Our next stop after Capadoccia was Oludeniz – a beach town located at the southwest coast of Turkey.
Famous for its Blue Lagoon, Oludeniz is also one of most popular tandem paragliding spot in the world. Search online for best places to paraglide and you will see Oludeniz appearing in most of the lists. Thousands of paragliders come here every year for the perfect flying weather and stunning view of the sea.
Paragliding season here starts in April and goes on until November.
Planning and Booking
Just a couple weeks before our trip, we booked our paragliding flight with Sky Sports via their website. Alternatively, you could book via your hotel or with one of the many excursion companies in Oludeniz town. We chose Sky Sports because it could be done online and the reviews were pretty good.
The price quoted on their website is for the entire flight experience. After the flight, you may choose whether you want to pay extra for the photos and videos taken by your pilot.
Pre-Flight
Upon arriving at Sky Sports office in town, we went on with a quick registration. There were cupboards to store our belongings before getting on to the van up Mt Babadag – the place where we will jump off.
The ride up Mt Babadag takes about an hour and it is not the most pleasant ride. The road is narrow and very curvy as you go up hill. Having read reviews about this, many people recommended motion sickness pills if you get sick easily, which I did and did not regret.
At the top, we were each assigned to a pilot and given a quick briefing on safety instructions. My pilot was a friendly, bearded guy who has been doing tandem paragliding for 14 years.
~ Okay, I’m in safe hands!
Sit Back, Relax and Enjoy the Flight
After putting on the gears and a final safety checks, we were ready to take off.
The take off instructions were really simple – Walk, slow run and sit down once we’re off the ground. It all happened so quickly and off we soared into the sky 1900m above the ground.
Weather couldn’t be even more perfect on that day. The skies were clear and sunny. It was like sitting in an airplane without windows, feeling a constant cool breeze on your face.
Just beneath you there is the beautiful blue lagoon, even more stunning with the different layers of colour from turquoise to the darkest blue hues. Next to us are the gorgeous mountains and further away you could spot Fethiye town filled with tiny buildings.
We had casual conversation in the sky while enjoying the view. My pilot told me about his flying experience ever since he graduated from university. Having been to many other countries for this job, he still feels the best to paraglide in Oludeniz. The weather is always good (more than 80% of the time) which gives a smooth flying experience and the great height offers a wonderful view of the sea and mountains.
Smooth Landing
As we glide lower and lower, my pilot started preparing for our landing. The last few minutes of the flight was recorded on his GoPro so it was pretty cool to watch back again later on. Landing was as smooth as taking off, the ground staff were all ready to ‘catch’ us when we land on the beach.
It was really a fun experience and definitely would do it again! My paragliding experience with SkySports was great too. Apart from their professional staff and services, the photos and videos turned out to be amazing.
If you only have time for one activity in Oludeniz, I’d highly recommend paragliding!
how to get to oludeniz from cappadocia?
From Goreme, we booked an overnight bus ride with KamilKoc to Fethiye.
It was an 11 hour bus ride with 3 half hour restroom stops throughout the night. The seats were pretty comfortable and spacious. Lights were dimmed but not pitch black, so do bring your own eye mask if you can’t sleep when there’s light.
There is a plug point and USB port for charging your devices, pretty handy for travellers. It was a good overnight bus experience for me, managed to catch some sleep after waking up super early for the past few days to chase the balloons around Capadoccia.
For more information on getting around, check out my 9-Day Itinerary in Turkey.