You can get food here, but it's nothing worth anything.

I used to go here to fly RC gliders. Tons of fun, and a great flying spot right here in San Diego. Problem is, the guy who leases this land from San Diego (for like $1 or something), makes all of his money from the paragliding operation. So, he's not a big fan of the RCs. In fact he's been downright nasty to rule-abiding folks on many occasions.

Still, if you wanna to a tandem paraglide for your birthday or something, this is the place to go. And it's a nice spot to just chill out and watch the sunset.

The gliderport itself... beautiful.

But the gliderport store and shop, workers there are douchebags, and they're shady about returns. Be warned

The owner and manager extort money from independent pilots. They are under a city lease which allows them to charge $35 per flight. I heard the manager say to our pilot that for $100 he would allow us to fly. Extortion. The City should fix this, it is a public park.

Other wise, a great view of coast and activities.

who wouldn't want to jump off a cliff with nothing but a strip of nylon saving you from a grisly death? after some intense badgering, i finally agreed to fork out the money to go paragliding. sure, it was a gorgeous day, and sure, the view was beautiful, but it was totally NOT worth $150 (for 20 minutes of gliding time).

**long story: after signing the necessary papers and watching other paragliders sail across the sky, i was called up. i was getting situated in the harnesses when, all of a sudden, the wind caught my parachute and dragged me a good 40 feet down the grassy lawn. (yippee. is it over yet?) eventually, my instructor and i made it off the cliff and started gliding. he pointed out some naked people on the beach below and proceeded to tell me stories about seeing naked people through the windows of the houses that we were passing. (awesome. my guide is a perv.) since that conversation lasted all of 5 minutes, we tried making small talk. (i can't believe i paid $150 for forced conversation with a peeping-tom.) eventually our conversation stalled, and we glided in silence. after a while, he asked me if i wanted to take some pictures. i totally didn't know you could bring a camera with you. a camera may have made time pass by a little faster, but alas, disappointment was the theme of the day. 5 minutes later we landed back on the grassy lawn. after my airborne excursion, my body felt heavy...but my pockets were decidedly lighter.

**short story: watching paragliding is more fun than actually paragliding.

My wife planned an amazing surprise for my birthday, paragliding over La Jolla beach. How cool is that? Well... we arrived at the Gliderport and went inside to check in. The vibe was immediately off, as the manager and staff were strangely condescending and combative from the get-go. After expressing interest in a tandem paragliding ride, they hand me the liability release to sign. I start reading it, and the manager makes a mocking comment, "Huh, we got a reader here." RED FLAG - now I know that I need to read this release form. While I'm reading it, two more staff members make the same crack comment, trying to get me to hurry up and sign the 'damn' thing. Listen, accidents can happen, forces of nature can happen, that's just the reality of higher risk activities...but when you sign their release you exempt them from negligence (in multiple paragraphs). Your guide could be strung out on LSD, forget to strap you in, or fly you straight into a cliff, and you've signed away your right (or your surviving family's right) to sue them for negligence. Knowing that that won't hold up, you also sign away your right to take them to court. If you do, you pay their legal fees from day one, even if you win the case; you can even infer from the release that you'd be responsible to cover any restitution fees that they owe you if you win the case. It's a massive, legal circle jerk. I lined out whole sentences and paragraphs and was told, "You don't sign, you don't fly." So, I held onto my $150 dollars and walked away. To note, I am not a lawyer and even I could tell that this was the most toxic liability release that I have ever read. Why would a 'reputable' company need to screw you over so badly in their contracts? I decided not to find out.

This was complete bs... I had been to the nude beach below and admired the paragliding from above. I agree with the other review about there release of reliability and just how confident they were in their flying skills. Okay no problem allow me to sign my life away should the instructor fail to steer correctly or mother nature blow us into a cliff wall. The weather appeared just fine to me, there were many other paragliders in the sky however I was told I had to wait because it wasn't safe to fly due to the current weather condition. Wow, really?!?

If it wasn't safe to fly why were so many still in the sky and not told to land during my waiting time because of the non safe weather condition or did someone just need to take a lunch break and wasted my time?

To each is own, right? To me this was a waste of money and terrible first experience towards something that should have been exciting.

I called the day before at noon and was told there was enough wind only for those under 120 pounds, even though we qualified, we waited a day. We dropped by the next day around 2pm and inquired in person about the wind. They said they were gliding! At the counter there were 3 women ahead of us who had filled out their paperwork and were paying for their paragliding experience. After filling out all of our paperwork, which basically recuses them from any and everything, including death, the employee behind the counter said he would collect our fees right before our turn. I thought it odd as that is not what he did with the 3 women ahead of us. Then he stated that the instructor had landed on the beach below because he had lost wind and was hiking back. He added it shouldn't be more than a 10-15 minute wait. We decided to buy a sandwich at the cafe during our wait and watch the gliders talking off and landing.

About 15 minters later we noticed an instructor arriving. He dilly-dallied around talking to other employees and it seemed as though he was not THE instructor we were waiting for. Another 15 minutes goes by and the same employee that I had given my paperwork to earlier approached the 3 women ahead of us, had a brief conversation and then they all got up and left. He did the same with a gentleman and he too got up and left. I assumed it was their turn. An hour later, I realized that all the gliders we had been watching were not part of this company and those 4 people ahead of us had not flown either. So now we have been waiting about 1-1/2 hours. I notice that a customer who arrived much later than us is getting upset and asking how much longer. At that point, I felt that maybe I should be doing the same.

Back to the desk I go and ask. He says, "Well the instructor is getting ready to take this guy out" (pointing to a man standing next to me with an instructor). he says, "You can talk to him directly and ask how much longer". I look, and its that same instructor I saw arrive more than an hour earlier..the same one who was dilly-dallying around. The guy who he was going to take out next was a completely new customer who had not been waiting with us. At that point, everything seemed silly and unprofessional...we decided to leave. I spent 1 1/2 hours of my time plus bought a lunch and ice cream and had no communication by anyone here.

