How I Celebrated my Birthday Paragliding

Last December 2019, I decided to try paragliding as a birthday gift for myself 'cause why not? It's something I've always wanted to try! How can you not love the adrenaline once you're up there flying?

Luckily, I found the FB page of FlyXtreme Adventure Philippines which offers tandem paragliding (you and the pilot) for Php 2800 for weekend rate and Php 2400 for weekday rate. They require a Php 500 down payment to secure your slot.

How To Get There

1. Ride a bus going to Alabang South Station. 2. At the Alabang South Station, look for the jeep going to GMA, Cavite. Fare is around Php 30 (I forgot the exact sorry! Hehe). Ask the driver to drop you off at Carmona Checkpoint. Landmark is Jollibee . It took us around 25-30 minutes from Alabang South Station until Checkpoint. 3. Cross to the other side towards Sugar Road. There are tricycles there that can take you at paragliding site. Better to tell them to drop you off at the “kubo” which costs Php 150 for one ride.

When we arrive at Sugar Road, some tricycle drivers offered Php 70 which drops us off at the "tulay". They told us that there are usually staff from the paragliding site that could pick us up from there. Since it's also cheaper, we opted for it! However, it took some time before someone from the paragliding site answered our call to pick us up so better to have the transportation that will take you directly to the site.

It was drizzling a bit that time that I thought they will cancel. But lo and behold, the sun showed up and that's when the weather was the most favorable for flying!

We didn't take off the exact moment the sun showed up as the pilots had to check for the wind. Somehow, I liked it that the sun was out 'cause it meant we'll be flying higher! It was the most thrilling experience "diving" as the pilot greeted me "Happy birthday!"

What to Wear and Bring:

1. Wear something you’d be comfortable wearing on a very light hiking/trekking activity. The take off area has some slightly sharp grasses (Matalahib. Ganon!)

2. Arrive early! We got there at 8:30 AM and I was lucky to be second one to fly! Around 10AM, a group of around 16 people arrived. The sun was much hotter by then, too.

3. Don’t forget your sunblock and shades. You can also wear a hat/cap.

4. You can bring your own action camera. They also offer theirs for rent for Php 500. You can also bring your phones up there! It wasn’t that windy so it’s okay to take some shots but please have a good grip to your gadgets. :)

5. Be patient. These pilots would have to wait for the best wind condition to fly. It’s worth the wait! :)

6. If you can have someone from the hut take a video of your flight, go ahead and ask them! It's fun to watch how you were doing up there and how extreme the flight was :)

Thank you, sir Mike! If you get the chance to have him as the pilot, you're in for a good ride!

As for going back to Carmona Checkpoint, we asked the pilot who picked us up from "tulay" on how we can go back. He offered us a ride and we just paid an additional fee since we greatly appreciated the experience! Definitely one for the books!