All activities / Paragliding / Merida
Paragliding in Merida
A university city at 1,600 metres in the Venezuelan Andes, cradled by the Sierra Nevada and overlooked by Pico Bolivar, the country's highest peak. It is Venezuela's adventure-sports capital, home to the Mukumbari cable car, the highest and longest in the world, and a long-established base for tandem paragliding, whitewater rafting and mountaineering in the surrounding cordillera.
Why here
Merida is the adventure capital of Venezuela, and paragliding is its signature flight. The city sits in a deep Andean valley with the Sierra Nevada on one side and the Sierra La Culata on the other, which gives reliable thermals and a string of launch sites at different heights. The classic beginner flight is a tandem strapped in front of an experienced pilot: you launch from a ridge west of the city, such as La Trampa or Las Gonzales, or high up on the cable-car line at Loma Redonda, and glide down over patchwork farms, red-tiled villages and the green valley floor, with the snow line and Pico Bolivar above you. Flights range from a gentle sink of fifteen or twenty minutes to long thermic sessions when conditions are right. The same agencies that fly you can put together a week of rafting, canyoning and mountain trips, and Merida's low prices and student-town energy make it an easy place to spend time.
Best months
Flying is best in the drier, more stable months from around December to April, with morning and midday launches when thermals are reliable and winds are light; the wetter months bring more cloud and cancellations. Tandem flights need no experience but you should be able to jog a few steps at launch and landing. Merida sits at altitude, so allow a day to acclimatise. Conditions in the mountains change fast and flights are weather-dependent, so keep a spare day. Bring sturdy shoes, sunglasses and a warm layer for the higher launches.
Getting there & around
Travel advisory · Reconsider Travel
US State Dept Level 3 Reconsider Travel for Venezuela (crime, kidnapping, terrorism, wrongful detention, poor health infrastructure) as of 2026-07; the Level 4 Do Not Travel zones (Amazonas, Apure, and within 20 miles of the Colombia border) do not include the city of Merida, though the wider border region should be avoided. Check your own government's guidance before booking. Merida is reached overland from Valera or Barinas or by a short flight; road journeys from the coast are long and mountainous. Book tandem flights with an established Merida agency that owns its gear and pilots. Card and ATM access is unreliable nationwide, so carry US dollars in cash.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate
Schools & guides (1)
Arassari Trek
OutfitterArassari Trek is an adventure and ecotourism agency in Merida, registered as Arassari Trek CA and operating since 1995 from Calle 24 near the teleferico, the Merida cable car. It runs tandem paragliding flights in the Sierra Nevada from launch sites such as La Trampa and Las Gonzales west of the city and Loma Redonda on the cable-car line, alongside whitewater rafting, canyoning and climbing across the Venezuelan Andes. It also arranges trips onward to Los Roques, Canaima and Roraima.