So not sure what the deal is. Maybe you need to tip to get bumped ahead of the wait ...or maybe they make you wait so you will buy lunch or maybe they do wait for the best winds. I could not figure it out. At $150 a person, that's a lot of money to be losing as people like us walk away due to the lack of ANY communication and erroneous wait times given. And by the way..... I never, ever saw another instructor the whole time we waited and never ever saw one tandem flight go out either.

Now, the cafe is kind of "cheesy" but the older cook/chef behind the counter is totally serious about his sandwiches. He even wears a chefs outfit to boot...We had a club on a toasted roll and it was surprising good.

I think para-sailing in Mission Bay might be a better bet next year as my teenage girls were quite disappointed. Who knows, maybe I might give them another try because it did look like fun if you actually get to do it.

15 minutes flight for $ 140. No costumer service what so ever. I went there with my daughter for her 30th birthday. The idea was to fly at the same time. We were asked to fill the papers and to wait outside. After 30 minutes, out of the blue, we eard a voice calling my daughter's name and she had to rush to the "take off" zone. I was asked to wait, Somebody was supposed to call me. My daughter took off and 15 minutes later came back. We waited, watched some people
take off. After a while, my wife went to the office where an employe told her that that's was it for the rest of the day. They were no enthusiasm, no passion, just a good way to make money. We spend more time filling the paper than flying.
Fortunately, the scenery was beautiful. A very good place to watch the sunset, so it was not a complete waist of time.

So here are some observations. The view IS amazing. Watching all the action is entertaining, to the untrained eye. The food was decent... nothing special but OK, if a bit overpriced. However there was ALOT about this place that disturbed me. If you come here to take a recreational tandem flight, be aware of a few things. First, your pilot may smoke cigarettes right on top of you, and you and your children will be subjected to a litany of foul language and crude talk amongst employees and staff. Also, there are so many people doing tandems that you may feel rushed in and out of your experience, which might leave you feeling let down after a $150 price tag. The large number of people landing and taking off from the same zone is also unsafe. I was there for 2 days and saw MULTIPLE incidents of people landing on top of one another and getting their wings tangled up. In one of these incidents I watched a 12 year old girl get drug 40 feet across the ground before smacking into a solo pilot on the other side of the field. Scary and reckless! I HAVE to comment on the bathroom situation also. There are only 3 porta-potties available for the public, all of which were in a DEPLORABLE state both days I was there. A pyramid OVER seat level and urine covering the floor!! I was blown away at the insanely unsanitary conditions! They were completely unfit for human use! Shameful!!! If you come here as a pilot hoping to fly I would warn you about the rude behavior of the staff and local pilots. I was shocked at one group of men in particular that seem to be the daily posse there. Both days I was there I heard them heckling others and loudly making extremely crude and distasteful comments about other pilots AND tourists there for a tandem expereince. After 2 days there observing all of this I can say I would NEVER bring a child into this environment! Also there are signs up stating that by county ordinance there is to be no smoking... I saw tandem pilots smoking all day long as well as kitchen staff smoking, IN the kitchen right next to said signage. This area is FILLED with families and children throughout the day. In many ways the "rules" seemed to apply to visitors but not to the "local posse", pilots, or staff. My advice would be to stop by for the view but unfortunately look elsewhere to try paragliding. This operation struck me as quite unprofessional and dangerously sloppy. If your a pilot, and can deal with a group of wierd, ego-inflated older men, then good luck. Just make sure and plot your landing well. I give them 2 stars for the great view and the fact that this place is a great concept. If it was managed and run correctly this place could be world class.

Very disappointed, for 140 you would think you could fly for more than 13 minutes which is all I got, then landed on the beach and a long trek back, it would have been worth it for the whole ride - my problem is that if wind conditions changed, and someone was up for 2 minutes, that would be it, no refunds

They offer a living social voucher during low wind season which they don't fly in. Which makes it nearly impossible to redeem. And won't give an extension to the voucher until the next possible flight day( wind is strong enough). It is pretty much a scam for them to get your money with out a deal.

I would give this 0 stars if I could. These guys are complete dicks. The Ragnar Relay paid to use this site for a rest exchange in the SoCal race and participants paid in too of that to eat here. One of the pilots came over and literally locked the bathrooms and told us to get lost because they pay for it. Yes, and we paid to be here and to eat here! Really selfish and shitty move, and it completely ruined this spot.

Gabriel Jebb is the worst human being I have come into contact with as of yet. Please allow me to explain.

The view was amazing and the gliders were very cool to watch but our whole experience was ruined by one of the workers claiming to be the owner of the glider port named Gabriel Jebb. After sitting at a table, surrounded by other empty tables, we were told by gabriel that the tables were for "glider staff only". We then asked why it mattered since they closed in a half an hour anyway and all of the other tables were empty. He then lit a cigarette and told us to move because he was "the boss". We then moved over to where he had told us and continued to watch as the tables remained completely empty. Then I noticed a sign that read "tables for patrons only". I remembered we had bought some items from their store earlier, so therefore we were "patrons". I went in to tell him that we had bought stuff prior to his show of power and he told me it didn't matter and that he's the boss boss and what he says goes.

Therefore, as a word of warning, look out for gabriel jebb, he has a short fuse and has no ability to think with reason or clever thought. The other staff seemed confused as to why he went out of his way to ruin our whole mothers day picnic, and some even apologized and told us they had no idea why he had done that.

So if you do go to the gliderport, steer clear of gabriel jebb and his foul temperement.

The place is extremely unorganized! They call up people to glide randomly! We waited for two hours while people who arrived before us went on to glide.

I don't mind waiting but I don't want to put my safety in a place that can't even call your name properly!

