Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
I Finally Tried Paragliding in Miraflores and Here's What I Packed
35
items So you booked a tandem paragliding flight off the Costa Verde cliffs in Lima and now you're standing in your hotel room wondering what to actually bring, wear, and do before and after. I spent two weeks in Miraflores and figured all of this out throu...
Sections
7
Paragliding Operators Worth Booking in Miraflores
What to Wear When You're Jumping Off a Cliff
Cameras and Gear That Won't Ruin the Flight
Where to Eat After You Land on the Beach
Things to Do Near the Costa Verde Launch Site
Staying Near the Paragliding Launch Point
Paragliding Operators Worth Booking in Miraflores
I called five different companies before my flight. Some answered in broken WhatsApp voice notes, others had actual booking systems. These are the ones that showed up on time with gear that didn't look like it survived the 90s.
Grab a slot with these guys if you want English-speaking pilots who actually explain what's happening mid-flight. I was terrified until my pilot started narrating the coastline like a documentary host. Book morning slots before the wind picks up.
Aeroxtreme Paragliding Miraflores/ Parapente Motorizado Lima Peru
Use this crew if you're traveling solo and want GoPro footage included in the price. My friend went with a cheaper outfit and paid $30 extra for a shaky video. These guys just hand you the SD card after landing.
Fly Adventure
Perfect for anyone whose Spanish is decent. Their pilots are super chill and the launch site they use at the Parque del Amor end has less foot traffic. I felt way less self-conscious running off a cliff without tourists staring.
Paragliding Costa Verde KunturFly
Try these folks if you want a longer flight. Most operators do 10 minutes, but I asked for extended and got nearly 20 minutes of airtime. Worth every extra sol, especially when they swing you over the surfers at Makaha beach.
PARAGLIDING TOURS
Snag a sunset time slot if they have one open. I went at 5pm in March and the light over the Pacific was unreal. They also let my partner watch from the cliff with binoculars, which she said was almost as fun as flying.
Useful data about Peru: Visas and entry procedures
What to Wear When You're Jumping Off a Cliff
Nobody told me that it gets genuinely cold 300 feet above the ocean, even when it's warm on the ground. I wore shorts and a tank top my first time and spent the whole flight shivering instead of enjoying the view.
Toss this in your daypack even if it's sunny. Once you're airborne the wind cuts right through cotton. Weighs basically nothing and stuffs into its own pocket. I wore mine over a t-shirt and stayed comfortable the entire flight.
Patagonia Men's Houdini® Windbreaker Jacket
Wear these instead of your expensive pair. They grip your face, don't bounce, and if they somehow fly off into the Pacific you're only out 25 bucks. My Ray-Bans stayed safely in the hotel room.
Goodr© Sunglasses - Mach G Operation: Blackout
Keep your footwear flat and snug for the takeoff run. Flip flops are a disaster waiting to happen and hiking boots are overkill. I ran off that cliff in these and my feet felt planted the whole time.
Women's Trail Glove 7 Barefoot Shoes
Wrap this around your neck to block wind chill, then pull it up over your ears if it gets brutal. Way better than a scarf that could tangle in the lines. Packs flat in any pocket.
Buff Original Multifunctional Headwear
Swap your jeans for these before the flight. You need to run at takeoff and move freely in the harness. Jeans bunch up and dig in awkward places. These stretch everywhere and dry fast if you land near the surf.
Stretch Zion Relaxed Pant
Cameras and Gear That Won't Ruin the Flight
I watched a guy nearly drop his phone into the ocean trying to film with one hand while dangling from a harness. Don't be that guy. Strap everything down or leave it with your pilot.
Bring this mounted on a chest harness if your operator allows personal cameras. The wide angle captures the entire coastline without you having to aim. I got footage of the Larcomar mall from above that looked like a drone shot.
GoPro HERO12 Black Action Camera
Clip your camera to the harness strap so it's accessible but not swinging around. I learned this trick from a photographer in Barranco. Keeps your hands free for the oh-crap handles during takeoff.
Capture Camera Clip
Use this if you insist on filming with your phone. The wrist strap saved my iPhone when turbulence hit and my grip loosened. Without it, my phone would be at the bottom of the Costa Verde right now.
Nylon Phone Wrist Strap
Keep a spare in your pocket. My GoPro card filled up mid-flight because I forgot to delete old footage. Nothing worse than watching the best part of the coastline appear and seeing a blinking storage warning.
SanDisk 128GB Extreme microSDXC UHS-I Memory Card
Try this if you want those wild 360-degree rewind shots. One guy at the launch site had this on a selfie stick and his footage looked like a movie trailer. Way more dramatic than standard GoPro angles.
Insta360 X5 Image Quality vs X4 Analysis
Where to Eat After You Land on the Beach
You will be hungry and buzzing with adrenaline after landing. I made the mistake of walking 20 minutes to find food when there were solid spots right along the malecón. Here's where I ended up eating repeatedly.
