Ta Dung Mountain is considered the “roof” of Dak Nong Province, with an impressive elevation of 1,982 meters. From the summit, one can enjoy a panoramic view of a vast surrounding landscape. The natural Ta Dung Lake has expanded to over 3,000 hectares and includes 47 large and small islands. It is no coincidence that Ta Dung is known as the “Ha Long Bay of the Central Highlands.” The area is famous for its peaceful and unique beauty, featuring clusters of islands rising gently from the lake surface. 📌 Note: this article covers the 2022 "Ta Dung Wind Highlands" event and open paragliding competition, held 24–26 June 2022. Later editions may run to a different schedule.
🎪 The 2022 Ta Dung Wind Highlands event
From June 24 to 26, the Dak Nong Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in coordination with relevant agencies, co-organized the event “Ta Dung Wind Plateau” and the “Ta Dung – Dak Nong Open Paragliding Championship.” Here, visitors have the opportunity to experience paragliding alongside pilots with international licenses and the highest flight hours in Vietnam. From an altitude of thousands of meters, visitors can admire the beauty of the Central Highlands. In the morning, if lucky, they may fly through clouds and witness Ta Dung appearing mysteriously through drifting mist. In the afternoon, as the clouds clear, the Ta Dung landscape reveals itself clearly—peaceful, vivid, and romantic.
🪂 Paragliding and paramotor: the difference
The event features many exciting activities, with the most prominent being paragliding competitions and powered paragliding performances. Paragliding is a form of unpowered flight in which the pilot sits in a harness connected to a curved wing-shaped canopy. Pilots take off by running and jumping from a mountain peak, using wind and thermal updrafts to maintain altitude. Powered paragliding, also known as paramotoring, is the motorized version of paragliding. In this form, the pilot wears a motor on their back, which provides enough thrust for takeoff and allows flight using a paraglider wing.
With this method, pilots can fly long distances even without wind or thermal lift. These two flying forms offer participants an experience closest to that of birds in the sky. From June 24 to 26, the landscape of Ta Dung will become even more impressive with dozens of colorful paragliders soaring through the air. Visitors and local residents can enjoy free admission to watch the exciting performances. In addition to paragliding activities, tourists also have the opportunity to enjoy local specialties, camp overnight, and learn about the unique cultural life of the Ma ethnic group.
🙌 Opening day: an excited crowd
On the morning of June 25, the Dak Nong Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism organized the Ta Dung – Dak Nong Open Paragliding Championship for the Phu Cuong Cup 2022. The event took place on a high hill within the Ta Dung Ecotourism Area, Dak Som Commune (Dak Glong District). From early morning, thousands of visitors from all over gathered at the venue. Streams of vehicles and crowds of people headed toward the opening ceremony area. The atmosphere was vibrant, no different from a major provincial festival.
After the opening ceremony, athletes performed powered paragliding displays. High above Ta Dung, paramotors flew back and forth across the sky. The pilots’ performance thrilled everyone in attendance. Nguyen Nhat Tuong, from Quang Khe Commune (Dak Glong), shared excitedly: “I live dozens of kilometers away, but when I heard about the paragliding event, I brought several families along to watch. Once we got here, we even ran into many familiar faces. It’s my first time witnessing paragliding, so I’m really excited.”
Tran Anh Thu, from Lam Dong, was one of the few visitors who had the chance to experience paragliding. Thu shared: “I came here from Da Lat with one goal — to try paragliding. I had only seen this activity in northern Vietnam before. Now it’s available in the Central Highlands. I just flew, and it felt absolutely amazing.”
According to Mr. Ma Van Phuong (from Ho Chi Minh City), paragliding is a very exciting sport for him personally. He has visited many events, but found the paragliding competition in Dak Nong to be very well organized. “The scenery here is beautiful, people are friendly, and the organization is excellent. I hope to soon experience viewing Ta Dung from above,” he shared. According to preliminary statistics from the Dak Glong District People’s Committee, the event attracted around 5,000 spectators. Among them were many visitors from various districts within the province as well as from different provinces and cities across the country.
🪂 The pilots' reaction
The competition attracted 100 professional pilots from 12 clubs across the country. The main event was accuracy landing. In addition, the tournament also featured two extra categories: fun flying and powered paragliding. In the accuracy landing event, pilots had to cover a distance of about 3 kilometers over challenging mountainous terrain. Each competitor completed three rounds. The pilots’ goal was to land as accurately as possible in the center of a circle with a radius of 5 meters. The closer the landing point is to the center, the lower the score.