I am sure the hang gliding is fine, but watch out in the parking lot. We had our car broken in to in a full lot. While we reported it to the police, we also reported it to the staff because my purse was stolen and they could have cared less. We asked if we could use their phone to call police and they said no because they needed to keep the line open for business calls. Didn't even say

Called them to find out if they were going to do the paragliding today. The receptionist was very rude but took my number and told me that she would call back if the weather was good.. Long story short, she did not after 3 hours.. I called just now and asked if they are doing it and she said yes and that they have started a while ago.. She did not bother to apologize after I told her that I had been waiting for them to call.. Not expecting a lot of professionalism from them. So, decided not to go there today.

Fun place to watch paragliders risk their lives. But the erosion of the soil south of the area shows that there are no real cartakers if the land here. Near the parking area is the worst erosion I have ever seen.

Please read! This is what u need to know before u try this. U need to carry about 40 pounds equipments if the pilot landed on the beach and walk up the cliff! The path is about 30 mins. When I talk to the owner to have him located where in the waiver says we need to be able to carry that weight and he said u don't have to if u don't want to, but I was just provided the bag and the pilot told me "u take this" the owner Robin told me "I don't need to tell u to go pee before you need to go" extremely rude too. Basically you are paying ur life to help them make money!

This review is in regards to the cafe. I've never met such unhelpful people in my entire life. Do not eat here. Go to Bella Vista instead. You will have a much better experience.

I decided for my birthday I would take 4 of my friends to go paragliding with me. It was a beautiful day and I was super excited to do this. We arrived at the gliderport and quickly filled out forms and paid our fee ($165 cash). We were then told to go outside and wait for our names to be called. When our name was called, you meet your instructor, they clip in and all the instructions I received was "when I tell you to run, you run..." Um...ok, got it. My instructor was JC (Juan Carlos)

I was hoping they would go over the whole process of what to do and when to do it but nope. He yells 'run' and off we go. While we were running, another para-glider cuts us off and my instructor starts yelling at him and freaking out. While this is going on I stopped running. So now my instructor is yelling at me!!! Anyways, we run off the cliff and are airborne. He tells me I need to follow instructions and that what I did was very dangerous...we could have fallen down the cliff.. While in the air, he's yelling at the guy who cut us off, and yelling at other para-gliders to spread out. He tells me I'm not sitting property, to not hold on where I was holding on, to not swing my legs, etc. I'm trying to not piss off my instructor b/c he is in charge of my life at the moment so I'm just trying to be perfectly still and not touch/say/do anything. The views were amazing but the experience was negatively impacted by the instructor. The only area we covered was from the gliderport to the top of the parking lot.

We were told we would be in the air for about 20 minutes but after 10 minutes in the air my instructor tells me that due to the conditions and how crowded it was, we would be landing a bit early and asks if that's ok. I said sure b/c he's the expert and safety is always my top concern. I'm not going to argue with him while up there We land and he says he will keep my name and number and on a day the winds are better he will call me and will fly again... sure, whatever.

So after my friends come down I hear about their experiences...They all got the 20+minutes up in the air so it doesn't seem like the conditions effected their ride. They went to the canyon and mansions south of the gliderport (we didn't go anywhere near them). Some of them were asked if they want to take the 'wheel' and control the movement of the parachute.

I was going to complain to the staff but it was my birthday and I didn't want to dampen the mood. Also after we all landed an ambulance arrived and there was a medical helicopter in the area responding to something so I figured we should just get out of there.

So overall, I regret spending the $165 to be scolded at while only getting 10 minutes in the air.

Updated review

Too many RC planes that don't follow the site rules. They were doing manouvers so close to my glider, so wanted to talk to them about it. But I decided not to. Few minutes later, one of them hit my glider in the air, I was lucky it didn't get tangled in my lines and I recovered. I landed right away. I assumed, the pilot of the RC plane would apologize. But he just kept on flying. Long story short, he just got a two week probation (basically NOTHIG) for endangering someone's life. Don't come here for paragliding on weekends. Way too many RC planes. And apparently they don't have to follow right of way rules.
To make things even worse, once I wrote the above review, the manager spoke with me right away and said "Thank you for your review in a sarcastic tone, the added "if you don't like how we do things here, maybe you shouldn't come here anymore"
It is sad that people's safety does not have priority at this site. Apparently it is more important to them to receive good reviews. And that is completely apparent by their fast response to my yelp review.
Anyhow, I would try to avoid flying here on weekend as it is usually way top crowded to enjoy a nice and safe flight.

Paragliding and gliders are so cool!
The cliffs are beautiful!
The place a serene getaway.

Customer service SUCKS.

Beyond bad service I have ever had anywhere. Been told that I was a fraud and a liar by the manager who would not even take the time to stand up from her computer in the back to talk to me.

All because I wanted to use a gift certificate that purchased from them.

Go for the experience, sure, but beware the people.

Nice sight seeing, terrible for lunch. You have to wait an hour for a sandwich same thing for a salad. Nice view though.

FRONT DESK GIRL is lost. HORRIBLE customer service. Called in ahead and they said to come in, they're flying. I come in and there's no flying and a wait. Girl tells us they will call our cell when ready. I specifically say we want to HANG GLIDE. 2 HOURS LATER no call and we go up and they forgot about us. While everyone before and after us waited only 45 minutes or less. We pay to HANG GLIDE. DUMB Girl charges for para when I said HANG. So we continue to wait and then instructors don't want to fly. So we left. After 2 1/2 hours waiting. NEVER COMING BACK. THAT FRONT DESK GIRL SUCKS. DATE 2/18/2018 2pm-4:30pm. Completely RUINED MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah took me a while to get around to this review. my experience was disappointing. Decided to paraglide on a whim while my parents were in town. Paid and waited to go and everything was going smooth. I meet up with my tandem guide outside. As I'm all suited up and connected he says the wind was weak all day and that we'll have to land on the beach. I paid a lot to do this and we literally just floated down to the sand and had to walk up those long steps. I was told to text him and come back and he'll give me a free ride but that never happened. It was too difficult to get a hold of him. I feel like everyone knew the wind sucked that day but never told me prior to paying.

