If you’re a qualified pilot keen to refine your cross-country flying or take on your first XC adventure, this 6-day training camp in Algodonales, Spain, is built around your goals. It offers structured coaching, practical guidance, and the chance to fly alongside motivated pilots who share your passion for adventure. Whether you’re chasing longer distances or simply looking to boost your confidence, the camp focuses on skill-building, safety, and personal progression in one of Europe’s best paragliding regions.
This camp is designed for pilots who already hold recognised qualifications and are ready to push their cross-country skills further. You’ll join a small group of enthusiastic pilots working towards their own XC goals, with the guidance of experienced instructors who know the local flying sites inside out. The week blends in-depth flight planning, theory sessions, and real flying experience, all focused on developing confident, efficient cross-country performance.
Daily sessions include detailed weather and site briefings, practical thermalling guidance, and real-time coaching during flights. You’ll learn how to locate and centre thermals effectively, improve climb efficiency, and manage transitions between lift zones. Navigation, route planning, and safe landing approaches are also key topics, with an emphasis on using modern flight apps and GPS tools to support decision-making. Each pilot receives tailored feedback to identify strengths and refine specific areas of improvement.
The camp encourages a friendly, team-based atmosphere where pilots learn as much from each other as from instructors. You’ll share flight strategies, discuss conditions, and analyse flights together, helping everyone gain deeper understanding. It’s a perfect setting to develop your independence and confidence while still having expert support available when needed.
Algodonales is known across Europe for its consistent flying weather and excellent topography for cross-country flights. Its combination of mountain ridges, wide valleys, and open landing zones provides ideal conditions for exploring new distances safely. The area’s reliable thermals and gentle winds make it particularly suited to structured XC progression and long-duration flights.
Beyond flying, the town itself offers a relaxed and social environment where pilots from around the world gather each season. With cafés, tapas bars, and scenic views at every corner, it’s an inviting base to rest and recharge between flights. Everything from training sites to accommodation and local dining is easily accessible, keeping logistics simple and stress-free.
Accommodation is not included in the camp price, but support is available to help arrange a comfortable stay in Algodonales. Most pilots choose shared, self-catered apartments located near the main square, where you’ll find restaurants, shops, and social spots within walking distance. Each apartment is equipped with WiFi, comfortable beds, towels, and a full kitchen so you can prepare meals and relax in your own space.
If you’re travelling with friends or family, additional rooms can be arranged to ensure everyone is accommodated. Staying in the centre of town also means you’re close to the pick-up points for daily flying sessions, making the experience easy and enjoyable from start to finish. The friendly, community feel of Algodonales adds an extra layer of comfort and familiarity during your stay.
Your safety is always the top priority during the camp. Each flight is tracked in real time using a GPS app so your location is always known, allowing for efficient retrieval after landing. This system ensures peace of mind throughout every flight, especially on longer routes.
While Spanish weather is famously reliable, if poor conditions prevent flying for three or more days, you’ll receive credit towards a future course. Although all participants are covered by basic liability insurance, you’re strongly encouraged to hold your own Travel Accident Insurance that includes full rescue and repatriation cover. EU pilots should also bring their European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) for access to medical services if needed.
To take part, you must be a qualified pilot — FAI Para Pro3, BHPA Club Pilot, APPI Pilot, or equivalent — with at least 50 logged flight hours. You should be fully capable of independent take-offs, flights, and landings. Third-Party Insurance for paragliding is required, and you’ll need to bring your own flight gear, including a wing, reserve parachute, helmet, VHF 2m radio, and GPS.
All briefings are held in English and Spanish, so you’ll need a working understanding of at least one of these languages. This ensures safe communication both on the ground and in the air throughout the course.
This camp offers the perfect mix of structured learning and adventure. You’ll gain practical cross-country experience in a safe, supportive setting while enjoying the social side of flying with a like-minded group. Each pilot’s progress is carefully guided, helping you reach personal goals without unnecessary pressure.
With Algodonales’ excellent weather, friendly flying community, and a team of dedicated instructors, it’s the ideal place to take your cross-country flying to the next level. Whether you’re chasing your first XC milestone or aiming to go further and faster, this experience will help you build the skills and confidence to make it happen.
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. You can add this as extra on the booking form.
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 (booked separately) 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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Highlands & Islands, United Kingdom
From £777
