Active / Paragliding
Babadağ, the Mountain With a Beach at the End of the Runway
Four launch points between 1,200 and about 1,900 metres feed a single landing on the sand at Ölüdeniz. The wind decides which one you get.
At the 1700 launch the wings are laid out on the grass in a row, and a man with a radio watches a strip of cloth on a pole. The pilot behind you says "walk, now run", and after four or five steps the slope stops being there. Below is a dark oval of lagoon, a pale thread of beach and a bay dotted with anchored boats.
Babadağ rises to 1,965 metres within sight of the sea, and that is what makes the flight work. The drop is long, and at the bottom there is a beach instead of a field.
Four launches, one landing
The mountain has four launch points, at about 1,200, 1,700, 1,800 and 1,900 metres. Pilots choose by wind direction and strength on the day, so you rarely know which one you have until you arrive. The 1,700 is the one most people mean when they say Babadağ. It has a café and a restaurant, and a wide slope facing the lagoon. The 1,200 is the low option, and it keeps flights running when the upper slopes are closed.
Half an hour over the coast
A tandem flight lasts roughly 25 to 40 minutes, depending on how much lift the pilot finds. The route runs along the coast from the cliffs of Butterfly Valley to the long beach at Belcekız, with the lagoon in the middle. You land on a designated strip of the beach, and the sea is a few steps away.
The trade-off is scale. On a busy day many hundreds of people fly from the mountain, the launch has a queue, and your flight is one slot in a long line. It is a well-run slot, but it is not a private one.
For people who keep their feet down
The cable car, which opened in 2021, runs from a station above the village to 1,200 metres and on to 1,700, a ride of about a quarter of an hour in all. A chairlift carries on to 1,800. From the viewing deck at 1,700 you can watch wings fill and leave, and hear the first shout turn into a laugh.
The summit can be in cloud while the beach below is bright, and operators decide on the day, so book with a spare day behind it.
Editor's picks
- Take the first slot you can get.Morning air is usually smoother, and the view from the launch is at its clearest.
- Ask for the longer flight.If the thermals are working, pilots can stretch the standard flight by several minutes.
- Ride up even if you do not fly.The 1,700 deck is the best free seat for the launches.
- Stay for the landings.Take a coffee on the sand at Belcekız and keep clear of the landing strip.
- Book a boat the next day.Butterfly Valley looks different from the water after you have seen it from above.
- Walk the first stretch of the Lycian Way.Its northern end is at Ölüdeniz, and the trail climbs into the hills above the lagoon.
Insider notes
Flights are decided on the day. A pilot who says there is no wind is not selling you a story, so book early in your stay and leave room to try again.
Operators set their own weight limits, and some are strict, so ask when you book. Ask too how you will reach the launch and where you will meet, because some groups ride the cable car and others go up by minibus.
When snow closes the upper launches, the 1,200 stays in use. It was opened for exactly that reason, and the flights carry on.
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How to get to Babadağ
Dalaman is the closest airport, about an hour by road through Fethiye. The cable car station sits on the hill above Ölüdeniz, with a car park and a shuttle to the entrance, and the dolmuş from Fethiye takes under half an hour. Flights from Europe and Istanbul are covered in Getting there.
The mountain does the climbing, and the beach does the catching.