Good experience with the pilots, not so much with the front desk. I went to take my mom for her bday to paraglide and this lady assisted us says it was a 1.5-2 hour wait. We signed all documents. I said I'm gonna pay cash now but she refused and she said she will take it later. She said she will call. First of all, we waited 1.5 hours and she never called. I had to go back inside and ask for our position in the queue. I was right in front of her and she didn't even acknowledge I was there. The other lady with the clipboard said, 20 mins. I said okay and left. 30 mins had past, I talked to the guy holding he clipboard and again, asked my position in the queue to find out we are not in the queue. Stupid lady didn't let my mom sign the paperwork for the queue and let us wait there for 2 hours for nothing. Mind you, I have called since 1130. The guy was pleasant enough to put us on top of the line. The lady didn't even apologize whatsoever. I hope she trips over in a pile of crap with her head on first one of these days. Thanks a lot lady. You ruined my moms bday!

Update- I hope you trip on a pile of crap too, Isabella. Like your front desk employee. You are full of crap. There were no 50 people ahead of us when we arrived. Liar. Trying to justify your employee's attitude just makes me more furious. The guy who put us on top of the list even said, "Good thing you said something because some people wait the whole day to find out they are not in the queue. Maybe if you didn't hire stoners or incompetent front desk, you won't have bad reviews.

They let me fill out a lot of paperwork, video taped me waiving my rights, charged me $230 for glider+video, but failed to mention that today was not good for flying. I understand that the activity depends highly on weather and wind, but a warning that today was not the day would have been nice. I waited from 12:30 to 3pm for my name to be called, every time I would ask them they'd tell me they'd start calling people out soon
In the end they just came up to me and asked me to come back again later and gave me my money back. They wasted my entire last vacation day because they didn't want to lose a possible costumer. Mind you its winter so the sun sets at 5pm so really I have lost this whole day waiting for Zeus to fix the wind situation.
I wasted a whole day. They didnt even offer me a deal for next time or anything.

Ps. As suggested on their website, I called them yesterday to ask about the weather, they put me on hold for 10 mins and then their phone was busy for the rest of the day. The lady was polite but the establishment is just so unprofessional.

Went there for lunch and the view. Some dude named Gabriel was going around claiming to be the owner of the gliderport and being super rude to people. He told one dude to leash his dog, even when Gabriel's dog was running around unleashed right next to him.

It's a city owned property, so the dude had no real authority. Anyone who stood up to him, he backed down. It was actually pretty funny to watch.

Get off your power trip man, it's not a good look.

Maybe I'm frustrated but I just threw $165 down the drain for a 10 minute flight only to crash land on the beach spend 30 minutes helping fold the chute, walk on Blacks Beach, and then hike up the cliffs back to the base. Apparently there was not enough wind although others were flying around us. Some harrowing moments as my feet dangled within feet of the cliffs above the beach as the pilot tried to find an uplift. It was a total waste of money as there was no apology, excuse, or any type of compensation.

I don't like giving 1 star reviews.. unfortunately this one deserves it. I found out they close at 5pm so I made time to get off work early to be there before they closed so I can purchase a gift card as a gift for a friend. (I didn't want to print out a gift receipt from the website to make it more meaningful) I had arrived @4:40 on the dot so I had plenty of time to get the gift card. When I walked up to the door they were already closed! Okay, I'd imagine 5 minutes early even ten minutes early but 20?

After walking around to see if anybody happened to be walking out I called to leave a voicemail so I can ask a couple of questions about it. I asked them to call me back and left my number as prompted from the voicemail if I had questions. Not only did I call to get questions answered I wanted to know if they would be closing early so I can take off work a bit early to head out there (it's not in the easiest route to get there ).
I waited all day but never got a call back. That's not really the best customer service I got, but it does warrant 1 star.

Got ripped off. Paid online and never got the service. Called many times and never got help.
NOT A PROFESSIONAL COMPANY
I wouldn't recommend it

Trying to get back to our parked car at 5:30pm today and was very rudely told by the "hawk private lessons" that "our head would be cut off by gliders landing" if we walked across the field. There is absolutely no signs designated that that stretch of field is for gliders to land on. We have two young kids with us and that was way beyond rude and unnecessary. There were nothing in the air the time we left. Save your time and money and don't go here. It's apparently unsafe for people to walk and not family friendly at all. This is terribly frustrating as we've lived here our entire lives and never been treated with such disrespect. PUT UP SIGNS!

Was always interested in paragliding and checked out this spot. Wind conditions weren't ideal so tandem flights were temporarily on hold. That's understandable. I put name on a call back list and the rude incompetent little gal at the front desk couldn't answer simple "yes" or "no" questions. Like "how many persons are on list before me?" Instead she just beats around the bush with non informative responses. Customer service skills were non existent. I don't trust my safety with these shady people. My life is in your hands so in return I expect some honest answers. Won't be returning and recommend not putting your lives as risk.

First the good: the paragliding experience was very good, the pilots were very experienced and nice. The views were breathtaking

Now the not so good: the management of the place was totally chaotic. Not sure if they were overwhelmed on a Wednesday morning but the staff didn't seem to have things under control and a couple of the ladies working there were extremely rude. One young girl working behind the counter kept making rookie mistake and forgot to take payment for half of our party and we had to remind her.

The prices were a bit in the higher side as well

These people need to pick up their phone calls.

Last time I drove here, they just sent me away. They said something about a vague event and it just happen to be on that specific day.

They said I need to call them to know of any events that would prevent me from entering next time so next day I called them multiple times, and nobody is picking up.

The paragliding is extremely fun and the pilots are great at what they do and are friendly. I have no complaints there.

