Watch: Jet pack extreme water sport takes off
(CBS News) Scuba diving takes you underwater, and parasailing lets you float above the water. But how about flying in and out of the water? The latest extreme water sport that uses jet packs lets you do just that.
It's the kind of thing that only existed in James Bond movies. But now, those once futuristic jet packs are taking off for real.
On the harbor in Newport Beach, Calif., basically anyone can now take flight. The "jet lev," short for jet levitation, took a decade to develop. A year ago, there was just one jet pack operation in the U.S. Now there are there are 12. The cost to face your fear of flying? Just $160.
Dean O'Malley, president of Jet Lev Southwest, told CBS News, "One of the biggest challenges we have right now is getting people to realize that it's actually accessible, available. It is truly a jet packs for the everyman. And everywoman."
It takes just 30 minutes of instruction before you're in the water. A pod with a motor follows behind you, shooting water up a hose that's 33 feet long. Five hundred pounds of thrust and 1,000 gallons of water per-minute push you up in the air.
It's a thrill Gus Caicedo never thought he'd experience in his lifetime. "That was really, really cool," he said. "It really was like Superman! That is the best!"
But it's not just about flying. Professionals who have turned jet packs into a new extreme sport can also do tricks, flying as high as 30 feet in the air.
CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy got his turn at the jet pack fun. Watch his high-flying adventure in the video above.
