Jump from the highest bridge in the Balkans

Have you considered combining your summer holidays to Crete with an extreme sport? Well, there couldn't be a more suitable sport than bungee jumping... Since 2005, the bridge of Aradaina, on the southern side of Chania, has been converted into a popular bungee site. In fact, this 138m tall bridge is the highest bridge in the Balkans and it is considered as one of the best bungee sites in the world! The sports company LIQUID BUNGY™ organizes bungee jumps there every weekend of summer. Taking all the security measures needed and with an experience of almost 20 years in bungee jumping, this team offers its guests some really extreme moments. Mr Angelos Evlambiou, the director manager of this company and jump master, talked to us about his experience with bungee jumping and the unique site of Aradaina… When was your company established and how came the idea to create such a company in Greece? The Greeks are generally not so familiar with extreme sports. Did you have any former experience with bungee jumping before you open Liquid Bungy? Our company LIQUID BUNGY™ open in the early 1990s as a result of my first experience with bungee jumping, this extreme and alternative sport. At the same time, I was working as a stuntman in TV series in Greece and I was generally looking and tasting anything that could be considered as extreme and innovative for our era and country. The first years were very difficult for the expansion of bungee jumping in Greece and a lot of effort and patience was required until this activity became known and acceptable by the Greek people and the local authorities. Today, almost twenty years later, LIQUID BUNGY™ is included among the best bungee jumping companies of the world and we also activate in the field of TV stunts. Moreover, we provide certified courses of First Aid, cardiorespiratory- pneumonic revitalization and basic life support. As nothing comes by chance, our team is probably the only Greek company of extreme alternative sports that has been presented internationally, in TV channels like CNN, MTV, BBC, TMF and others. Apart from the bridge of Aradaina, do you organize bungee jumping in other places in Greece? Till 2005, we were organizing bungee jumps in many stable or unstable spots and events all over Greece. But in September 2005, having in mind all probable consequences, I took the decision to stop all other bungee sites and dedicate only in the bridge of Aradaina in Chania, foreseeing the uniqueness of this place and its perspectives to develop. It is certainly difficult to leave behind a long effort, but all things have a price. Why is the bridge of Aradaina such a unique site for bungee jumping? Well, you will see that yourself if you try to jump from there. The frequent jumpers, who already have an experience with other sites around the world, will appreciate this spot even more. Through my job, I have the chance to travel and visit the most important bungee sites in the world, but I concluded that all bungee sites are just minor than the bridge of Aradaina. The view that the jumper sees when he descends on the bridge is unique and far from any comparison. In summer 2007, after I returned from the bungee sites of the creator of this sport, AJ Hackett, in New Zealand and Australia, a jump master of AJ Hackett's group came to Aradaina to see our site from close and jump. Well, when he came up to the platform, he had a big, happy smile on his face and told me "You have the best bungee site in the world, my friend!". Exactly one year before, I had been told the same words by a Greek man who activates for more than fifteen years with bungee jumping in Corfu and abroad. Do you hear such nice comments from the usual jumpers, too? Yes, and there is no greater reward for me than a smile and the comments I hear from the jumpers when they get back on the platform. This is what encourages me to continue and develop my job in the field of bungee jumping. It is very important to know that a strange person is entrusting his life in your hands and that you take this responsibility, offering him a few unique seconds that will stay in his memory for a lifetime. Over the last years, we keep a book with comments of the jumpers. You must see what wonderful things people write there! For summer 2009, Liquid Bungy organizes jumps every weekend till August 29/30