But I waited an extremely long time to go. I am heavier and expected to wait a little bit but was under the impression that it was first come first serve as long as wind speed allowed it. Lots of people who looked to be similar size went before us and we were there first in line first thing in the morning even before the shop opened.

I would have gladly have come back again if it wasn't for the bad system that is in place. There is definitely an opportunity for improvement here.

STAY CLEAR OF THIS PLACE!!! These people are the most uncommunicative, rude and disorganized people I've dealt with in a very long time.

We arrived at 10:00 am and had to fill out disclosures. I have never seen so many pages of disclosures ever. I understand having to protect yourself, but it was absolutely ridiculous. We stood in line for a half hour after filling out the disclosures on our phones. Once we got to the front of the line they then had us on video literally speaking another disclosure into a camera.

The price is insane. It was $700 for four people! We decided that it was a once in a lifetime thing so we went ahead and paid.

First, the bathroom situation is dire. They only have outhouses with s*** all over the walls and floors. Have fun with that. For $175 a person you'd think they'd have an actual bathroom or at least clean the Porta Pottys once in a while. Especially with COVID.

They said it would be between 1-1/2-2 hours wait. After two hours we went up to the man sitting on the stool calling out people's names and asked if we were going to be called soon. He literally said, "I don't know. This isn't Disneyland." He's one of those guys who thinks he's funny but in reality he's just disgusting. I was taken aback and said that I understood that but we had already waited over two hours and were just wondering. He just said I'll call you when it's your turn. Then he asked what our numbers were and I told him. He said my number wasn't there. Nothing else. I asked him if I need to do something with the front desk and he said, "No, I'll figure it out." About 20 minutes later he yelled my two sons' names and they went to their gliders. A few minutes after that he called my name and I went to mine.

I was sent to a super sketchy guy whose mouth was full with a huge sticky protein bar. He was trying to tell me what to do but I told him I couldn't understand him since his mouth was full. I'm sure it was pretty critical information! He finished his bar and then told me that because of the wind we have a very good chance of landing below at the beach and it's a half-hour hike back up to the cliffs. I was feeling like he didn't want to be there as he had the worst attitude and called me short like he was annoyed that I'm 5'-3", which isn't that short! I got the feeling that he would actually try to land at the beach so he doesn't have to deal with any other people for a while. By the way, neither of my sons were told that. He had me put a harness through my legs and then the parachute pulled me really hard back and he was yelling at me not to sit. I was falling! And he was annoyed.

At that point, my brain was telling me to run. It didn't feel safe, I didn't want to spend time in the sky with this jerk so I told him that I wasn't going to do it. He said fine and I walked back up to the rude guy and told him. He gave me back my form and I went to the desk and they processed a refund for me. I actually got it, which shocked me. While I was talking to the girls at the desk I asked them about the rude guy. They said he was the owner!

Then my husband wasn't called for another hour. I went back up to the guy and asked him if he had any idea of when my husband would be called. We had already spent half our vacation day there and we were getting really annoyed by this point. He said dismissively, "Maybe ten minutes, maybe never." Nothing else. I was listening to other people around me which clued me into why. My husband is heavier and they were waiting for the wind to pick up. He could have told me that. I took my husband's sheet and we got a refund for him, too.

Honestly, by the time you're waiting two or three hours to go up for 20 minutes the excitement has already left.

They cut one of my son's flights short because they said the wind wasn't strong enough. Maybe they should refund some of the $175 if we don't get a full session. He got about 10 minutes instead of 20.

I sincerely hope someone else opens another glider company and puts these people out of business. They would whole heartedly deserve it.

This review is for the paragliding school. I'm giving two stars instead of one because there are efficient teachers there, and you will gain the skills you'll need to be a strong pilot. However, I would hesitate to sign up for training here for the reasons I list below.
- You only have 3 months to complete your training. Otherwise, you'll have to repurchase the program. This is not a thing at any other paragliding school - at every other place, if you purchase a P2 package, you will eventually get signed off even if it takes a long time. You are not guaranteed your P2 after 3 months, and they can kick you out at any given time (without a refund) if they think you're not meant to be a paraglider. It's extremely unfair that one person gets to play judge, jury, and executor on who even gets to be a paragliding STUDENT. If you are a slow learner, this place is not for you - they practice a "3 strikes and you're out" policy. So god forbid you make 3 mistakes.
- If you don't take kindly to having your character and self esteem torn down, this is also not the place for you. The male head instructor here is the most vitriolic teacher I have ever encountered. He will give you his reasons for being the way that he is, and I recognize them, but some of the personal attacks he makes on students are seriously unwarranted.
- Speaking of this male head instructor, he has gotten students seriously injured in the past. He is no longer allowed to teach at USHPA-insured schools because of his track record. So know that if you choose to learn or fly here, you aren't covered under USHPA insurance.
- Gossiping and drama is rampant at this school. The instructors instigate a lot of it. You'd think that middle-aged folks would grow out of high school behavior but I guess it's true what they say, high school never ends.
- If you seek out further certification after P1/P2, you will have to pay for that. This is also not a thing anywhere else. At all other schools, if you were a former student, they will sign you off for your P3 and P4 free of charge. Otherwise, they might charge $50-200. But thousands of dollars for each sign-off? That's just a scam.
All in all, you're paying for the convenience of being close to the school if you live in San Diego proper. Otherwise, I could not recommend Torrey Pines Gliderport if you want to become a paraglider. One alternative is Soboba Flight Park, which is about 1.5 hours north. I'd suggest checking them out and weighing your options before jumping onboard here.

