ParaglidingEarth Site Link
Launch (N 0°30’15”, W 80°26’39”) 121 m
Landing Zone Beach 0 m
Canoa is a chill beach town popular with Ecuadorians and backpackers alike on the middle coast of Ecuador. El Nido is a ridge soaring site a few minutes outside of Canoa offering several kilometers length of steep bluffs that put off some good lift on the right day. Here you may fly with flocks of pelicans, frigates, and many other seabirds!
Several local pilots have confirmed for me that it is possible to fly all the way to San Vicente on a good day, a good 30 km South along the coast. Only one-way flights (Canoa → San Vicente) are possible though due to geographical features.
There is another launch site directly above Hotel Sol y Mar (below the white building visible on the bluff above), but the ridge there is very short. On days where it is possible to gain lots of altitude, one can launch here and fly South across the gap to the El Nido ridge.
Hotel Sol y Mar, located about 1 km South of Canoa, offers tandem flights as well as paragliding instruction (look for the sign along the road). It looked like a pleasant enough hotel too but they told me solamente parejas (couples only). Canoa is chock-full of other sleeping options and you should have no trouble finding a place unless it’s close to a big holiday.
See Dylan Neyme’s Condor Trail (link at top of blog below header) for more details.
Notes on Launch: The slope is fairly steep here and contains some debris. There is a large tree in the middle of the launch, so practicing ground handling and top-landing are not advised.
Notes on Landing Zone: Land on the beach- a wide, flat strip of sand that parallels the bluffs all along the way. Watch out for power lines that parallel the road, also parallel to the beach. Good place to practice ground handling, just remember to dump the sand out of your wind when you’re done!
Flyable days per year: Unknown
Best times of the day: Mid-day, from noon-ish to sun down as long as sea breezes hold.
Cost: Site fee is $5 per day. Pay the property owner, whose house is at the start of the gated road you’ll take from the highway to launch.
The site fee was apparently initiated due to visitors trashing and mistreating the launch site. Please respect flying areas to ensure they may continue to be enjoyed.
How to get there:
To Canoa: A direct bus from Quito to Canoa exists (at least weekly?), inquire at Reina del Camino at the Terminal Terrestre in Quito for schedules. A fairly good description of transportation options to Canoa can be found here: http://www.canoathrills.com/getting-here
To El Nido (Launch): From Canoa, Take any bus heading South (i.e. San Vicente or Bahia). About five kilometers South of town the road makes a sharp left turn, leaving the shoreline for the first time. Ask to be let off at the end of the turn. To the left, you’ll see a hill with a trail leading up in the distance (see photo below). Pay the property owner at the gate and follow the trail up to launch, a steep 15-20 minute walk (bring water!)
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