Flying is going to change your life, many things will have different values, you are going to become what you really are, you’ll maybe even become somebody else, but your life will become better. These are the words of an experienced paraglider sent to the people who are preparing for the first steps in this outdoor sport. Because of very good weather conditions in Istria it is possible to practice paragliding during the whole year. In southern Istria it is possible to take off by a windlass, whereas in the regions to the north there are five prepared natural take off spots.

In the vicinity of Lanisce there is a take off spot that is very good for the beginners’ courses. The take off spot Kastelir is situated to the northwest from tourist resort of Porec. It is convenient for both beginners and more advanced paragliders. More experienced paragliders have been using Brgud on Ucka Mountain and Zbevnica for the longer period of time. The peak of Ucka is convenient for flying with dragons, whereas Raspadalica is the most famous and the best prepared take off spot in Istria at the moment. Besides flying, you can spend night here and you can also practice many other activities such as free climbing, potholing, mountaineering, mountain biking, orientation in the countryside. All the natural take off spots are orientated in the way that, disregarding the wind conditions, you can take off from one of them within the radius of 30 kilometers. Using one of these take off spots, the paragliders who know how to use local thermal columns can reach the attitude of 3 kilometers in the air and, if they know how to switch from one to the other thermal column, they can cover a distance of about fifty kilometers by air.

A view to Istria from the air gives us the answer why our birds fly. These north regions are well known just by wrinkled and picturesque landscape full of hills crowned with medieval small towns, meadows, woods, vineyards, and a view to the Adriatic Sea and islands gives additional dimension to the flying in these regions.