Walk straight here from the landing zone for ceviche with a cliff-edge ocean view. I ordered the mixed ceviche platter and a pisco sour and just sat there processing the fact that I'd been flying ten minutes ago. Solid reward meal.
Mangos Restaurante
Grab a chicharrón sandwich if you want something fast and filling. There's a location near Parque Kennedy that's a ten minute walk from the coast. The roast pork one with salsa criolla brought me back three times during my trip.
La Lucha Sanguchería
Sit down here if you want a proper meal without the fine dining price tag. Their lomo saltado is the best version I had in all of Lima. Perfect for a post-flight lunch where you actually want a table and a napkin.
TEAM — Tanta Chicago
Swing by for a cortado and alfajores if you just need a quick hit of sugar and caffeine. Small place, locals outnumber tourists, and the pastries taste homemade because they are. I went here every morning before my flights.
Café de Lima
Snag a pain au chocolat from here if you're craving something European after all the Peruvian food. Tiny bakery near Parque Kennedy, run by a French-Peruvian couple. Their croissants rivaled ones I had in actual Paris.
Beso Frances Jockey Plaza
Things to Do Near the Costa Verde Launch Site
Most people paraglide and leave. I stuck around Miraflores for three days and found enough to fill a week. The neighborhood around the cliffs has way more going on than the guidebooks let on.
Walk here right before your flight to calm your nerves. There's a giant sculpture of two people kissing and mosaic walls with love poems. Sounds cheesy, but watching the ocean from this spot actually settled my stomach before takeoff.
Love Park
Wander through here after landing. It's literally built into the cliff face and has views of the exact stretch of coast you just flew over. Weird to look at a place from ground level after you've seen it from 400 feet up.
Larcomar
Visit this ancient pyramid that's randomly sitting in the middle of the neighborhood. I walked past it three times before realizing it was a legit pre-Inca ruin. The nighttime tours are atmospheric and way less crowded than daytime.
Huaca Pucllana Site Museum
Bring running shoes and jog this coastal path the morning after your flight. It stretches for miles along the cliff edge, and you'll recognize landmarks from the air. I ran it at sunrise and had it almost to myself.
Playa Madero Miramar (Malecon)
Take a short taxi ride to this neighboring district and cross this old wooden bridge at dusk. The whole Barranco area has street art, live music, and a totally different vibe from polished Miraflores. Great for an evening wind-down.
Bridge of Sighs
Staying Near the Paragliding Launch Point
Location matters more than you'd think. I booked a hotel 30 minutes away my first night and spent half my morning in traffic instead of watching pilots set up. Stay close to the cliffs and you can literally walk to your flight.
Splurge on this if your budget allows. It sits right on the malecón and you can watch paragliders from your room window the night before your flight. I stood on my balcony sipping pisco and watching pilots land on the beach below.
JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE
Keep costs down with this no-frills spot two blocks from Parque Kennedy. Clean rooms, decent breakfast, and a five minute walk to the cliff launch area. I paid around $55 a night and slept perfectly fine.
ibis Lima Larco Miraflores
Pick this mid-range option if you want a rooftop pool to recover in after your flight. The staff helped me book my paragliding directly and even called the operator to confirm. That kind of help matters when you don't speak much Spanish.
Casa Andina Premium Miraflores
Stay here if you're a solo traveler looking to meet other people doing adventure stuff. The common areas are social without being obnoxious, and I met two other people heading to the same launch site the next morning. We split a taxi.
Selina Posada Miraflores
Try this converted mansion if you want character over chain-hotel blandness. Creaky wooden floors, a courtyard with actual plants, and a location quiet enough to sleep but close enough to walk to the coast in under ten minutes.
Hotel Antigua Miraflores
Booking and Safety Tips I Learned the Hard Way
Nobody tells you the practical stuff until you're already standing on a cliff in a harness. I pieced this together from three flights, two sketchy situations, and a lot of asking other travelers what they wished they'd known.
Get a policy that explicitly covers adventure sports before you fly. I checked my regular travel insurance and paragliding was excluded in the fine print. World Nomads let me add it for about $12 extra. Cheap peace of mind.
Compare Travel Insurance Coverage
Use WhatsApp instead of email to confirm your booking the day before. Every operator I dealt with in Lima responds faster on WhatsApp. I emailed one company three times with no reply, then got an answer on WhatsApp in four minutes.
About WhatsApp Business
Check this app the morning of your flight to see real-time wind data at the Costa Verde. My second flight got delayed two hours because of gusts. If I'd checked Windy beforehand, I would have rescheduled to the calmer afternoon window.
Windy.app – Live wind map & weather forecast
Download the Miraflores area map before you leave your hotel. Cell service near the cliffs can be spotty and you don't want to wander around looking for the launch point with no signal. I saved the pin for the exact takeoff spot.
Download areas & navigate offline in Google Maps
Toss a pack of these in your bag even if you never get carsick. The thermal spiraling can hit different when you're dangling from a parachute over the ocean. I took one 30 minutes before my third flight and felt zero nausea compared to flight one.
Advanced Herbals® Non-Drowsy