Paragliding Cape Town: A Tandem Flight From Signal Hill

The flight, in short.

This is a tandem paragliding flight over Cape Town, run by Skywings Paragliding Cape Town and launched from Signal Hill, the ridge that runs north-west out of the city bowl. The whole booking, from meeting point to landing, runs forty-five minutes, which makes it one of the shortest adventure bookings in the city and the rare one that fits into a morning without eating the whole morning.

It is guided in English, German, Afrikaans and Turkish, so language is rarely the barrier it is on other tours in the city, and free cancellation is offered on top of that, so a change of plan does not need to be a problem.

None of that removes the two things that actually run the day: the wind, and the restrictions below. Read both before you settle on a time slot, since neither one bends for a booking made in a hurry.

Getting to Signal Hill is on you.

The meeting point is the car park on Signal Hill Road, at the top of the hill. Transport up to the take-off site is not included in the booking, so you make your own way there, on foot or by car, before the flight begins. On arrival, ask for the operator by name.

Before the day, contact the operator on WhatsApp for an update on the weather. This is not a formality: the flight is weather-dependent enough that a short message beforehand can save you a wasted trip up the hill, and it is the kind of detail that only shows up once you have actually tried to book one of these. Send the message the night before if you can, and again on the morning itself.

What is included once you take off.

The flight itself is tandem, with an experienced instructor doing the flying while you sit in front, and all the flying equipment is certified. The route runs along the Atlantic coastline, so the city, the sea and the mountains behind you are all in view during the few minutes you are airborne.

The flight tours the Atlantic coastline, and an optional transfer back to the meeting point is offered once you have landed, so you are not left to find your own way back to the car park. If you would rather walk back up under your own steam, that works too, and you can skip the transfer.

Nothing about the landing spot is worth guessing at beyond that. Ask the operator on the day if you want the specifics, and treat the transfer as the simpler default.

Photographs are not included, and can be bought on the day.

Photographs are not included, and can be bought on the day. If you want a record of the flight, plan for that at the car park rather than assume a camera comes with the booking.

It is a small thing to decide in advance, and deciding it before you are standing at the top of Signal Hill with the wind picking up is easier than deciding it there, when your attention is on the flight itself rather than on the arrangements around it. Settle it before you go up, not once you are already at the top.

The mountain you launch from, and the two you do not.

Signal Hill sits beside Lion's Head, the peak between it and Table Mountain, the flat-topped massif that stands above the whole city. You will see both of them during the flight, along with Sea Point, the seafront suburb on the Atlantic side below Signal Hill, laid out along the coast as you turn over it.

The flight launches from Signal Hill itself, not from Lion's Head or Table Mountain. Those two are part of the view from the air, not part of the route you actually take to get there.

Who this flight is not for.

The operator does not take children under 14, pregnant women, or anyone with heart problems. There is also a weight limit at the upper end: people over 115 kilograms are not suitable for the flight, whatever their fitness otherwise.

Less obviously, there is a minimum as well as a maximum: children under 23 kilograms are also not suitable. A passenger too light for the wing is as much a problem as one too heavy, so the limit runs in both directions.

If anyone in your group is close to either limit, or falls into one of the other categories above, it is worth checking with the operator before you book rather than after you have driven up the hill. A wasted trip up Signal Hill takes longer than sending the message would.

What decides whether you fly.

Cape Town's summer wind is the strong south-easterly known locally as the Cape Doctor, and it is this wind, not the clock, that decides whether anyone flies on a given day. That is the real reason the operator wants to hear from you on WhatsApp before you set out.

Wear comfortable shoes and comfortable clothes, bring sunglasses, and carry your passport or ID card. A copy is accepted if you would rather not bring the original. Open-toed shoes are not allowed on the flight, wind or no wind, so leave the sandals at the hotel.