Castelo
Castelo
was one of the venues for the Paragliding World Cup, in March 2006.
It was so successful that it is being used again for the PWC, in
September 2008. As you can see, the take-off is superb. Large enough
for several gliders to lay out at the same time, it is very clean
and well-maintained. For the non-flyers, it’s a great place just to
sit and watch, with its own bar and picnic area shaded by the trees.
It sits overlooking this beautiful valley, with some spectacular
scenery. This is mountain flying, as opposed to the flatland flying
in Valadares, but it doesn’t suffer from the strong valley breezes
often associated with flying somewhere like the Alps. The valley
floor, approximately 2,500' below take-off, is wide, green and
clean. It has numerous places to land safely and the roads make the
retrieval easy. It’s another fabulous place to develop those XC
skills. The first person to fly back into Castelo has the honour of
buying the beers that evening.
Castelo itself is a small, peaceful town. The people are very friendly and even the Mayor himself is a paraglider pilot. He owns a nice house in the mountains, complete with its own take-off, which he allows others to use occasionally.
The city of Cachoeiro do Itapemirim is within easy
reach for those wanting to experience the nightlife or just spend a
few hours shopping.
It is flyable in Castelo all year round, with the
best time being September through to April.