Sun Coast: An adventure to remember
Sun Coast Adventure Tours is located just 15 minutes east of the Harbour View roundabout. The adventure park, known mostly for its paintball courses, also boasts other wonderful attractions.
The park was recently the site of a TEENage sports desk excursion. Present were co-Sport co-ordinators Ian Williams and Devaro Bolton, senior writers Dhane Brown and Michael Thompson and acting TEENage co-ordinator Chieftin Campbell and new writer Reneece Francis.
After a few early hiccups on our journey, we arrived at the park — eager to fire the paintballs, but this was not to be.
We were immediately met by the fierce, stifling heat of the sun coupled with the lack of even the slightest breeze. (This park could never have got a better name, ‘Sun’ Coast, get it?)
It was obvious we were in for an intriguing day.
After signing the waivers at the entrance, it was time for our first adventure — The Anansi Maze.
Designed by Amaze n’ Maze, a company in Colorado USA, this attraction features free standing fences constructed from PVC that allows for flexible design changes. On our visit, we decided to embark on a race against the clock (which also turned out to be each other), to find four key checkpoints and the exit to complete the challenge.
After a quick review of the rules, we were off.
The initial consensus, which was that we would work as a team, was quickly thrown out the window as the every-man-for-himself mentality took over as soon as the race started.
The maze was more difficult than we had anticipated. Turns that seemed to put you in the right direction only had us going in circles, while turns that appeared to lead nowhere brought us a favourable result.
In the middle of the challenge the crab-in-a-barrell mentality took full force as Michael was clearly seen from the Maze’s observation deck blatantly disregarding the rules and going over and under the barriers and walls to get to the checkpoints.
Despite his despicable behaviour, the Arsenal fan still could not beat the one-two Manchester United punch of yours truly and Chieftin who were first and second respectively — without cheating.
The Ropes Challenge Course was the next stop.
Standing 60 feet above ground, the feature includes a series of tight rope walks that end in either in a victorious zip back to the ground or the indignity of being rappelled down having failed to finish the course.
After a thorough strapping up with the harnesses that would be our only defence from falling and some brief but important safety rules, we were on our way.
Reneece was first to face the music as six writers put their fear of heights aside to tackle the swinging course.
All was going well until the fourth leg, having almost completed half of the eight stages, I began to feel weak on the nets.
With virtually no upper body strength and despite the cheers from fellow writers, the tour guides and the other patrons that had gathered to see the spectacle the unthinkable happened, I fell.
Luckily, the assurance of the guides that the harnesses could hold up to 10,000 lbs proved true. Needless to say, that ‘falling’ experience was enough and I decided to go no further. The shameful rappel down the sideposts was my fate (and one I welcomed at the moment).
All the other challengers successfully completed the course and the joy of the zipline was evident on their faces as they came flying down from 60 feet in the air.
It was then time for the feature attraction — yes, the paintball.
We were equipped with Tippmann 98 semi-automatic weapons and 200 paintballs each. After choosing sides, and another safety lecture, it was on to the first game. Chieftin, Reneece and I (Manchester United) were up against Ian, Devaro and Michael (the rest of the world).
So the stage was set. In the first game, Devaro, with the help of Ian, was able to grab the flag with little hassle to the surprise of everyone else. The subsequent games, however, went to team Manchester United, as Reneece was able to grab the flag succesfully twice.
It was on to the next course, where it was about the last man standing. The teams were pit against each other in a no holds barred shoot out. The intenstity quickly became too much for Reneece as she was overwhelmed by the relentless attacks of Ian.
By this time the bullets were running out and without enough to play another round, it was on to the shooting range to sharpen our shooting skills for when next we make the trek to Sun Coast Adventure Park.
The overall experience, though painful, was one that requires a sequel. In plainer terms “di place haaaard!”
Sun Coast Adventure Park is definitely a place where family and friends can go and have a great time together playing in teams this Easter holiday and whenever else during the year that you have some spare time.
For information on the rates and all the other features of the park check out its website at suncoastadventuretours.com