A Must on Maui • The freedom of flight with Proflyght Paragliding!
When you hear "Maui" your brain might conjure up images of beautiful beaches, luau's, sunsets and water sports. Well you wont be disappointed, they're all there, but one of the most memorable experiences I had in Maui was paragliding.
the field where we landed, right next to a lavender farm
When I heard that I was going paragliding, I pictured a hang glider, I'm not sure why but that's what popped into my head. I was thinking, do I really want to be tied to a huge kite and run off a cliff....well, maybe, I've done dumber things.
But I was very happy to learn there was no "big kite" involved. I would be flying tandem with a certified instructor and there would be no jumping off a cliff, just a quick run down the hill.
After my brief orientation on the basics of paragliding, me and my instructor were ready to fly over Maui!
Let's Do this!
I was buckled in and told to run....FAST!
And after a few seconds we were soaring high above the beautiful island of Maui.
And since there are no motors, there's no noise. The instructor would steer back and forth letting me soak in the incredible view.
The flight was a 3000ft decent ~ Approximately 12-15 minutes up in the air!
My instructor was also the owner of Proflyght Paragliding, Dexter Clearwater.
I asked Dexter about shooting video with helmet cams etc. (since that's my thang') he mentioned they thought about it but didn't want to compromise the safety in anyway. To hear that he was more interested in safety than making a buck, really impressed me!
Proflyght Paragliding is the oldest and only full-time paragliding school in Hawaii.
I asked Dexter why he moved to Maui, he said, "Because Maui simply is the nicest place on Earth. Maui no ka oi – Maui is the best." I can't argue with that!
This was amazing! Paragliding was to one of the most exciting things I've ever done. I HIGHLY recommend this! As soon as we landed, I wanted to go up again.....it'll have to wait until my next Maui adventure!
Live the adventure!
~jd
Share Article 
Reader Comments (3)
Wow. How does paragliding compare to surfing in Hawaii? Or zip lining?
Surfing and the zipline is completely different, paragliding feels like you are flying...amazing :)
I was in Maui in August and visited the lavender farm you mentioned. We saw the paragliders landing. It must have been an amazing view, as the views just from the ground at the lavender farm were unreal. Will have to try the paragliding on my next trip.