Cape Town has more on its list than any one trip can hold such as hikes, wine routes, beaches, markets, a mountain with its own cable car. Working out things to do in Cape Town usually means scrolling through a dozen conflicting top-10 lists before you’ve booked a single activity.
Paragliding cuts through some of that noise. A flight from Signal Hill or Lion’s Head puts Table Mountain, Robben Island, the Atlantic ocean and the V&A Waterfront in view at once, which makes it a useful way to get your bearings before you plan the rest of the trip on the ground.
Book a flight with AirVentures and get a bird’s-eye view of your whole itinerary before you’ve set foot on a single trail.
Adventure Activities in Cape Town
If your trip needs an adrenaline hit, Cape Town has plenty of options for adventure activities:
- Tandem paragliding from Signal Hill or Lion’s Head
- Shark cage diving off Gansbaai or False Bay
- Abseiling down Table Mountain
- Kloofing in the surrounding ravines
- Sandboarding on the dunes near the Atlantic coast
Paragliding stands apart from the list because it needs no fitness test, no swimming ability and no prior experience. AirVentures books every flight as an instructional tandem flight, so you get the same safety briefing and oversight as a trainee pilot, while your instructor handles the launch, flight and landing. The only skill required on your end is a short jog at take-off.
What Belongs on Your Cape Town Bucket List?
Most Cape Town bucket list guides cover the obvious names: the Table Mountain cableway, Cape Point, the penguins at Boulders Beach, a sunset at the V&A Waterfront. A tandem paragliding flight earns its place on that list for a simple reason, it’s one of the only activities that lets you see several of those landmarks in a single 15 to 30 minute window.
AirVentures flights from Signal Hill glide over Sea Point with Table Mountain, Robben Island and the V&A Waterfront all in view, landing right on the Sea Point promenade. What would make it better is to pair this with a coffee stop straight after landing, without adding a separate leg to your day.
Cape Town Sightseeing Activities Worth Your Time
Ground-level Cape Town sightseeing activities such as, a City Bowl walking tour, the ferry out to Robben Island, and a stroll through Bo-Kaap, a wine estate in Constantia, all cover the city from below. Paragliding covers the same ground from above, and pilots choose the launch site each day based on wind direction, so you get the clearest, safest view on offer.
Early morning flights from Signal Hill start as early as 06h00, which means you can watch the city wake up from above and still have a full day left for everything else on your list.
Try Lion’s Head Paragliding for a Different View
When the wind runs more south-westerly, AirVentures switches its launch to Lion’s Head instead of Signal Hill. Lion’s Head paragliding offers a higher-altitude launch than Signal Hill, with views stretching over the Twelve Apostles mountain range, Robben Island and Camps Bay below. Flights land near the Bungalow in Camps Bay, close to the beach and several restaurants if you want to make a morning of it.
AirVentures holds a SANParks permit for both sites, which means you get whichever offers the safer, more scenic flight on the day, there’s no need to pick between them yourself.
Fit a Flight Into Your Cape Town Itinerary
With over 20 years flying over the Mother City, AirVentures has turned paragliding into one of the easiest adventure activities to slot into a busy trip: no training, no gear to bring, and a flight short enough to fit around everything else on your list.
Book your Signal Hill or Lion’s Head flight and tick off Cape Town’s best view before lunch.