The 5 Best Other Outdoor Activities in San Gil, Santander Department

Reviewed By Colombia-road-travel - Medellin, Colombia

As a Trip Advisor DESTINATION EXPERT for Colombia it is my pleasure to provide this well balanced and accurate review. I have been traveling to Colombia for the past 30 years and the past 4 years living in Medellin. I have traveled and explored just about every area, every city and even more numerous small pueblos than I can count. I have the time, the resources, the passion and the experience to understand reasonable expectations when it comes to Colombian hotels, hostels, restaurants, bars, activities, things to do and tours. I am pleased to provide this review of Parapente Paravolar. I first visited San Gil in 2010 and since then have been back about 4 times with my latest visit last week. Both my travel partner (a paisa) and I wanted to do something very special and different to kind of celebrate freedom after 6 plus months of quarantine/lock down in Colombia and paragliding fit the need perfectly. Arranged the flight easily with my hotel and it was effortless. It takes about an hour to get to the location from San Gil. Everyone from the driver who picked us up at our hotel to the location, the pre-flight training, the pilot I was assigned to the handlers on the take-off/landing spot were all professional and knew what they were doing. This group is solid. Because of my weight (117kg) I had to wait for the smallest pilot of the gang, hehehe so I got Christian who looks like he is about 12 years old, he was joking with me that this is his first day on the job but in reality he has been flying for 10 plus years and probably has 10,000 flight. Christian is both professional and very competent pilot and it really shows when your 2,400 feet above the valley floor below with the wind gusting around you. The flight itself lasts about 25 minutes give or take as they roam around the air space finding thermals to get more altitude. We purchased photos in the air, the pilot pulls out his selfie stick, for 20 mil, well worth it as the photos are incredible. There were about a dozen people at the site and we all took turns in groups of about 3 or 4. Again everything is well organized, very professional and good pre-flight training is given of just what to expect. Everyone in the group of about a dozen had a great flight and experience. And BTW I was pleased to learn that the pilot does carry an emergency parachute, just in case which I appreciate. Without hesitation I would recommend Parapente Paravolar to anyone wanting to try something completely different. Just do it!