ABOUT US

What do you get when a Gringa New York City lawyer and a Tico guy from Quepos with a passion for parasailing get together?   A unique reliable, exciting parasailing tour along the stunning Manuel Antonio coastline!

Miguel Mena Lopez and Melanie Moss started Aguas Azules Parasailing & Water Sports in 2006 when they were looking for a way to make a living in Quepos for what they thought would be a few years while their children were young.  They envisioned a fun, laid back, beach business where they would have the flexibility to spend time in Miguel’s hometown and watch their children grow.  They also were passionate about the idea of introducing a new and unique experience, parasailing along the Manuel Antonio coastline over and around the Manuel Antonio National Park.  Anyone would agree that the Manuel Antonio coastline is special to see from the sea as you enjoy a coastal boat ride and even from many restaurants with a view, but the opportunity to observe and appreciate the stunning views as you fly above and along the coast provides an exhilarating and spectacularly unique perspective.  While Miguel had worked with companies offering the activity years before, the activity did not exist in Costa Rica in 2006 when Aguas Azules was born.  

Miguel first learned about beach parasailing in 1993 on Espadilla Beach, the public beach in Manuel Antonio.  Over the subsequent years, Miguel continued to work with parasailing and many other water sports in Manuel Antonio, Quepos, Jaco, Guanacaste and in South Carolina.  

Flash forward to 2006 when Miguel and Melanie returned to Manuel Antonio with their new baby and a dream.  They started with a boat, parachute, rope and beach umbrella as they slowly built their reputation and won the community’s confidence with this novel and exciting activity.  

Miguel and Melanie started out going hotel to hotel convincing receptionists and concierges to take a chance on them and send their clients to try parasailing over and around the National Park.  Eventually, the clients started to arrive and people became more and more familiar with the activity.  Melanie even convinced the bank to give them an old-fashioned credit card machine with carbon copies.  There was no cell service at the beach in those days, so reservations came in through the nearby payphone.  That payphone also came in handy to call the bank for approvals on those carbon copy credit card slips!

Over the past 20 years, since starting Aguas Azules, so much has changed in the Manuel Antonio community and in both Aguas Azules and Miguel and Melanie’s families.  While tourism has exploded at times in Manuel Antonio during these years, we have also seen huge pauses and dips with the economy and of course COVID.  Eventually, ICE built a new cell tower near the beach allowing for cell service and wireless credit card machines.  Lifeguards finally became a permanent fixture at the beach and tourism continued to thrive.  When the municipality closed the access road right behind the Aguas Azules beach location, it was a bit of a setback.  Parking got more challenging, but there is a bright side. If you are looking for a quiet peaceful part of the beach away from all hustle and bustle that has become more common in Manual Antonio, Aguas Azules is the place to go.  

As Manuel Antonio grew and changed, both Aguas Azules and Miguel and Melanie’s family continued to grow.  They had a second daughter in 2009.  Both girls grew up in Manuel Antonio and call Quepos their hometown.  Over the years, tourists arrived to find the family of four working together to provide the best and safest parasailing experience possible.  Aguas Azules really is a true family business born from dreams, love and a passion for what they do.  While both girls are studying in the United States now, they return regularly during vacations and jump right back into the family business.  

What to many would appear as stark differences between Melanie and Miguel were likely exactly the formula that made Aguas Azules a success.  Miguel’s long-time experience in water sports and tourism coupled with Melanie’s belt & suspenders lawyerly approach to safety and customer satisfaction were just the recipe for an exhilarating, safe and unique tourist experience.   

In the beginning, Aguas Azules offered only single parasailing, where one person could fly at a time.  The flyer landed in the water and swam back to the beach while staff carried the heavy wet parachute to the shore.  

Today, Aguas Azules offers much more than single person beach parasailing.  Now, one, two or three people can fly at the same and a jet ski is waiting for the flyers when they land to take them back to the beach.  Parasailing, whether alone or with one or two others, offers an exclusive opportunity to see the National Park, Manuel Antonio coastline and the stunning rock and island formations in the Pacific Ocean, from above and is likely the closest a human being can get to knowing what it feels like to fly freely through the sky.

A recent client summed it up best in his review:  

My son Michael and I did the 30-minute parasailing experience, and we loved every single second of it. The views were breathtaking, the experience was exhilarating, and we felt completely safe and taken care of throughout.

While we were up there, Michael kept saying:  “I don’t know if I’m dreaming or awake. Is this actually real?”

That pretty much says everything. As a father, hearing my son say that while we're soaring above the Pacific Ocean is a memory that is impossible to put a price on. The experience was beyond measurable.

 Aguas Azules also offers jet ski rentals and tours, banana boat rides, waterski and wakeboard, and surf lessons and board rentals.  With the idea of taking full advantage their location now being the quietest most peaceful part of the beach, Aguas Azules offers Day at the Beach options that include transportation to and from the beach, beach chairs and shade, and use of boogie boards for the day.  Finally, Aguas Azules will also be reintroducing platform boat parasailing, eventually leaving right from the Marina Pez Vela, during the upcoming season.  This option will be perfect for those who don’t want to start on the beach and land in the water and also for groups who want to spend some time cruising the Manuel Antonio coastline while they get watch each other fly through the sky.