Hill sites in Taita Taveta county.
Diani Beach is a very scenic flying spot and can only be flown by paramotor. Beach takeoffs should be planned south of Neptune Beach Hotel and flights should go along the beach heading south from there. This is outside of Diani Beach Airport Airspace (please check links below). PPG are ideal when the tide is out and in low winds, usually in the morning or evening hours.
Another option is to head for the coast for Kenya paragliding holidays. Kenyan beach resort such as Diani Reef and Whitesands near Mombasa are popular with western tourists looking for sun, sea and sand. The Kenyan coast offers a whole range of activities such as scuba diving and snorkeling, fishing, sailing, windsurfing and kitesurfing.
But for Paragliders it’s Mombasa’s proximity to hilly areas, such as the Shimba Hills National Park, that make it a great destination for for Kenya paragliding holidays. From there, you’ll be able to see the Indian Ocean, and all the way to Mount Kilimanjaro.
In areas of the coast without suitable launches they use a winching setup, so you are towed behind a vehicle and attached to a winch for take off. Once you have reached 2000 ft high the winch is disconnected and you are free to simply enjoy the view or hone your acro skills.
The Shimba Hills:
- - - -
The Shimba Hills are an approx. 10 km from the coast, parallel chain of hills, on whose eastern flank ideal soaring conditions can be found due to the prevailing winds. With the additional thermals forming in the flat foreland, you can also fly to higher heights, from where you then have a view of the forest-covered mountains of the Shimba Hill National Park on one side and the Indian Ocean on the other.
There is also a beautiful soaring spot in the Shimba Hills an hour drive from Diani Beach.
Ridge soaring on a 100m high ridge, wind off the sea. Best conditions in September-November.
Shimba Hills:
-4.161980687781096, 39.47580017677083
The starting site can be easily reached by a normal car, as there is a restaurant directly next to the meadow start site suitable for training, which is run by a Swiss, from whose terrace even non-flyers will be enchanted by the view. The restaurant was reopened on 01.01.2013 and is called Kimerimeta.
The starting place is Located at 420m ASL, oriented according to ONO, but goes with all eastern winds. The height difference is about 80m. From here you can be carried several kilometers along the edge through the laminar upwind. Pleasure flying is the order of the day here. The toplanding, no problem on the huge starting place, but if it should not go up (very unlikely), there are also possibilities to land directly below, with a small footpath it goes up again.