This review is for Chloe at the front desk. Racist and rude. If she sees anyone who doesn't look like her she asks them if they can read. We complained to the manager but she continued with her uncivilized attitude

Paragliding is something that I wanted to try for many years. Finally, I got the chance to do it and this being my first experience, it was less than stellar. Their waiver is a bear to complete and there is an additional piece that they have you do on video. If you have to go they have 3 port-a-potties that you can use, but make sure to bring your own toilet paper. I would have gotten stuck without a square to spare if it wasn't for this nice couple that gave me some napkins. My pilot on Tuesday June 21st was somewhat aloof. At one point, he was complaining on how the wind wasn't very strong and that he was working hard to keep us up in the air. He went on to tell me where he normally goes to, but he couldn't go because of the weak wind. I would have preferred not to know. At the end, he took off my helmet and said, "there's a happy face". He turned and didn't even bother saying "bye now", or "thank you for coming". He just started talking to the next person after me who was still making their way down the hill. Totally felt like he couldn't get rid of me fast enough. I went on a Tuesday and there is a free photo package with the tandem flight. Scanning for my pictures was hard since there are over 300 pictures of everyone who flew on the same day. It would be nice if they can add another folder and pair the pictures by time. For example, from 11-1, 1-3, etc. It would make it easier. They provide 7 pictures of which they only got 3 of me when I landed. 2 out of the 3 were exactly the same and who knows why I didn't get all 7 pictures. Thank God my husband was taking video and he got some pictures that were far away, but at least something. It was the perfect storm of everything that could go wrong with my experience. The incredible view that I was able to enjoy coupled with the disorganized company running this experience makes me give them 2 stars. Too bad because I'm a local and I would definitely try it again, just somewhere else.

Torrey Pines Gliderport is a great spot to sightsee and do a tandem flight, but if you're interested in the Flight School, I'd suggest looking elsewhere. The people who run the school are toxic. They are hostile to people for little to no good reason, such as daring to ask simple questions, not knowing to pack a radio (as a brand new, day 1 student), and wanting to wait for wind conditions to improve before taking flight. William (Billy) Purden, the head instructor, was previously fired for punching someone on-site and for talking smack about the owners. He has also been accused of sexually harassing a female tandem passenger. He has since been allowed to teach again. Know that this is the kind of person you will be financially supporting. Favorites are clearly played in class - Dana H. (who's left a review here) was allowed to only top land and never have to do the difficult hike up from the beach. Others have been asked to leave for trying to pull the same stunt.

In response to that sole positive review, boy is it apparent that said reviewer has not been around for long. Every school has students from all over the states and perhaps the world. Paragliding schools are not that common and so people travel to the closest location to them in order to learn. San Diego is a transient place and has many transplants - being a naval base - and I highly doubt anyone has ever come just to get signed off at Torrey Pines Gliderport specifically. And every school has instructors that have the highest certifications possible. That's the minimum requirement in order to be able to teach. She speaks for herself and not for others when she says that "Billy is a world class instructor". One of the site photographers, George, literally stopped attending classes when Billy became an instructor, taking Vito's place. He has not continued his P2 since.

This place is a cash factory with all the tandem flights, and so the paragliding school is an afterthought. Know that being a major tourist spot, they value money first and foremost, and any reasons they'll come up with for charging you so much (for such a short time period) are purely an afterthought. This place is one of a kind, and not in a good way - no other school makes you finish your training within 3 months or makes you pay thousands of dollars for each additional certification. The positive reviews are from pilots who have never been at another school or flown anywhere else, and don't know any different. Torrey Pines Gliderport is a contested place in the San Diego paragliding community, and I wish I'd gathered opinions from other people before enrolling here. Listen to the negative reviews for the flight school.

I wish the Flight School had its own page, because the reviews for it are buried under all the other reviews for Gliderport. Even if no one reads this, I'm still posting it for the principle of the matter.

For the type of student experience you will have, just imagine if Gordon Ramsay from Hell's Kitchen taught paragliding. You have been warned. There are many negative reviews for the flying school that are hidden because they've been posted under fake/alternate accounts. Yelp's algorithm filters those out. People won't post under their real account because they are afraid of retaliation. This place is like a creepy cult with its impressionable believers. Either you're in, or you're out.

If you train here, you may struggle to kite when conditions are less than ideal. It is easy to kite here because you are on the edge of a cliff and so the wind is always condition and blowing one way. An instructor at one of the other SoCal sites, Marshall, has told me that Torrey Pines kids have a hard time kiting when they come to visit. Just a heads-up to keep in mind.

As other reviewers have mentioned, you will have to pay a lot of money for each additional certification. This is not the norm in the flying world. Most other schools practice a "Student for Life" philosophy, which means that if you've previously trained there, they will sign you off for free. At most, they will charge you an instructor fee for it. If charging an obscene amount of money for each certification is the best way to do things, then how do you explain all the other extremely talented and capable pilots who graduated from other schools? Food for thought.

One last thing. The main instructors are encouraging their friends and students to leave 5 star reviews in light of the negative feedback that's been posted here. It is extremely obvious just looking at the quick succession of reviews that have come up in the past few weeks, when before there were none. Take those with a grain of salt. I suspect that Dana H's review was guided by the instructor she's talking about himself, because it has his thumbprint all over it. Extremely tacky and unprofessional, if you ask me. We all have to put up with dissent - no need to desperately scramble around trying to do damage control.

Try to take a lesson P1 + P2 and want to know schedule and rules. Called and written to ask advice from an instructor and never has feedback. I guess they are busy with tandem flight or they don't care.

Good spot to have lunch and hangout. Huge downside is the porta potties. They were absolutely gross. Overflowing, dirty, etc. I saw an elderly lady with a walker trying to use the ADA PortaPotty and felt so bad for her because there was no way she could have used that comfortably or hover over the seat like a younger person. Potties need to be serviced way more regularly.

