Paragliding in Nainital – My Experience (HIDDEN Charges)

Many people dream of flying in the sky like a bird. They wish that they too had wings.

Then suddenly they stop dreaming about it, explaining themselves that it cannot happen, not at least in this life.

But what if you can fulfil your dream in this life itself? Yes, you heard right! Paragliding can be one thing which can give you the wings and the exact feel of flying like a bird.

Last year I also experienced the same while I was in Nainital. Trust me, I felt like I was on top of the world, at least for 3-4 minutes. 😛

To share such a wonderful experience, here I am on your screen with another blog post telling you about the in-depth experience of paragliding in Nainital, cost and some hidden charges too.

A Day Before Paragliding In Nainital – How I Prepared Myself

I went to Nainital last year with one of my friends. Our aim was to make this trip successful on a very low budget. You can also check out how we reached Nainital from Delhi in just Rs. 175.

So, after reaching Nainital, we started exploring the hill station. We didn’t have any pre-plan for paragliding. But suddenly his girlfriend called him and said that she will not talk to him unless we go for paragliding.

And when your loved one says something like this, you can’t ignore. 😛 Same thing happened with my friend too. He insisted me a lot to go for it. I was literally afraid.

After a few minutes, though it was not so easy for me, I finally made up my mind. I was ready to go and experience paragliding for the first time in my life.

The Paragliding Day – How We Reached Naukuchiatal (Near Nainital)

On the second day of our trip, we took a bike on rent. We visited the Zoo, Eco Cave garden, and then after a wonderful bike ride, we reached Naukuchiatal (which is around 23 km from Nainital).

After reaching out there, we searched for the paragliding place, as we didn’t book it earlier. Some local people helped us with the way towards paragliding.

At last, we found a person who was a part of the paragliding team. We were charged with INR 1,500 per person for paragliding. We also took a GoPro camera with a selfie stick on rent and gave INR 500 per camera for that.

Then, we parked our bike at the starting point. To reach the top of the mountain, they offered us a bike ride (you’ll need it if you don’t want to walk towards the top). Remember, do not try to ride a vehicle on your own as the path towards the top is really difficult.

We also paid some amount of money for the same. I do not exactly remember the charges, I guess they charged us in the range of INR 20-50 per person (Hidden Charges Part 1) for a bike ride to the top of the mountain.

At The Top Of The Mountain – Launch Point

After reaching the top of the mountain, you’ll start getting the feel. But I got a bit nervous there. The only thing which was going in my mind – should I do paragliding or should I walk back down? 😛 Thankfully, my friend encouraged me to do it.

Over there, we signed the declaration form mentioning the emergency contact name and number. Don’t think too much about it. We have one life, enjoy it to the fullest. 🙂

We waited there for the glide for around 30-40 minutes, as the air direction was not suitable at that time. Meanwhile, they prepared all of us (incl. other people who also came for paragliding) for it.

The Paragliding Starts – Experiencing Heights

They tied up all the belts around me and re-verified. I was not able to handle the selfie stick properly because of the height fear. I was afraid about leaving the selfie stick while taking off. But that selfie stick was connected with the belt using a rope.

The whole Bhimtal city was visible in front of my eyes. OMG! the ride started. For a few seconds, I was like literally not looking down. But somehow I managed to think that I’m safe. Then my confidence was boosted up, and I started enjoying the ride and the view.

At that time, I felt that I got the real wings, flying so high above in the sky. It was like I’m doing the best thing in my life. Soon after that, they started doing stunts like taking rounds in the air, side fall, etc.

Meanwhile, I was recording the whole experience in the rented selfie camera. I think the selfie camera is worth renting. Today, whenever I saw my video, it refreshes my memory. I feel like I’m still flying.

The whole ride time was for around 3 minutes and a few seconds.

Landing After Enjoying The Glide

After we landed, we got another surprise. Their photographer was clicking our photos from the ground while we were enjoying paragliding. Although, they charged us for providing the photographs. And one cannot say ‘no’ to their own photos.

You have to bargain a bit. They were asking for INR 300-400 per person (Hidden Charges Part 2) for transferring the photos & selfie video into our pen drive / mobile phone. We settled down at INR 200 per person.

Final Words

This trip to Nainital was special. I really enjoyed a lot during this whole trip. Especially the paragliding experience in Nainital. Having such moments are priceless. And this is how good memories are made. 😀

I hope you have enjoyed a lot reading this article. I’ve tried writing it down with my whole heart and soul. Even my old memory freshen ups while I’m writing this. Really thanks a lot for reading it till the end.

Also, I have tried mentioning all the charges incurred for paragliding. In short, INR 1,500 + INR 500 + INR 200 + INR 25 = INR 2,225 per person (approx.).

If there is any correction, suggestion or query, feel free to reach me out here. You may also connect with me via Facebook and Twitter.

Also, do check my Travel Photography on Instagram.

Wish you all the best for your upcoming paragliding.

Keep Gliding! (>‿◠)✌