General
Having a holiday in the dreamland of Ölüdeniz means more than only swimming and lying next to the pool. Thanks to paragliding you can view this wonder of nature from 1975 metres above, before slowly descending. The popular extreme entertainment of the resort of Fethiye: a jump from Mount Babadag and a paragliding flight over the Blue Lagoon. Oludeniz is considered one of the world's centers of paragliding and the second most important for Europe. The season of paragliding in Oludeniz lasts from April to October.
For paragliding, you should choose comfortable clothes: sneakers, trousers or shorts, as well as a shirt with a long sleeve or a windbreaker, because at altitude there will be a strong wind. The road to the 1.700 metres high point on Babadağ (Father Mountain) is 25 kilometres long and is tough and rough and the trip up takes 40 minutes.
On the top of the mountain there are three launching platforms for paragliders. The first launch pad is at an altitude of 1650 meters, the second platform is slightly higher than the first, and the third, the highest, is located almost at the very top of Babadag - at an altitude of 1960 meters above sea level. The launching sites on the mountain are designed to take off under different wind directions. In the season of safe flights in Oludeniz, the southern winds predominate, under which the lower launch pad is designed for take-off: it is the widest, and most of the jumps with a paraglider take place from here.
Near the lower launching pad there is a small cafe, from where you can enjoy a splendid view of the sea and the surroundings of Oludeniz. In clear sunny weather, from this point of Mount Babadag you can see not only the panorama of Fethiye, but also the Greek island of Rhodes.
The lower starting platform is the most convenient: the start is laid out with tiles, the take-off and the jump are made from here towards the sea. A little higher is the average area, it is small, cramped and unconfined. The third site is actually the peak of the Babadag mountain, the start from here is obtained in the direction of the valley between the mountains. The choice of a launching pad for a paraglider jump is dictated by the direction of the wind.
On the platform the instructor gives out a helmet to the passengers, tells about the device of the paraglider and how to behave when jumping and in flight. Safety requires that the helmet be worn at the time of jumping and landing. You put on your full body suit and helmet. Then you sit in the harness that is linked to the parachute and pilot. With the pilot pulling on the parachuteit begins to fill, you run for a few steps, rise into the air and you are flying.
The flight over the coast of Fethiye ends with a landing in the village of Oludeniz. All the paragliders are landing directly on the promenade along the main beach, or on the beach itself.
The cost of flying a paraglider as a passenger is about $ 100.
You have to book a day before or in the morning to be able to take off into the air.