Need a vacation? There’s wheelchair travel!

Planning an epic tropical vacation…or dreaming of getting away? There are some insanely cool accessible vacation and wheelchair travel options out there, and the wheelchair-friendly resorts, places and activities only keep getting better. They’re so sweet in fact you may just forget the whole “not being able to walk” thing. Check ’em out!

The first video comes from John “J2” Mryczko, a C5-6 quad from Chicago, IL. He and his girlfriend went on an diving vacation to Cozumel, Mexico (considered one of the best diving spots in the world) and they went with the adapted SCUBA group, Diveheart (a really cool organization founded in 2001). And while he was not at all a scuba diver before this trip, he got the hang of it right away (even if it took 4 people to get him in his wet suit).

The video shows the diving group assembling and going out on the boat, stopping at various diving sports throughout the day (with each dive lasting 40-60 minutes), and the work involved in getting everyone in and out of the water (it was a group of about 20 people with all kinds of disabilities). Once J2 gets set up in his gear, as you can see he’s quite independent in the water (the record depth they dove was 55 ft). Watch his video

The second video will make you want to visit Spain asap. In the Canary Islands, one of the most beautiful, tropical areas of this country, is one of the most wheelchair accessible beaches in the world, Los Cristianos Beach in Los Cristianos, Tenerife. This beach was created by SINPROMI disability organization and features everything you need for an integrated beach experience – accessible showers, a ramp all the way to the beach, through the sand and to the chairs themselves, floating beach chairs and Hoyer lifts to help you into them.

In the video watch a wheelchair-user (with his camera in hand) give a tour of the beach, as well as interview a father/son duo (the son has Duchennes, a form of Muscular Dystrophy) enjoying it. And it ends with the father and son duo using the beach chair and going out into the waves. I SO want to visit this glorious place. Check out the accessible beach

And our last video shows an adrenaline-fueled vacation activity only the brave have the guts for – parasailing. And Chris Colwell, a C5-6 quad from the US, shows how it’s done over the Arabian Sea in Dubai. His video shows the entire parasailing experience from start to finish – from getting into the boat, getting buckled in to being up in the air (with Chris promising the camera he’s not scared). It’s quite a thing to be up that high, so far from the boat, but with the right safety measures it can be done. Watch his video

Scuba diving, parasailing or just enjoying the beach, getting away plays a big part is keeping our minds (and hearts) happy. Yes you can, yes you can. Don’t ever think your injury will limit your vacation fun, because at least when it comes to vacations, it doesn’t have to be the case. Learn more about wheelchair travel options here!

What amazing vacations have you taken since your injury? What kind of experience do you have with wheelchair travel?

Watch the videos!

– Quad goes scuba diving with Diveheart in Cozumel

– Beautiful accessible beach in the Canary Islands, Spain

– Chris Colwell, a quad, goes parasailing in Dubai