New 'Superman' Zipline From Norwegian Cruise Line at Harvest Caye

May 21, 2017

It’s a bird ... it’s a plane ... it’s Superman! I wasn’t sure what to expect from the “superman” zipline at Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ new Harvest Caye cruise port in Belize. Clearly not up to date in the art of leisurely aerial pursuits, I thought the superhero moniker meant the line was just somehow superior to the zipline course I had already completed. Giving it little thought, I volunteered to go first, free from the safety blanket of witnessing someone model the run (which also functions as a way to fact check that the run is, indeed, survivable as claimed). Waddling toward the ledge in my full-body harness suit, I let the staff do their thing, quickly realizing I had no idea what I was about to do.

“Drop your hands,” they said, pointing to the middle harness, where a zipliner is typically directed to hang onto. “Now, lean forward.”

The harness system they had embedded me into helped stabilize my body in a forward-laying position, as though I was about to rush down a waterslide headfirst.

But instead of descending into the water, I floated above the Caribbean Sea, catching speed and confidence as I experienced flying for the first time.

With my arms soaring like a bird or a plane or Superman, I looked far below me at the tops of beach umbrellas, palm trees and heads bobbing in the water. In reality, folks below probably thought I looked like a drone, and I felt like one, too — the thrill of the experience will forever be recorded in my brain.