensive, it’s not in terms of currency exchange, but in terms of availability and resources.

You could barely find more than 2 companies doing such activity in Malaysia, and even if you do, it’s either freaking expensive, or you are required to join their club membership to enjoy the benefits (which is pretty ridiculous unless you want to take it as a competitive sport).

If I was any shorter, I think my height could compete with the board I'm holding

Fortunately, while I was researching on wakeboarding activities in Thailand, I came about Taco Lake on the Google Maps. After researching and comparing the prices with other wakeboarding services, Taco Lake was still the cheapest and most reasonable for beginners, but the drawback was that the place was slightly further away from the city and it was a challenge to get there by public transport. However, this challenge can be overcome if you are travelling in a group. Hiring a private taxi or renting a car to drive there would be a better cost-saving option.

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HOW DID WE GET THERE?

We booked a GRAB driver for 6 hours rent service at THB1,600 (around RM170++) within Bangkok. But upon meeting the driver, the driver was reluctant to fetch us to the destination and requested for another THB300 if he were to take us there. The drive from the city to Taco Lake was 34km, which is similar to driving from Sri Petaling to KLIA, Sepang. It was slightly overpriced, but it was also because we didn’t plan our transport ahead and we were considering travelling to a few other places after the wakeboarding activity. Thus, we still went ahead to use the GRAB service.

The journey took us about 1hour, departing at 2.30pm, and reaching the location at about 3.30pm.

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WAKEBOARDING RATES & OPENING HOURS

For THB400 per pax (equivalent to RM50), the fee includes of board + helmet + life vest + a bit of wakeboarding coaching. To me as a beginner, the price was quite reasonable, as other services required you to pay rental service for using their board, life vest, and even coaching. Any play time exceeding 6pm, THB200 will be charged per pax.

Wakeboarding Price (as of 17th Dec 2018) :

Sunset ticket : THB400 (From open – 6 p.m).

Evening ticket : THB600 (From open – 10 p.m).

For sunset ticket wakeboarding after 6pm, the boarder is required to pay additional THB200 to continue.

Opening Hours :

Mon - Fri : 12:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Sat / Sun / P.Holiday : 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.

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WHAT’S SO THRILLING ABOUT THIS SPORT?

1. The Challenge to Complete One Full Loop Without Falling

The only tough thing was figuring out how the system works. It seems fine when I first took off, but when it comes to turning around the corners, the transition of the pulley to the next wire gave me a sudden nudge on the arm. The sudden shock left me no time for my body to react, thus, causing me to fall forward. After a few times of falling (and drinking a few sips of lake water), I started to get the hang of it, and finally manage to complete 2 separate loops. The accomplishment left me feeling gratified about overcoming this challenge.

(Tip : For a smoother pulley transition from one wire to another, the trick is to always keep right, pulling the handle slightly to the left while keeping your arms straight. Your hips are not gonna like it, but you’re better off falling into the water.) 

Me & my bestie. My bestie didn't manage to complete a full loop after numerous tries.

2. The Fear of Trying Not to Drown and Motivation to Keep Trying

Before I actually signed up for this activity, I was already expecting myself to fall anytime during the activity, but not in a way that I felt I was gonna drown. Retracing back to the first try, I can’t remember if I had fell head first or sideways, but the impact of the fall left me choking on to the lake water. What’s worst was that my thighs were tightly wrapped onto the board in a kneeling position. A slight panic and fear came to me when the only thing I wanted to do, was to breath. I can’t remember what happened next, but thank god for my floating vest, I was able freed my legs and regain to my water threading position. The fear of falling and drowning was deeply implanted into my memory after that first experience, and it was the only thing that motivated me to avoid falling for the rest of the water boarding activity. 

The 2nd motivating factor was taking a long time to swim ashore, and to wait for the buggy to fetch you back to the starting point. Each time I fell, I roughly wasted 5-10 minutes swimming ashore, climbing and lifting my board, and waiting for the rest of the “fallen boarders” to swim ashore to share the buggy ride back to the starting point.

I tried to avoid both situations as describe above, because it really drains your energy, and wastes a lot of time.

Here's a cup of lake water for you to imagine.
(Pic Source : Alliance for the Great Lakes, 2018)

3. A Full Slush of Adrenaline & Dopamine Rush

I still remember the feeling of excitement and adrenaline rush, swooping through my brains when I first took off. The feeling was indescribable! No words could help me describe those exact feelings besides the word “euphoric” and “freedom”. I was feeling the moment. Yet, every time I took off over and over again, the feelings still haven’t left me, because it was the only feeling I wished to cherish while it last.

Waiting for the moment for the pulley to pull you. The waiting "moment" was quite nerve wracking too.

4. Being Comfortable Being Alone

At the time when I fell off my board and regained my upright posture, I felt a slight mini fear inside of me. “What the hell just happen?”, “I’m stranded all alone here. Is there anyone going to save me?”, “Where is everyone?”, “What happens if some big fish or crocodile drag me inside the water?” These were some of the thoughts that went through my mind. It was slightly uncomfortable for me at that moment of time, but I had to deal with those thoughts by confiding in myself that everything was going to be fine.

It was a good quick reminder to myself to acknowledge the feeling of fear and pushing through those barriers, because many times we will either suppress/neglect those feelings, or rely on someone to deal with those uncomfortabilities instead of ourselves. Hence, being comfortable feeling uncomfortable is something that we should all learn once in awhile to understand ourselves better.

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MORE INFO ON WAKEBOARDING

If you’re interested to try wakeboarding in Taco Lake, Thailand, below are the details : 

- Official Website

- Facebook

No booking is required. Walk-ins are acceptable.

More details on the price can be referred to their websites as it may change from time to time.

Recommended Things to Bring:

- Toiletries

- Towel

- Extra clothes 

- Sunblock (optional)

- Proper swimming attire. Preferably those that are body fitting (Try to avoid wearing a bikini or too little clothing, or too loose pants because you may lose them during the fall of the impact)