As has been mentioned in other reviews, this review is specifically regarding the paragliding flight school, not the tandem sight seeing flights. It seems all the good reviews are for sight seeing. But if you're hoping to learn to paraglide, take note of the warnings in these reviews. This is not the place to learn to paraglide. They advertise they have some sensational reputation for paragliding instruction, but this is some of the worst instruction I have ever seen. I, myself, am an FAA Gold Seal flight instructor, with over 18,000 hours of flying time. I receive flight instruction from other flight instructors multiple times every year for the past 30+ years. Billy Purden, the school's head instructor, is, hands down, the absolute worst instructor I have ever observed. I would absolutely report him to the FAA if paragliding were under their jurisdiction.

I signed up for 2 sessions of instruction, specifically to get some help with high wind ground handling. They put me out on the kiting field with a number of other students. At first, for a short time, Enrique (Junior) helped me and it seemed I was getting what I'd signed up for. Shortly thereafter, Billy showed up and Junior retreated back to the office. I know people nowadays use the term "screamed at" as a euphemism for "saying things you don't want to hear" or "things said in a not nice way." Billy was literally screaming at the students in lieu of any real instruction. If a student was having trouble with things, he'd confront them face to face and scream that they weren't doing it right. First one to have enough was an older gentleman who calmly packed up and left after his public Billy confrontation. By the end, a couple of others packed up and left as well. Billy claimed it was all their fault. Billy didn't only confront all the students, he enjoyed confronting spectators too. Every slight infraction by passers-by was an opportunity for Billy to attack and demean whole families, instead of pointing out the rule they had broken. He had little constructive advice or instruction for any of his students. If they were doing well, it was fine. If they were having trouble with something, it was all their fault and he'd demean them in front of everyone. He made up rules as he went along and criticized people for not knowing his rules. "What do you mean you don't have a radio on you????? EVERYBODY KNOWS YOU HAVE TO HAVE A RADIO ON YOU WHEN GROUND HANDLING A PARAGLIDER!!!!" That's absurd, but more importantly, if that's his personal rule as an instructor, its his job to let his students know his personal quirks before the lesson starts. But he just prefers to berate his students for not knowing what he never told them. I think 3 students walked off that day because of his terrible attitude and lack of instruction. I should have also.

I came back for my second session that I had paid for (against my better judgement). A student showed up who hadn't been back for a month or 2 because he had been on TDY with the Navy and Billy told him his money was all used up and he'd have to pay again. He told him, "its like college. You don't show up for a semester? You forfeit your money and you pay again. Just like here." I know this because he berated him in front of the entire group. I'd never heard of any other instructor doing this. I've paid up at another paragliding school for everything through P4 and paramotor and there's no expiration on that. And for a fraction of the price this place charges. The weather wasn't great on this day so Billy told the students he'd be doing a weather ground class. Since I'd specifically requested and paid for 2 sessions of ground handling skills, I told him I was heading out and would come back another time ( I never did. It was worth forfeiting the money for that lesson to never come back here for another lesson.) Billy, of course, decided to confront me in front of the group asking "So, what part of my weather class don't you think you need to know?" I told him that unless he was asking me to stay to help him teach it, or to give him some tips and pointers on his class for free, I had better things to do. He made some smart a** remarks and I refrained from responding. I never went back.

I've never tried it, but if you want to try a tandem flight, people seem to have a good time with it. But if you want to learn to paraglide yourself, there are so many other places and people who can actually teach, and will do so at a fraction of the price of this place. You would be worth searching the reviews, specifically for ones that are reviewing instruction (and not tandem sight seeing), flight school, P1, P-1, P-2, P2, P-3, P3, etc and see that this place is a disaster. If you still decide to buy into the school's claim that they have the best, most organized flight school, just show up before you pay and watch a couple of Billy's lessons. You'll walk away shaking your head and glad you didn't plunk down any cash at this place.

Leslie M.
Carlsbad, CA
1.0 star rating
12/23/2022

Beautiful location but unkind and rude staff.
I'm a La Jolla local and I've visited this place so many times I can't count. I've never encounter a rude soul there until today while I was walking through the area while holding my 14 month old daughter. A female instructor probably in her early 60s yelled and rudely ordered me to leave the area as I quote: "NOW". For reference there was NO glider activity just her and a small group of people congregated talking. As we left I decided to communicate what just happened to another instructor located inside the unit and her treatment was the same as her coworker. Take in consideration this happened while I was holding my baby. I'm very disappointed and I suggest the staff to work on their ethics and communication skills.

William Z.
San Diego, CA
1.0 star rating
12/21/2022

Junior is the rudest manager ever. I see why there are other reviews about the terrible staff here. It makes sense if he's the manager.

Yow M.
Mid-City, San Diego, CA
1.0 star rating
5/31/2021

The instructors are so amazing. I had Ryan and he was so nice and made the whole paraglide super enjoyable... HOWEVER!... every other staff member (besides the instructors) are absolutely mentally underdeveloped. Front desk ladies: complete dingdongs. The guy who calls the names out loud is a total jerk. I waited for 2 hours and he got mad when I took more than 30 seconds to hand my phone to my family and head down the stairs. Would a 2 minute warning ever hurt anyone? I guess his wife is used to him finishing faster than that, because apparently 30 seconds is a lifetime for this guy. Something tells me he's the owner, because if he wasn't, he would have 100% been fired by now. I'm waiting for their inbred DNA to catch up with them so somebody else's can buy this business and make it a normal place to spend your money. Ryan, you're so dope and I hope you make it out to the alps again sometime soon. Mister grumpy (aka the owner??) I hope you shart your pants every time you go out with friends.

Arya T.
New York, NY
1.0 star rating
12/26/2020

While visiting the area, I called twice and asked if I were allowed to kite my wing in a corner at Torrey Pines with a P2 and 10 hours of flight time. I was told both times that I could kite my wing. The first time, when I arrived 45 minutes before sunset, I was told that it was too late on that day, and that I should come earlier on a different day. The second time, I arrived around 11am, but I was told again that I wasn't allowed to kite, that despite what they had told me on the phone, the only way for me to kite there was to pay $250 for a day of coaching.

