Stretch your boundaries with XDubai Slingshot
The first brave souls to try Dubai’s latest daredevil attraction lived to tell the tale – and gave the XDubai Slingshot at Kite Beach a glowing recommendation.
Catapulting social media influencers towards the horizon could well develop into a popular spectator sport, and Dubai influencer Gbemi Giwa was the first to step into a Slingshot harness.
Ms Giwa usually spends Thursday mornings blogging or posting photos of food and selfies to her 23,500 Instagram followers about the restaurant and fitness industry in Dubai.
Not this week.
“I was worried about getting injured but they told me it was 100 per cent safe,” said Ms Giwa, 25, a Nigerian.
“I thought what’s the worst thing that could happen? You only live once.
“Learning to do things you wouldn’t normally do is a good way to stop fears from overcoming you.”
Adventure sports company XDubai is renowned for dealing in adrenaline. Their ride opens to the public today and propels those strapped in at speeds approaching 100kph, in half a second.
“It was huge fun and got me ready for the weekend,” Ms Giwa said.
“I was scared at the beginning when they strapped me in so I closed my eyes. The countdown came and went and it was super-fun.”
The attraction is at Kite Beach in the city for a limited time, although no details have been released yet about when it will be moved.
Those brave enough to give the Kite Beach Slingshot a go can film their experience with an included GoPro head camera.
It is the latest public event hosted by XDubai, whose team of daredevils have been filmed flying across the city skyline in wingsuits, performing acrobatic stunts in a parkour video in Madinat Jumeirah and flying down various ziplines at Dubai Mall and Dubai Marina.
Steven Herron, 37, a Scottish teacher living in Damac Hills in Dubai, was one of the first in line to take on the Slingshot challenge.
“I saw it on Facebook so thought I would pop down and see what it was all about,” he said.
“It was over very quickly, but worth doing.”
The XDubai Slingshot is open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 9am to noon and 1pm to 7pm, at Kite Beach, Dubai.