Azua, as most of the rest of the South West, a semi-desert terrain.

It's an amazing flying site considering the takeoff altitude.

Pilots often takeoff early in the morning, about 10, to soar with the incoming sea breeze. A little later you can start feeling thermal activity that gets to a peak about 12:30 PM.

Thermals may be disordered, but if you are patient and get more than 800 m AGL then you can head N for the bigger stuff. If you succeed in reaching the big mountains behind the takeoff area, then the normal route would be NW along the Central Range, exploiting the altitude wind blowing E. XC potential is remarkable as the Central Range goes depp into Haiti, for more than a 150 km.

A gentle soar is the type of flying in this site. You can fly either with S or E breeze, which blows from 10 AM to 8 PM. A perfect alternative for the flight in Azua when conditions are too strong for thermaling. You can fly along the ridge for 5 km out and back.

This is an advanced flight. There is no landing field in your glide range from takeoff, so you've got to be sure you'll go up (most of the time is pretty obvious you will).

The predominating wind in the area and at that altitude is E, but the takeoff heads S. The range travels N and that's the main XC route. To the W side of the range there is a wide valley that runs parallel to it. On the other side, to the E, there is nothing but bigger mountains ending in the steepest valleys I've ever seen.

So the easiest XC flight is when the meteo wind is weak enough to let the anabatic flow set in at the takeoff height.

To the S, there are more mountains and valleys, to the N, Valle de Neyba. This valley is a big plain which descends up to 50 m under the sea level.

Up in the mountains there are plenty of cold humid woods, down in the plains, desert.

Flying from La Job is an amazing experience. The view of the valley, the Caribbean Sea and the Sierra de Bahoruco are outstanding. The takeoff is rather exposed to the trade winds which can sometimes be strong. That's why we takeoff by noon, once thermal activity in the lower mountaims and in the valley started kicking. The layer of meteo wind is p\forced up and conditions get nice.

The most obvious XC route is heading downwind (W), but that's until you see an endless sea of bushes and not-appropriate-for-landing cactus fields. So you either go N first (to the valley) or headwind (E) to the nearest town, Cabral. There is a fourth choice and is to go south to the bigger mountains, and end up in the south face of the Sierra de Bahoruco.

With an amazing altitude in the takeoff, this is one of the 4 best XC flying sites. This range is protected from the Alisios winds by the Central Range and is also out of reach of the sea breeze entering the valley (because of the takeoff altitude and distance to the sea).

So you may find strong thermal conditions (+3 to +6) with healthy cumulus forming with bases over 1400 m AGL most of the time). Thermals are wide and well formed, with rather strong cores.

There are several XC possibilities, as you can fly along the range either W or E. You can also try getting into the valley where some dust devils can be seen once in a while.

When cloudbase is high, the range can be crossed and flown on the N face, with an obvious chance to fly into the Valle de San Juan.

The valley is over 20 km wide and the landscape is greener than the rest of the south because of the numerous rivers and water streams coming down form the Central Range.

This site is also very protected form the Alisios wind and is definitely out of the reach of the moist sea breeze.

Thermals are wide with lovely cores (+5 over the peaks and +2 in the valley).

There are amazing XC possibilities. The Central Range runs WNW entering Haiti. This flight would be the continuation of the XC started in Azua (look at the map). If we ever get to join them, then we would have a 130 km flight in a Caribbean island... Should I say anything else?

Oh yes, just one more thing... there are great triangle possibilities too because wind blows mildly from E and there is a lot of activity over the valley. Plus, cloudbase is often above 3000 m !

This site is quite versatile. You can fly on very different conditions, with the wind blowing either N, NE, S or SE.

In good days nice cumulus form over 1200 AGL (1700 m AGL in winter). Thermals are middle sized with a lot of cloud activity.

You can travel W or E, and there is also a possibility to go S, entering a set of valleys inside the Central Range.

This is a good thermaling site that can also offer soaring conditions in the afternoon. Thermals are smooth and wide, often generating fairly healthy cumulus downwind from the takeoff.

The wind blows either from E or SE setting XC options either heading N, S or W.

It's a beautiful soaring site a hundred meters away from the coast with big landing fields next to the beach. Most flights take place either early in the morning up to 11 AM and in the evening, because the wind may get to strong by noon.

You just have to pull your wing up on the plains, take a few steps climbing the first hill, turn around and enjoy the elevator!

This is a very popular mountain because it has a funicular taking tourists to the top, which happens to be a National Park. Despite these facilities, there is no suitable takeoff on the summit, so we rather have a 20 minutes walk to a spot in the middle of the mountain, and let thermals do the rest of the job.

Predominating wind alternate along the year. In winter we have NNE and ENE or just E in the summer. Both directions are OK.

Conditions in summer, which is the wet season, are very "tropical" like. Cumulus cycles are very short and dew point rather low because of the moister air. This generates constant rains coming in from E.

But the dry season promises higher cloud bases and the chance to leave the mountain high enough to get to the Septentrional Range which runs W almost reaching Haiti.

This can be a perfect soaring site by the coast, and could also take you to the Oriental Range, downwind.

Winds may be too strong sometimes, but it holds a good direction all over the year (ENE).

This is the least explored site we mention here.

The 2 km long dam of an artificial lake serves a a great "play site". The "wall" is only 40 m high, and about 40 degrees steep.

The road goes right across the dam, so you just have to take your glider out of the car, and kite while the wind is mild. If it blows up to 15 km/h, then you can turn arround and float your way around...

Early in the morning, about 10 AM, when the wind blows E, pilots start soaring and circling the first thermals rising. Most of the days the wind gets stronger by noon, when the valley breeze starts blowing.