Map
of Oahu, Hawaii
You can see here the wind
directions and the mountain ranges. The main mountain range; the Koolua's are to
the right of the island running from 130 degree's to 360 degree's to the north.
Generally the local pilots fly this range in our local "Trade Wind"
conditions. At the 110 degree mark you will see Kailua
beach and Lanikai
mountain on the beach. This site is a pure ridge soaring site and is located
right near our shop in Kailua. The famous "Makapuu" sea cliffs; one
of the only regulated USHGA site's in Hawaii supports North / East trade
winds in light conditions and holds the most spectacular ridge flights in the
world. Several local pilots and recently PWC's Peter Brinkeby (Swe.) set
the state record of over 88+ km flights along the Koolua mountain range. The
Koolua mountains are over 1,000 meters high and the view is unbelievable. From
the top of the Koolua's you can see the whole island. Waikiki and Honolulu are
but a mere 2cm high. You will see the famous "North Shore" waves
breaking in the distance. You'll take off from sea cliffs at Makapuu at an elev.
of 150 meters and soar to over 1000 meters, you will pass over lush tropical
jungles and some of the highest waterfalls in the world. Landing zones are
plentiful, because the N/E side has friendly tropical golf courses, beautiful
white sand beaches, and banana farms scattered throughout the flight path.
But, before you plan your vacation around launching at Makapuu; The restrictions for Makapuu are P-4 for visiting
pilots unless accompanied
a local advanced pilot or instructor.
Honolulu airport and Pearl Harbor are located at the 180 degree mark and the flight restrictions are located between 140 degrees and 210 degrees. So please DON'T fly there or you will be arrested on the spot by the FAA. Note: Diamond Head state park is now "Officially" open to paraglider pilots who first check in with Gravity Hawaii. The reason for this is "I" fought for it to be legal. To fly Diamond "Legally", one must only fly in south wind and NOT launch from the crater. This is an arrestable offense by the state Park rangers. The only launch is next to the lighthouse above the beach. There is NO LZ. So, you low time pilots with no top landing experience must NOT fly without local P-4 (+) experienced pilots. Please respect our sites that we worked so hard to obtain. Thanks. Feel free to call the shop and we'll give you all the info you'll need to fly in one of the most beautiful places in the world to soar.
Our thermal sites are some of the best I've seen. Located on the west shore of Oahu. But, be very careful the west side can be very "local". I recommend not venturing out there as a tourist in your rental car. You might as well paint a bulls-eye on your rental car. Don't get me wrong the locals can be extremely friendly and we do have great sites and local families who take care of our cars and stuff while we fly. They even retrieve us sometimes when we go XC for a small fee (beer usually). Recently, a pilot launched from a 130 meter hill at our regular thermal site and climbed out to 1500 meters, then flew across the flat lands over 41 km and landed halfway across the island with an average speed of 25km per hour. This is the un-official state (thermal only) distance record. We have now over 40 regularly flown sites with only about 20 regular pilots. Talk about crowded skies - HA, HA....
Looks like we'll be seeing you soon to fly the "Mecca" of paragliding and extreme Hawaiian adventures. Come join us for the best Paragliding and extreme sport vacation you'll ever have.
