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Sun, sand, fruity drinks and loud Hawaiian shirts. Taken together and you think of vacation time somewhere warm.

But, there may be danger in all that fun. Without any state or federal regulations, parasailing remains a hazardous must-do activity, but beware. Bad weather or inexperience on the part of the operator may turn a good time into a bad trip.

The Parasail Safety Council, which tracks injuries and deaths nationwide, reports more than 70 people have been killed and at least 1,600 injured between 1982 and 2012, out of an estimated 150 million parasail rides during those 30 years.

That's a casualty rate of about one per 90,000 rides. In comparison, the chance of being seriously injured at an amusement park is about one in 9 million rides, according 2010 data from the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.

In one parasailing tragedy, Shannon Kraus, mother of two girls who crashed into a Pompano Beach hotel roof in 2007 when their parasail line snapped during a storm. One of the girls, 15-year-old Amber May White, later died of her injuries, while her sister Crystal, then 16, has had a long road to recovery from head injuries.

"Nobody has listened to me from day No. 1," Kraus said. "I've just been shoved aside. I've kind of been ignored and I'm pretty angry about that."

Crystal White, now a mother of two and a massage therapist, said most people who sign up to parasail have little idea it's less regulated than the average carnival ride.

"They just need to know that if they go up, and something bad happens, there's nothing they can do about it, because there are no laws, or rules, or regulations," she said.

In another fatal accident, five years after the girls' accident just off the same beach, a Connecticut woman died when her harness gave way and she fell about 150 feet into the ocean. The Aug. 15 death of 28-year-old Kathleen Miskell has prompted the first National Transportation Safety Board investigation into a parasailing fatality. Safety advocates hope Florida lawmakers will give the issue a fresh look.

People who sign up for Miami Beach Parasail generally pay about $75 for a 15-minute ride that can take them as high as 350 feet in the air. They sit in swing-like harnesses attached to a tow bar, which is connected by ropes to the kite-like parasail above and a winch in the boat below.

On a perfect ride, the boat moves across the water, the parasail passengers are slowly lifted into the air and the line is let out. After the ride, the boat is slowed gradually as the line is brought in so parasailors land back on the boat on their feet.