Dinh The Anh is one of the well-known athletes in the paragliding community. He has flown in many provinces and cities across Vietnam as well as in various countries around the world. According to him, the Ta Dung area has many advantages for organizing paragliding events. The launch here is wide, flat, and located on a high mountain peak. The landing field is also flat and situated in a deep valley. The flight route is long, and the wind conditions are very favorable for pilots. This area could even support cross-country flights of 10–20 km. “Dak Nong has the best flying conditions I have ever experienced. Everything here is extremely suitable for paragliding competitions like this. I really hope to return soon to compete again and admire the stunning natural beauty of Ta Dung,” he said.
During the two days of competition at Ta Dung Ecotourism Area, Dak Som Commune, Dak Glong District, Dak Nong Province, more than 100 athletes took part in the main event: accuracy landing. Each athlete completed three rounds of competition. In this event, competitors had to cover a distance of around 3 kilometers, flying over challenging mountainous terrain. The most difficult part was landing within a central circle with a radius of 5 meters. Inside this circle was a target point measuring just 15 centimeters in diameter. Athletes were scored based on the distance from their landing point to the center of the target.
At the end of the competition, pilot Dinh The Anh (Son Tra – Da Nang Paragliding Club) won the men's paragliding event with 293 points. Nguyen Hai Anh (Hanoi Paragliding Club) came second with 320 points, and Le Hoang Bach (Lai Chau Paragliding and Hang-gliding Club) took third with 527 points.
🏆 Results: men's and women's competition
In the women’s category, pilot Nguyen Thi Da Ni from the Saigon Paragliding Club won first place with 1,014 points. Nguyen Thi Tuyet Trinh, also from the Saigon Paragliding Club, secured second place with 1,125 points. Cao Thu Thao from the Hanoi Paragliding Club finished third with 1,316 points.
📈 The 1,800 m altitude record
Notably, at this year’s event, the highest altitude record was achieved by Le Hoang Bach, reaching over 1,800 meters — the highest ever recorded for a first-time competition held in Dak Nong. In addition, two special awards were presented: the Panamotor award for the largest number of paragliders flying simultaneously went to Son Tra – Da Nang Club, while the Most Popular Video award was given to Panamotor Ba Hao Club (Binh Phuoc).
👥 Thousands came to watch
According to the leadership of the Dak Glong District People’s Committee, it is estimated that between 3,000 and 4,000 people attended to watch the athletes’ performances today.
🌄 The potential ahead
In the past two years, paragliding has developed quite strongly. In recent months, many localities across the country have continuously organized major competitions, attracting a large number of pilots from various places. Clubs also aim to provide their members with more opportunities to gain experience and improve their skills, while some localities hope these events will better promote their image and attract more tourists. Mr. Pham Ngoc Ha, General Director of Phu Cuong Tourist Trading and Service Joint Stock Company (the event sponsor), shared: “Ta Dung is a beautiful landscape, possibly unique in Vietnam. It has ideal elevation and favorable wind conditions for paragliding development. After two days of competition, the pilots all agreed that this is one of the best paragliding sites in Vietnam. Following this event, I hope Dak Nong will continue to organize more competitions to fully take advantage of its strengths.”
According to Le Ngoc Quang, Director of the Dak Nong Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the paragliding competition is an opportunity for the province to promote the beautiful image of Dak Nong’s nature, culture, and people to both domestic and international friends. Dak Nong aims to gradually become an attractive national flying destination, where domestic and foreign pilots can come to train, practice test flights, and compete in future events. “This paragliding competition not only introduces visitors and pilots to Dak Nong to explore new and unique experiences. It is also an opportunity for the locality to develop an attractive form of tourism and make full use of its existing advantages,” Mr. Quang said.
💬 What pilot Dang Van My says about Ta Dung
Mr. Dang Van My, the pilot with the highest number of flight hours in Vietnam and also the director of Vien Nam Tourism and Sports Joint Stock Company one of the organizing units of the event, stated: “Ta Dung is very beautiful, but there are still not many attractive entertainment and recreational services for tourists. The ‘Ta Dung Wind Plateau’ event and the ‘Ta Dung – Dak Nong Open Paragliding Championship’ are expected to open up a new direction for tourism development in this area. The feeling of soaring in the sky and viewing nature through a bird’s-eye perspective is highly addictive. Therefore, I believe paragliding will win the hearts of visitors.”
Sources: - https://dantri.com.vn/du-lich/trai-nghiem-bay-du-luon-ngam-tron-ta-dung-noc-nha-cua-dak-nong-20220620152520229.htm - https://baolamdong.vn/bay-tren-ta-dung-141347.html - https://tuoitre.vn/man-nhan-voi-man-bay-cao-hon-1800m-tren-ho-ta-dung-20220625154218212.htm
