North Side Paragliding

The Sunshine Coast hinterland gives paragliders an unusually long run of country to work with — launches from Rainbow Beach down through the Glass House Mountains to Mooloolaba, plus training hills inland near Gympie for pilots starting out. North Side flies tandem passengers on coastal soaring flights of 20 to 30 minutes, and longer thermic flights of around an hour when conditions allow height gain over the ridgelines. Chief flying instructor Diogo Coradini has close to 25 years in the sport and has taught locally since 2013, working alongside a small team of SAFA-rated instructors rather than a rotating roster of casual staff. Flights run most days of the week, weather permitting, with the operator adjusting the launch site to whatever the wind on the day allows — a genuine advantage of having so much coastline and hinterland to choose from. It's a straightforward way to see the Sunshine Coast's beaches and hinterland from height without committing to a licence course.