Spend six days (seven nights) exploring the skies of Algodonales with guidance from professional instructors. This holiday is designed for passionate paragliders who want to perfect their skills while enjoying the best flying spots the region has to offer. From mountain launches to coastal flights, your instructors will ensure you are in optimal conditions each day, providing thermal tuition and route planning so you can focus on flying rather than scouting locations.
Each morning begins with a weather briefing in a spacious classroom where you’ll plan the day’s flights with your instructors. Launch and landing zones are reviewed beforehand, providing local advice and strategies specific to each site. Instructors focus on individual progress, whether you are aiming to refine thermalling skills, extend flight distances, or improve general control. The team’s knowledge of the Spanish mountains ensures that you experience the best conditions possible, even if it means a short drive to a remote launch site.
Flights are monitored via GPS, giving you freedom in the air while ensuring your location is tracked for safety and retrieval. Thermal tuition is included, helping you make the most of each flight and improve your cross-country skills. By the end of the week, pilots will have practised consistently in a structured and supportive environment, gaining confidence and experience across a variety of sites.
Algodonales, in southern Spain, is a prime destination for paragliding due to its reliable thermals and mild climate. Even during autumn and winter, temperatures often reach 18–20ºC, allowing for comfortable flying when much of Europe is too cold. The surrounding mountains provide ample launch sites, predictable thermals, and safe landing areas, making it suitable for pilots of all levels who are fully autonomous.
Beyond flying, Algodonales offers rich culture, friendly locals, and easy access to shops, restaurants, and cafés. The town is small and welcoming, with a central location that keeps you close to the paragliding school and main square. Travel Accident Insurance with full rescue and repatriation cover is strongly recommended, and EU citizens should bring their European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) for access to free or reduced-cost medical care. Liability and basic sanitary insurance, including repatriation, is provided for all students. In case of three or more days of poor weather, credit will be offered for a future booking.
Pilots must be qualified to at least FAI Para Pro3, BHPA Club Pilot, APPI 3 Pilot, or an equivalent rating, with a minimum of 25 hours of air-time. You must be fully autonomous in takeoff, flight, and landing.
You need to bring your own flight equipment, including a reserve parachute, helmet, Walkie VHF 2m, and mobile phone. Equipment rental is available if required. All briefings are conducted in English or Spanish, so a basic understanding of one of these languages is necessary. Pilots must also carry their Flight License and Third-Party Insurance specific for paragliding. While not mandatory, having Travel Accident Insurance with full rescue and repatriation cover is strongly recommended.
Accommodation can be arranged for one person in a shared, self-catered apartment for 14 nights, but it is not included in the course price. Homes are centrally located in Algodonales, a short walk from the paragliding school and main square, offering convenient access to cafés, restaurants, and shops. Apartments are selected to provide a comfortable, home-like environment for relaxation after flights.
Each property is equipped with high-speed WiFi, comfortable beds, towels, and a fully equipped kitchen for preparing meals or snacks. If you are travelling with companions, additional rooms can be arranged to ensure everyone is comfortably settled. Booking accommodation separately allows you to choose options that best suit your needs while keeping you close to both the school and local amenities.
The guided holiday combines expert instruction, structured flight planning, and personalised coaching to ensure you make the most of your time in the air. Your instructors are born and raised in the region, providing unrivalled local knowledge that enhances both safety and enjoyment.
We monitor flights via GPS for safety and retrieval, offer thermal tuition, and guide you to the best launch sites each day, even if it requires a short drive. Every participant’s progress is valued, and small group sizes ensure individual attention. Liability and basic sanitary insurance, including repatriation, is included. Should weather prevent flying for three or more days, credit is offered for a future holiday, guaranteeing that you get the most out of your paragliding experience.
Because we have the best climate conditions for paragliding the whole year round, even in autumn and winter while the rest of Europe is frozen we can fly great thermals at 18-20ºC. And not only will you be flying but you will be enjoying the culture and the real people of Spain. In southern Spain, we can paraglide all year round! During winter, the flights are particularly calm, it is not too cold and there are smooth thermals. It could rain, but generally not too many consecutive days. In the Spring and early Autumn, the thermals offer especially high and long flights, the landscape becomes beautiful and the temperature is perfect. In summer it is hot!… but the conditions are not too strong to fly, especially in the morning, and we can enjoy smooth flights during the long evenings until sunset. The mountains around Algodonales are one of the best paragliding spots in southern Spain and one of the most popular in Europe. During the spring it is a great thermal site and has good cross-country potential, even for your first XC flight. But it is also an easy place for beginners, full of big landing areas. The coast is just one hour away and offers two other easy coastal flying sites above sand dunes.
