Travelling to Turkey was always on my bucket list and when we finally booked our tickets for turkey I was beyond excited! While charting out the places we had to visit, we knew Istanbul and Cappadocia were a must see. Between the more famous places like Antalya and Pamukkale we decided to give them a skip and decided to have a more local experience by visiting Kas & Fethiye. Needless to say, going to Fethiye was one of the best decision we took because had we not decided on Fethiye, we would never have visited Oludeniz and I would never have had the chance to share the story that I am about to share 🙂

Where is Oludeniz?

Set about 12 kms from Fethiye, Oludeniz boasts of pristine waters with shades of aquamarine & turquoise & a beautiful pebble beach. Its famous for its Blue Lagoon in Oludeniz (UNESCO World Heritage) and its a very popular tourist spot especially amongst the Britishers. If you are looking for a quite place with stunning views then this is it!

How to reach Oludeniz from Fethiye?

[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/embed?mid=1EFovOqbHljMbtRgnghVtmvwsz5aCg-QC&w=640&h=480]You can opt for a mini bus to reach any of the resorts in Oludeniz. Some resorts (like ours) arranged for a free pick up for us from the Fethiye Bus stop.If you plan on coming from Kas to Fethiye then opt for a Havatas bus (15 TL per person) from Otogar. Once you reach Fethiye, opt for a mini bus or ask your resort to pick you or take a cab.

Paragliding in Turkey

Oludeniz is known as one of the best places in the world for paragliding!Being someone who hadn’t opted for any adventure activities till date, I was nervous as hell to be honest. I gave it a lot of thought whether I could pull it off or would I chicken out the last minute?Casually strolling on the pebble beach in the afternoon, we saw a lot of para gliders making their way down. I knew it then that I had to pull up my socks! If hundreds of people could go for it then why couldn’t I? With that thought in mind we went around making a few inquires about the best company that we can trust with the tandem paragliding.

Is paragliding safe?

Yes! The companies here have been running this since a while and have all safety checks in place. You are in good hands.

Choosing a company for Tandem Paragliding in Oludeniz Turkey

Honestly, there are plenty companies that offer tandem paragliding. Apart from the cost factor what matters here are 2 things:

1. how experienced the company is?
2. proven safety record from the start of the company.

With that thought in mind and after reading some reviews on tripadvisor, we decided that to go with “Gravity”.

Cost of Paragliding in Oludeniz?

250 TL for tandem paragliding + pictures + video (cost was as of 2016)

Tanden Paradlidying: Soaring up in the sky!

Perched at a height of 6550 feet, Babadag mountain is the place from where the paragliding takes place.Since the hotel where I was staying was right on the beach, I nervously walked to Gravity office that was a short distance away. They were waiting for the entire group of people to assemble post which we would make our way up the winding road of the mountain.The 25 mins ride up the mountain with the steep cliff on one side didn’t make it easy for me. As we inched up on the mountain, the views were stunning and I tried to shake off the scared feeling. I looked around and the faces next to me had the same story, excitement & nervousness.Finally, after what seemed like ages we reached the top of the mountain and I was introduced to the pilot. After exchanging some pleasantries he quickly began preparing the equipment. Funny thing was, I didn’t realize that I was blabbering and he got so distracted that he had to ask me to stop talking least he miss something!

So I paid heed to what he said and tried not to look down the slope into the ocean.After having all the checks in place, another person walked ahead of us down the slope with the parachute in his hand. Suddenly my pilot asked me to break into a run. I was zapped to say the least but I did what he said. With my heart in my mouth, we ran down the slope and within seconds we were up in the air!

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Feeling the cold breeze on my face with the turquoise ocean below us I finally broke into a smile 🙂I couldn’t believe it that ” I WAS FLYING”!!!He eased me into my seat and asked me to hold the camera in my hand. He finally broke into a conversation and we began chit chatting a bit. He had been a pilot for more than 15 years and he was excellent and very professional. He clicked a lot of pictures of us and the aquamarine sea below. I was trying to soak up the views, looking into the sea below and the sun shinning in the morning light, it was picturesque to say the least.

He then asked me to record a message for anyone I would like to so I spoke a few words addressing my parents and my hubby telling them about my experience.

Did you know they can swirl the parachute?

He did that on 2-3 occasions until I finally asked him to stop as I was feeling dizzy. We were up in the air for a good 30 mins and finally it was time for touch down.

The pilot gave me a pep talk around how we would land once we touch down on the ground. We perfectly landed on a green strip on the beach.

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My Experience
To sum it up, I loved it. I don’t for a minute regret going for it. A lifetime experience that put the ball in motion and gave me courage to go for more adventure activities in the near future.You can read up about my Bungee Jump experience from the worlds biggest bridge “Bloukrans bridge” here

Some noteworthy points

1. Do not eat before you go for tandem paragliding. Try having a fruit or just a cup of coffee.
2. Wear fitted comfortable closed shoes unless you want your shoes to fall off mid air!
3. Stay overnight in Oludeniz as there are a lot of things to do around apart from Paragliding.
4. Hire a private boat to the nearest “Butterfly beach” and swim in the waters
5. Opt for the Gocek 12 Islands boat trip. A whole day spent island hoping and swimming in the Mediterranean sea seems like a good plan.
6. All you scuba diving lovers out there, Oludeniz offers some private scuba diving courses.

With these points in mind, you will be all set to go for an unforgettable experience. Let me know you thoughts!