What is Paragliding?
Paragliding is the simplest and purest form of flying there is. Whether you dream of soaring above the hills, or taking your canopy on holiday with you to explore exotic locations from the air, Extreme Sports Cafe help you.

Paragliders were developed from freefall parachutes and have been refined to make them easy to fly with the best possible performance whilst keeping them small enough to carry in a backpack. As you take off with the canopy above your head, you feel the irresistible freedom of the skies. Experience it for yourself - the excitement of learning to fly is within your grasp.

In sensible hands, paragliding can be amongst the safest of adventure sports. The expertise you need to keep you safe starts with the school you learn with. We aim to equip you not only with excellent flying skills, but also with the knowledge to keep you flying safely whilst having fun!

Competency
Beginner Paraglider (10-15hrs)/Intermediate/Advanced

What is a guided holiday?
A good local pilot or instructor who is ideally both proficient in flying and has a reasonable knowledge of the area should run a guided holiday.
The worst case scenario of very basic guiding you could ever come across, will be the owner of a B&B who doesn’t fly, tells you how hugely life threatening a site is ’if you do something wrong?!’, hasn’t a clue about local weather peculiarities and leaves you quivering at launch saying to call him when you’ve had enough…nice.

Instructor guided holidays £380 1-week £720 2-weeks
Our Tenerife holidays are run by qualified instructors who’s interest is not just with those pilots that simply fly the furthest, but take an active interest in the ability and progress of everyone in the group. Your guides are instructors by trade and background and in part are motivated by seeing pilots’ progress safely as well as have a good time.
Visiting pilots are given a thorough knowledge of the surrounding area and flying sites, an insight into the peculiarities of the local weather and in most cases where possible some accompanied cross-country flying. We will organise transport to and from sites, Airport pick-ups and all accommodation needs. Guided holidays generally aren’t recommended to new pilots with less than 10 - 15 fairly current hours.
Proficiency, safety and maximum pleasure will always be better if you go on holidays or courses that are tailored for your skill level. Trying to save eighty to a hundred pounds to go on a guided trip as opposed to with your local school or on one of our more tailored Pilot courses is a false economy if you land downwind into your landing field on your first day.
Look at this way - You have your whole life to fly so take your time. If you do head off on your own, green and ambitious do try and ask local pilots for as much info as you can, remember knowledge is power to your elbow.

Beginner Paragliding courses
There has to be an honest self-appraisal of your own skill level. Beginner’s courses and holidays tend to have a couple of accompanying instructors, one at launch and landing. Offer lectures and debriefings regarding personal flying technique and progression as well as more advanced landing approaches, as well as taking you to more suitable flying sites in conditions that won’t overtax the senses.
As a new pilot in Britain for instance flying abroad for the first few times there is definitely a period of rapid acclimatization, if the only flying you have done is coastal soaring then inland thermal flying will be a skills and general experience eye opener. Flying hours can be a reasonable indication of experience if they are current. A pilot with ten hours under his belt over the last six months is likely to be a safer and more consistent flyer than one with thirty hours spread over the last three years.

Intermediate Paragliding courses
A pilot with anywhere between 80 – 300 hrs and a reasonable idea and hours logged of thermic flying under his or her belt that are confident at launch and landing. Courses will be aimed at thermalling and cross country flying, aimed at those maybe who are starting to get to grips with thermalling and maybe want to progress with leaving the hill and making their first Xc flights, and out and return tasks. Those with more airtime will enjoy exploring a new area for the first time.

Advanced Paragliding Courses
Advanced courses suggest they are available to pilots who have a deep and appreciative all round experience level of flying terrain and conditions. Courses tend to be a little bit specialised i.e. Cross country clinics with top competition pilots for those who are keen to get that extra edge and gleam a few tips for comps. Or pilots who are looking at concentrating on the more dynamic side of paragliding like acro.

Safety when Paragliding...
Safety is paramount to the sport of paragliding. It is important to understand that paragliding can be a dangerous sport. The potential is there to do yourself some real harm. However both Instructors and current paragliding pilots alike already appreciate the importance of sensible and progressive pace setting in tuition, tasks and future improvement. Paragliding can be and generally is as safe as you choose to make it. Like the car driver who takes a corner in wet or icy conditions at high speed, the statistics favor the driver to drives to the conditions of the road.

Accommodation
We stay at Michel Theiss's Sky Sports finca, about 2,000ft above the coast. To boot it is only a ten minute drive away from one of the sweetest flying sites in mainland Spain and a only a further thirty to another half dozen others. Accommodation is at Mike's, a choice of either chalets or traditional Tenerifan white washed cool caves, all mostly based on two sharing. Mike provides transport in the form of LWB Landy and hire cars. If you wish to be less reliant on Mike’s transport then there’s plenty of choice at the airport for hiring cars or mopeds.
Breakfast is on the terrace with a view over towards the islands of Las Palmas & Gran Canaria. In the evenings we visit local restaurants, all the best restaurants and eateries lie in the hills above the main town so Mikes is a perfect spot to stay.

Most of our equipment is sold during tuition...
We appreciate that when you first come to paragliding it is very difficult to comprehend the differences between one glider and another. Paragliding manufacture has made such huge steps in safety, manufacturing and design that it is now fairly difficult to buy a truly bad new first glider, although there are occasional dubious second hand gliders lurking on Internet auction rooms. With the choice being so huge these days its worth asking your instructor what glider would suit your weight and you’re flying environment. Safety is always going to be paramount to us and we spend much of the early season trying out new equipment and test flying gliders.

Important Notes for Paragliding..!!!
You will need to have a current E111 (from any UK Post office) and medical and repatriation insurance for your time here. We can recommend Harrison Beaumont. It is essential that you have both these items, as without them you will be unable to undertake the course. We are supported with an almost negligible liability. So we strongly recommend that you also have a personal accident policy, it’s worth having if your employment doesn’t cover sickness cover, in the event of any possible injuries and your families’ peace of mind (Generally available from your bank or most financial advisors).

We can send you a Harrison Beaumont PDF insurance pack or you can download a copy here. All the details of policies, full explanations and a simple to use application form are included.

All are welcome. Of course there will be an accommodation supplement for partners and children. Algodonales is a stunningly beautiful area. Reflexology, Homeopathy, horse riding, kitesurfing, Picnics’, canoeing on the lake, stunning restaurants, charming bars and beautiful white hillside villages of Andalucia, everything is out there to do and explore.

CP & EP Courses- €60 for your license and membership to the Spanish Federation, FENDA.
Non-flyers, there is a £100 supplement for non-flyers.
All holidays are inclusive of Accommodation and retrieve.