All activities / Paragliding / Chania
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Paragliding in Chania
Crete's northwestern gateway, a historic Venetian harbor town that serves as the access point for Samaria Gorge and the White Mountains canyon system, two of Europe's finest canyon walks.
Why here
Tandem flights off the hills behind Chania, with the White Mountains inland and the Cretan Sea below.
Best months
Two different seasons hide behind one activity here. TANDEM flights run right through summer and are what most visitors want. But the BEGINNER COURSE cannot start before late September or mid October, because the instructors are saturated with tandem work all summer and have no capacity to teach. Confirmed directly by Yannis Katsandredakis of Explore Paragliding, Aug 2026: course is 1,000 euros over 10 to 12 lessons. He also notes that people with skydiving backgrounds typically need extra sessions, because the brake inputs are different from a parachute. If you want to learn rather than ride along, come in autumn.
Getting there & around
Schools & guides (2)
Ermis Parapente Club
ClubErmis Parapente Club is one of only two Crete entries on the ELAO paragliding commission's list of member clubs and schools, registered at Ioanni 5, Chania 73100. The ELAO detail record gives its disciplines as paragliding and ultralight, its ELAO code as 175 and its General Secretariat for Sport code as XD83, with Dimitris Papadimitriou as president. Its listed telephone and fax are both (28210) 60032, and it is reachable at ermisparapenteclub@gmail.com. It is registered as a non-profit somateio rather than a commercial school.
Explore Paragliding
SchoolTandem paragliding and beginner courses with pilots certified by the Greek Airsport Federation, flying sites on both the Chania and Heraklion sides. Instructor Yannis Katsandredakis, +30 6974069350. Beginner course 1,000 euros over 10 to 12 lessons, but courses only run from late September or mid October, since summer is fully booked with tandem flights.
Also good for paragliding in September:
Torn between Chania and Interlaken for September?
A plan settles it for your skill and budget, same-day.