Zooming on the blue waves of ocean on a water ski along the picturesque beaches will now no longer be limited to films. It is very much here and can be tried hands-on in the state.
Now, courtesy Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC), water skiing can be enjoyed at six different locations in Andhra Pradesh including two on rivers Krishna and Godavari.
Chandana Khan, the special chief secretary (Tourism) and CMD of the APTDC has said that the tourism department is coming out with attractive packages of adventure sports including water sports taking advantage of the vast coastline of the state and several water bodies to attract youth.
Water skiing was the preferred choice of the department to start such new tourist attractions.
According to APTDC deputy general manager (Marketing) B Manohar, a total of nine jet skis at a cost of Rs 10 lakh each are being procured for the project.
Two of those watercrafts have already been inducted at Suryalanka beach, 9 km from Bapatla in Guntur district during Suryalanka Beach festival organised on June 22 and 23. Union minister of state for tourism K Chiranjeevi had inaugurated the new tourism attraction on the occasion.
Jet skiing was also introduced during an informal programme at Rushikonda in Visakhapatnam on Friday. In the coming days, jet skiing will be introduced at Myapdu Beach in Nellore district (two crafts), on Krishna river in Vijayawada and on Godavari river in Rajahmundry and also in the backwaters of Dindi (one craft each).
According to Manohar, jet skiing costs Rs 150 per trip which lasts for about five minutes.
One person is allowed with an APTDC craft operator, to ski the blue tides of sea. They will be provided with all the safety gear needed.
Union Tourism Ministry had already announced its plans to aggressively develop beaches in the country to attract more tourists.
The ministry has taken up Beach Corridor development works from Bheemili to Vizag and plans are afoot for the development of beaches at Bapatla, Chirala, Nellore and Kakinada.