Paragliding in Sarangani

Photos: Diovanie De Jesus

The haze must have been blown away by the wind—the same wind blowing across Sarangani Bay that would lift us up. It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for jumping off a cliff and soaring like a hawk. Like surfers waiting for the right wave, we waited for the right wind. We prepared our wings, and when the breeze came, we ran to the edge of the cliff, launched and started to fly! Paragliding now ticked off my bucket list.

Many of us dream of flying. Like a brahminy kite thermalling, we were doing the wing-over, a series of dynamic turns, swinging over the wing, above the stunning Sarangani Bay. We were free flying, the sun above us, the horizon beautifully sandwiched by the azure sky and sea.

Flying was so smooth that Darvin Villanueva, my paragliding pilot, and I still had the chance to chat with each other. He started as a driver who would bring paragliding tourists up the rugged jump-off hill. Eventually, he also learned how to fly. He must have sensed that I wanted more thrill, so he asked if I want some extreme moves. With a rush of more adrenaline, we did a 360 and a bit of spiral down. When we landed, we hit the marked circle like a pro.

We were joined that morning by paragliders from Alaska, Pakistan and The Netherlands. They had flown all the way from Manila to paraglide here.

Paragliding instructor Buko Raymundo said that the activity requires a lot of knowledge about flight. “You need to know about the weather, the equipment that you use, the rules in the air when flying with other paragliders, the aerodynamics—the science in the sport, and the techniques that you need to practice in the ground,” he said. “It’s more of knowledge building than physical.”

For Kyle from General Santos City (and the youngest in the group at 13 years old!), paragliding was simply feeling what it must be like to be a bird.

Paragliding is fast becoming popular here in the Philippines. In fact, the country hosted an international paragliding completion last year, also in Sarangani. Tourists can also try paragliding in Carmona, Cavite, and Bontoc, Mt. Province. And paragliders are still spreading their wings to scout more sites to fly in.

Indeed, Leonardo Da Vinci was right. “For once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you long to return.” — BM, GMA News