Paragliding from Brajići

Key facts

The flight

The launch faces the sea over Budva and its beaches: with the wind from the south the glider lifts off the ridge, the flight runs down over the coast and the pilot lands on the sand at Bečići. Tandem flights are flown with an instructor and need no training; flying solo takes a course with a certified pilot and a licence. Nearly all injuries at Brajići have happened on landing. The Civil Aviation Agency keeps an information board at the take-off with the rules, the contacts of the competent services and the penalties.

Rules

Paragliding in Montenegro is regulated by the Civil Aviation Agency under the Rulebook on the conditions for operating paragliders, paraglider pilot licences and training organisations (Official Gazette of Montenegro 83/2018, amended 35/2019). A paraglider may be flown only by a pilot with a valid licence and rating and a medical certificate for that rating, with serviceable and inspected equipment, in suitable weather, from suitable sites, keeping the prescribed distances and the rules of the airspace. Flights are made in visual conditions, from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset; controlled airspace needs air traffic control's consent and radio contact. Organised flying, tandem flights, schools and competitions included, is allowed only from take-off and landing sites the Agency has approved for that operator, and a tandem pilot must tell the passenger that they fly at their own risk. Brajići and Turjak above Bijelo Polje were the Agency's approved sites in 2013, with Jejevica above Berane and Dizdarica above Herceg Novi then in the approval procedure.

Ask the operator to show that its Brajići take-off and Bečići landing are approved by the Civil Aviation Agency for that operator. The Agency's contacts are on caa.me; the Paragliding Association of Montenegro publishes a map of take-off sites with GPS points and contacts.

Getting there

The take-off is on the ridge above Budva at 42.3014 N, 18.8908 E; the landing is on Bečići beach, next to Budva. Agree the meeting point and the drive up with the operator.

Other take-offs

The nearest other launch sites are Dizdarica, 900 m, above Herceg Novi, and Dečić near Tuzi, 344 m; in the north, Savin kuk, 2,244 m, is reached on foot from the top of the two-seat chairlift (2,213 m) from Žabljak and gives flights of 10 to 15 minutes over Durmitor. All eight sites with altitude, position and wind direction are on the paragliding hub.

Questions

How long is the flight?

About 10 to 15 minutes from the take-off to the landing on Bečići beach.

Do I need anything?

No licence or experience as a tandem passenger. The pilot needs a licence, a rating and a medical certificate, the operator needs the Agency's approval for the site, and the pilot is obliged to tell you that you fly at your own risk.

When is the season?

Spring, summer and autumn; flights go only in suitable weather, in daylight and in visual conditions.