Hang Gliding in the Caribbean
Many who love the sport plan their entire vacations around being able to experience gliding in new a locale. People who love to glide are, in general, adventuresome by nature, and love to try new things. This makes the ability to travel to other states, islands, and mountainous regions one of the biggest benefits to being a glider. There are a great number of things to see all over this wonderful world, and some of them can only be seen at their best from over 1000 meters in the air. The Caribbean has become a very popular place for hang gliders to travel. An advantage to hang gliding in the Caribbean is that enthusiasts are not limited to gliding solely during summer months. While there’s snow on the ground in Maine, it’s warm and sunny in St. Croix or Puerto Rico.
The Caribbean
For those new to traveling who have never experienced the wonder of the Caribbean, come see for yourself why it’s such a popular tourist destination. Located in the Caribbean Sea, it consists of several islands (both macro and micro) some with extraordinary mountain ranges. For a better handle on where the Caribbean is, it’s located to the southeast of the state of Florida in the United States, and directly north of the continent of South America. The Caribbean is directly between the Gulf of Mexico and the North Atlantic Ocean. Approximately 37.5 million people live on these islands, including locals and people who have chosen to make this area their home.
Mountains on the Caribbean Islands
There are some great mountains in the Caribbean from which to try your hand at hang gliding. In Jamaica, you will find the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains are around 30 miles across and climb as high as 7400 feet. In Cuba, you can check out the Sierra Maestra. The highest point found here is over 6500 feet. A note about Cuba: Because of the decades-old embargo between the United States and Cuba, you will be unable to cross Cuba directly from a US state or a commonwealth island, such as Puerto Rico. You may, however, go to Mexico or the Dominican Republic (DR) first and then island hop. From DR, it’s cheap and easy and in no time you’ll be in Havana, the nation’s capital.
Or maybe you would like to try the Sierra de Luquillo in Puerto Rico. You can climb over 3500 feet in several places on this mountain range. The highest spot in all of the islands can be found in the Dominican Republic. The Pico Duarte, at its highest point, is over 10,000 feet. Indeed, it’s not uncommon to see snow on these mountains. The altitude could affect your ability to breath, because the air is much thinner the higher you go. Be sure you take the appropriate precautions if you choose to climb any mountain. Of course, you may not want to climb to the highest peaks of these mountains in order to go hang gliding. You will have a lot of gear and a heavy glider to haul up those steep slopes!
There are some areas you’ll want to steer clear of because of their previous volcanic activity. When booking a “hang gliding vacation”, be sure to ask your travel agent or do a thorough Internet search to ensure your Caribbean “cheap package” isn’t landing you in the middle of volcanic ash.
There are many other mountainous areas you may want to consider visiting in the Caribbean. Research will help you determine which areas are safe and which are not. Once you have made your plans, your hang gliding adventure is sure to be a wonderful success and extremely satisfying. The islands are beautiful, the mountains wild, and the views are breathtaking. And when you’re not hang gliding, each offers its own history (much of it shared with neighboring islands) and mouth watering food.
