Ovacik 2012 - Paragliding
Posted: 26 Aug 2012 06:57Hi All,
Just back from our August 2012 holiday in Ovacik and thought i'd upload a few shots of the paragliding we did. There were five of us in total, me, my daughter Laura, my nephew Craig, his girlfriend Laura and my Sister in law, Pauline. We took off at around 6550 feet at the top of Babadag Mountain, which overlooks the stunning Blue lagoon, and landed around 30 - 40 minutes later on the prom on Olu Deniz beach.
The scary road up the mountain - took this one at the bottom but put the camera down to hold onto something as the minibus was all over the place. The road just got thinner and thinner, tight u bends all the way up.
Laura and myself recieving brief safety instructions before take off - run and don't stop until I tell you! LOL
A last minute photo before Laura takes the plunge - I think she was the least worried and was just enjoying the whole experience.
Craig went first but his chute failed to inflate properly and the take off was aborted. A few seconds later he was off but I missed him going airborne as I was getting harnessed up myself.
Another of our party taking flight - not sure who as it was all happening so fast.
Take off was basically three running steps and you were away - a little nervy but once in the air it was totally relaxing. Laura even steered the paraglider - her pilot said that she flew the paraglider, or chute, perfectly - and would make a good pilot one day.
My view shortly after take off - my trusty Adidas Sambas are no more, the kids threw them in the bin as soon as we got back to the uk, said they were past their best years ago lol. I had 8 good years out of them. RIP
I was flapping my wings but couldn't make the chute go any higher. I think he said we were cruising at around 40 mph, it could have been kph - this speeded up fast to around 100 as they spiralled to loose height. The wing overs and spiralling were optional but nearly all our party did it - very, very dizzy afterwards.
The views from this height are breath taking, the scenery was just stunning. The whole flight was very peaceful, not what I imagined at all. This is the famous Blue lagoon, the green/browny bit is called Sugar beach.
Looking down onto the Blue Lagoon - the pilot said he was so lucky to be paid to do something he loves.
All too soon the flight was nearing its end - this is Olu deniz, you can just make out a sign on the roof saying HELP!
There are a few different landing sites on the beach, one was to fly over the top of a bar and land onto a grassy area - others flew in line with the prom and landed on a kind of mat or astro turf. It was quite dangerous as people walked around these areas oblivious to the chutes coming down at fast speeds.
My landing was straight onto the prom - I was told to take a few steps on landing and only stop and stand straight when told to do so. The blocks to the left are toilets and to the right there is a wooden ramp that takes you on/off the beach - luckily there wasn't too many people walking around the area when I landed.
We all landed within a few minutes of each other - all five of us had safe landings and then it was off to view the photos the pilot took.
Another safe landing - not sure if its one of our party though as people were landing everywhere - some even aborted the landing strips, due to people milling around, and landed on the sandy beach instead.
My first beer didn't touch the sides as we all chatted about out exciting day in a nearby restaurant.
The flight with GRAVITY, a specialist paragliding company, was £60.00 (pound), but a few other touring companies were offering similar flights for around £50.00 - we chose Gravity as they seemed a more professional outfit. The photo disc cost 60l (lira) but we knocked them down to 50 lira - my disc was poor with only 24 images - Laura got around 125 photo's on hers - videos were also available.
All that's needed is a pair of trainers (some wore TOMS) a vest or T'shirt, a camera and a little bit of bottle. I've got to admit I was a little apprehensive about doing this, especially as it was all my idea - but five safe landings later and we all have a memory we'll never forget.
Hope you enjoyed the pics -
Cheers John
Just back from our August 2012 holiday in Ovacik and thought i'd upload a few shots of the paragliding we did. There were five of us in total, me, my daughter Laura, my nephew Craig, his girlfriend Laura and my Sister in law, Pauline. We took off at around 6550 feet at the top of Babadag Mountain, which overlooks the stunning Blue lagoon, and landed around 30 - 40 minutes later on the prom on Olu Deniz beach.
The scary road up the mountain - took this one at the bottom but put the camera down to hold onto something as the minibus was all over the place. The road just got thinner and thinner, tight u bends all the way up.
Laura and myself recieving brief safety instructions before take off - run and don't stop until I tell you! LOL
A last minute photo before Laura takes the plunge - I think she was the least worried and was just enjoying the whole experience.
Craig went first but his chute failed to inflate properly and the take off was aborted. A few seconds later he was off but I missed him going airborne as I was getting harnessed up myself.
Another of our party taking flight - not sure who as it was all happening so fast.
Take off was basically three running steps and you were away - a little nervy but once in the air it was totally relaxing. Laura even steered the paraglider - her pilot said that she flew the paraglider, or chute, perfectly - and would make a good pilot one day.
My view shortly after take off - my trusty Adidas Sambas are no more, the kids threw them in the bin as soon as we got back to the uk, said they were past their best years ago lol. I had 8 good years out of them. RIP
I was flapping my wings but couldn't make the chute go any higher. I think he said we were cruising at around 40 mph, it could have been kph - this speeded up fast to around 100 as they spiralled to loose height. The wing overs and spiralling were optional but nearly all our party did it - very, very dizzy afterwards.
The views from this height are breath taking, the scenery was just stunning. The whole flight was very peaceful, not what I imagined at all. This is the famous Blue lagoon, the green/browny bit is called Sugar beach.
Looking down onto the Blue Lagoon - the pilot said he was so lucky to be paid to do something he loves.
All too soon the flight was nearing its end - this is Olu deniz, you can just make out a sign on the roof saying HELP!
There are a few different landing sites on the beach, one was to fly over the top of a bar and land onto a grassy area - others flew in line with the prom and landed on a kind of mat or astro turf. It was quite dangerous as people walked around these areas oblivious to the chutes coming down at fast speeds.
My landing was straight onto the prom - I was told to take a few steps on landing and only stop and stand straight when told to do so. The blocks to the left are toilets and to the right there is a wooden ramp that takes you on/off the beach - luckily there wasn't too many people walking around the area when I landed.
We all landed within a few minutes of each other - all five of us had safe landings and then it was off to view the photos the pilot took.
Another safe landing - not sure if its one of our party though as people were landing everywhere - some even aborted the landing strips, due to people milling around, and landed on the sandy beach instead.
My first beer didn't touch the sides as we all chatted about out exciting day in a nearby restaurant.
The flight with GRAVITY, a specialist paragliding company, was £60.00 (pound), but a few other touring companies were offering similar flights for around £50.00 - we chose Gravity as they seemed a more professional outfit. The photo disc cost 60l (lira) but we knocked them down to 50 lira - my disc was poor with only 24 images - Laura got around 125 photo's on hers - videos were also available.
All that's needed is a pair of trainers (some wore TOMS) a vest or T'shirt, a camera and a little bit of bottle. I've got to admit I was a little apprehensive about doing this, especially as it was all my idea - but five safe landings later and we all have a memory we'll never forget.
Hope you enjoyed the pics -
Cheers John
Thanks for posting 
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