Hello all,
So Ive been in Kuwait with my wife about a month now. Playing house husband and trying to find a job while she's teaching. Of course I have been pretty much bored to death. So with a bit of encouragement from my wife I went out to rent a Jet Ski or PWC this past Thursday. Never owned a PWC before(Unless you live on a lake or race its not worth it imo) but rented plenty before and they are a ton of fun. Anyway I figured Id share my experience here for anyone wanting to go.
The places I went to were right next to a place called Green Island its just a few Kilometers south of the Kuwait towers. Green Island its self looks like some kind government compound not really sure. The 1st place is called "Halloween Beach" on the south side of the island. They had quite a few different brands for rent mostly Waverunners but also a few Jet Skis and Sea-Doos. Whats cool about this place is that they have Supercharged Models!!! It was 20KD for one hour on a regular and 50KD for a Supercharged! Much as I wanted to I couldn't stomach that much for a Jet ski rental, so I went for a normal one. However they wanted my passport for collateral and all I had was my laminated copy which they wouldn't accept.
So I went to try the place on the north side of the island. This place doesn't have a name and all of there PWCs are beat up wave runners that look like they served in Desert Storm. Happily though they accepted my passport and it was only 15KD an hour! On inspection I almost refused my Waverunner on seeing how much the hull was patched up, and I took pics of the broken mirror. The Indian gentleman who got me going gave me operating instructions which thankfully I didn't need since I couldn't understand him and some instructions on where not to go.....I think again really couldn't understand him well.
Finally out on the water! Just like the rest of the country the gulf is incredibly flat and boring! Seriously The biggest swell I caught was off a passing gunboat and I got maybe 6in of air. On the plus side the views of Kuwait City and the Gulf are Fantastic! Highly recommend bringing a decent camera with a waterproof case. My Waverunner was slow, my entire gauge cluster wasn't working but it didn't feel like I was doing more than 45mph flat out. The steering was also kina out of alignment to the left. It was fun going up and down the coast and seeing the city. But I was scared to go to far I really didn't trust my vehicle very much and I had no desire to be stranded in the gulf with no water.
Once I got back to shore I actually experienced the best part of the day. An Air Show! by complete luck I came back to US Navy F-18 doing barrels rolls and stunts before heading out to sea. Followed by a huge acrobatics team from what I assume was the Kuwait Air Force. This was awesome as they did some very impressive maneuvers and were crazy close to where I was standing.
When all was said and done though Id only go back if I had someone to play with or my wife wanted to go. Id recommend it if you've never been and id say pay the extra 5KD for the Halloween Beach place. If I go by myself again I'm splurging on the supercharged model.