This was very upsetting as they could have easily told me this on the phone and saved me the 2 hours of driving to go there and back twice for just a little kiting in a corner on my own.

Peter L.
Bath, NY
1.0 star rating
8/12/2019

I've been to this flying site two times in person. I've been flying hang gliders since the mid 1970s. No hang gliders flying, just paragliders. Back in March (2019) two paragliders collided and fell to their deaths. One of the dead guys was being "supervised" by some "Instructor" at the Glider Port. Was he looking somewhere else at the moment when he should have been paying attention to his new student paraglider pilot? Safety doesn't seem to be the FIRST concern with Air California Adventure Inc. (aka Torrey Pines Glider Port) So, if you are thinking about going for a two place ride in a paraglider please realize that you too could collide with another low skill level paraglider and fall to your death on the cliffs below. I would say that it's not worth the risk. Is your life worth the $175 they charge for a joy ride on a dangerous paraglider?

Gary J.
La Jolla, La Jolla, CA
1.0 star rating
12/4/2018
Updated review

Front desk was super rude. WTF. I asked a few questions just for clarification about the process and he told me I needed to speak with the owner. I didn't get it. When I finally did speak to the owner he told me to get out because they were overbooked. Super weird place to go. I would probably look into places that are more amenable to newcomers.

Tim D.
1.0 star rating
11/23/2018

I don't know what to say about this place. I was browsing the location this afternoon and I saw the owner tell someone to fu** off and to get off his property. Not sure what that was all about about but I get a strange vibe about the place overall. My wife and I want to do some gliding in the future but I'm not sure this is the best place to pursue it. Sooo...other suggestions would be much appreciated!

Carl B.
La Jolla, La Jolla, CA
1.0 star rating
11/23/2018

I just do not understand this organization. They encourage you to dip your feet into the arena of gliding but then chide you for every single amateur misstep. I was really nervous about giving this a try and then after so much uncomfortable criticism I just decided to do it another time. Seems like a very strange way to conduct business.

Donald H.
La Jolla, San Diego, CA
1.0 star rating
11/23/2018

The staff were really uncool. They made fun of me because I wasn't sure about the jump. They also didn't tell me that I'd be doing it with my instructor until minutes before.

For something this important, I just wish they could've taken it slower and explained all the details before rushing me into it. I would at least look further into this before committing to this company.

Burt C.
La Jolla, San Diego, CA
1.0 star rating
11/23/2018

Avoid at all costs. Horrible staff. They do not care about your safety or your concerns as a first time user. Go with another spot.

Noone I.
El Cajon, CA
1.0 star rating
8/23/2015

Lets start off with the lack of an actual parking lot. This place has ruts and holes littered in their property just causing damage to people's cars. There are no signs permitting what is allowed and what isnt. The staff is horrendously mannered! Without asking or talking to me or anyone I was with, the staff took pictures of our vehicles and told is that "what we are doing isnt aloud here". The guy then gives us a stern attitude and asks that we stop another individual there , whom we have no association to. The staff at Torrey Pines Gliderport is unacceptably rude and ill mannered. Because of this, I hope I or anyone else I know never does business this place.

Bob B.
Albuquerque, NM
1.0 star rating
4/6/2015

Just wondering when Torrey Pines became so clicky? As a P4 rated pilot with plenty of experience flying PGs, Mini wings and hang gliders i was completely treated like a novice pilot being told that i was going to get hammered due to strong winds and it being crossed but lets not look at one of the local pilots kiting his mini wing on the edge... " because he knows what he's doing and apparently i have no clue..." So after kiting for about 15-20 and watching the local launch and bomb out i decided to launch as well and that's when i here one of the guys screaming at me DON"T LET THAT GUY LAUNCH! Apparently he had a massive hard on for me.. :- ) What was your actual reasoning that i could not launch? Well none the less i soared for about a hr and yes it was crossed but i still had fun and top landed as well. I guess what i'm really annoyed at is if your not in the crew be prepared to get yelled at for all sorts of reasons that don't apply to that group... Mainly all the rules that they set and don't fallow them selves... Torrey Pines needs a little revamp in there staff just a thought and just a small suggestion FOLLOW THE RULES THAT YOU HAVE IN PLACE all across the board not for the selected that you have chosen or have a hard on for.

Sam B.
Costa Mesa, CA
1.0 star rating
1/20/2015

The staff at the gliderport office are at best indifferent and worst incompetent and lazy. They find ways to impede and misdirect in order not to perform their work. " No" and " can't do" are their operative words. Had an absolute nightmare experience with the 2 staff members who, either did not understand the requirements of the glideport or just were to lazy to find out. Highly disappointed in their indifferent attitude and lack of empathy.

Shawn D.
San Diego, CA
1.0 star rating
6/13/2012

If you like paying $150 to dangle from a parachute steered by someone who reeks of pot for 15 minutes then this is the place for you. Or perhaps a gift for someone you don't particularly care about.

Maria G.
San Diego, CA
1.0 star rating
6/6/2012
Updated review

The employees smell like pot and want $150 for 15 minutes of dangling from a parachute.

David S.
Carlsbad, CA
1.0 star rating
6/6/2012

I don't want to risk my life flying with someone who stinks like pot. I know marijuana is legal now for some people but seriously, would you want to jump off a cliff dangling from a parachute steered by someone who is stoned? The pilots aren't the only thing high, the prices are way too expensive. $150 for 15 minutes? I can go to a flight school and fly a real airplane with a licensed pilot for a whole hour for less than that.

Renee P.
SoMa, San Francisco, CA
2.0 star rating
8/9/2021

I enjoyed my flight and didn't wait long, but the bathrooms are 3 portpotties and they were the most disgusting ones Ive ever experienced. None of them had toilet paper and 2 were filled up, nearly overflowing. The 3rd and me was close to that point. For the number of people in and out of there every day, they really should have serviced, clean facilities.