All are welcome. Algodonales is a beautiful area. There is so much to do to keep everyone busy while you are flying. From horse riding to kitesurfing, picnics to canoeing and exploring the beautiful white hillside villages of Andalucia, everything is out there to do and explore. We can also organise tandem flight for non-flyers. They will need a car because we cannot guarantee a place for them in our vehicle. Despite Algodonales not being a big town, you will find all you need for a comfortable holiday: there are supermarkets, local shops, several banks with cash machines, pharmacies and a health centre. The village is full of restaurants and cafes, and they are open from early morning to midnight: you cannot miss tasting the fantastic local food and tapas at low prices: coffee or beer from 1.2€, tapas from 2€ and a daily menu for only 8-10€. Algodonales is also ideally situated for visiting the surrounding great cities and sights of interest such as Ronda, Grazalema, Sevilla, Granada, Cordoba, Cadiz, Jerez de la Frontera, Costa de la Luz and Costa del Sol.
If you come by plane, the nearest airports to Algodonales are Malaga, Sevilla, and also Jerez. The dates of your booking are starting and finishing dates. You should arrive on the day before the starting date, at any time, and depart on the day after the finishing date. i.e. If your reservation is Sept 22th – Sept 27th you should arrive on the 21st. We start on the 22nd morning and finish on the 27th evening. You must check-out on the 28th.
We provide airport transfer only from/to Malaga airport – we do not have a shuttle service to Sevilla or Jerez Airports – on the set travel dates, normally on Saturdays. The shuttle service departs from Malaga airport on the arrival date (the day before the starting date, normally on Saturdays) at 13:00 h, and arrives at Algodonales approx. at 15:00 h. On the check-out day (the day after the finishing date, normally on Saturdays) the shuttle departs from Algodonales approx. at 10:00 h and arrives at Malaga airport at approx. 12:00 h. Please keep this time in mind when you book your flights. If you need to use our shuttle, please notice that it is absolutely necessary that you book a place online at least 72 hours in advance to guarantee you have a seat in the minibus.
If you cannot take our airport shuttle service then you can try another way to get here:
Breakfasts and other meals are not included in the prices. Restaurants and shops at Algodonales are really cheap; for example, a coffee costs 1,20€, a beer 1,5-2€, a breakfast by 2,5€, a dinner by 10€. The accommodation has a shared kitchen with all facilities, so you can also cook your own food if you wish. Our paragliding school is recognised by several associations and federations (APPI, BHPA, FAI, RFAE). This means that you will qualify for a paragliding license with them upon completing your course with us. The fee to join any of these organizations are not included in the price of the course. Joining a federation is not mandatory.
Pack adequate comfortable clothing: warm clothes if your course is in winter. You will need a jacket in spring; it can be cold at the top of a mountain. Bring walking boots (ideally with ankle support), a sun hat, sun cream, sunglasses and also a swimming costume as there is a lake that you can canoe or swim. For students enrolled in a beginner’s course, a long-sleeved t-shirt is a good idea for ground-handling practice. Long pants will avoid scratches on your legs. We provide towels in our accommodation. Bring your reusable bottle and help reduce single-use plastic. There are good water fountains here and you can also refill your bottle from the tap.
Only the students signed up in any of our beginner’s courses have a basic accident and third-party insurance included in the price. Either way, buying your own accident and travel insurance is recommended. Qualified pilots signed up for holidays or tours should have their own accident insurance, full rescue/repatriation cover – specific to paragliding. For members of the EU, the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) entitles you to reduced-cost, sometimes free, medical treatment that becomes necessary while you’re in a European Economic Area (EEA) country or Switzerland.
You can be sure that we never give up! If the weather is bad in our area, we are going to move to a different one, with better weather. There are more than ten different flying spots in a radius of 150 km around Algodonales, at the coast or inland. The bad weather days can be also used for ground-handling practices or for theory lessons, and not only for the students but also we organise masterclasses for more experienced pilots. If some tasks of a course are not completed, because of bad weather, it is possible to complete these on a different day. Some people prefer to stay in the area for a few more days so they have more chances to complete the course or to fly and to do tourist activities. In the very unlikely event that, due to bad weather, we have to cancel some days during a weekly course or tour, we will give you credit that will be discounted from the price of your next booking with us.
In the rare event of bad weather and the inability to fly, we have some alternative activities to keep you entertained:
You don’t. We provide transport to and from our flying sites. But if you want, you can hire a car for visiting the surrounding areas, for your non-flying companions, or if you cannot take our airport shuttle.
Our shop is fully stocked with all the equipment you may wish to purchase for flying and all at good Spanish prices. If you are interested in buying a glider, please contact us in advance as it takes time to get your equipment in.
It’s not so much about how old you are, it is more about your general level of fitness and health. Although no medical examinations are officially required to learn to paraglide, you should be in generally good health. You should be fit and active and have good coordination. You must be able to run for around 5-15 meters on take-off and landing and you could be walking up hills carrying a 15-20kg rucksack full of paragliding equipment. If you suffer from any medical conditions such as epilepsy, heart conditions, osteoporosis or diabetes you should ask your doctor’s advice before taking part in a paragliding course. Your maximum weight must be 120kg.
About the centre
Algodonales, Spain
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Operated by Zero Gravity Paragliding, a partner of adventuro.
Highlands & Islands, United Kingdom
From £777
