Whether you're interested in a tandem flight or learning to hang glide yourself, you will truly be glad you went with John. He's an absolutely fantastic and safe pilot with a proven track record. I'm amazed at how accurately he can assess the weather and flight conditions (at one point while passing another glider John said "were going to feel the turbulence from their wing tips in 3..2..1.. *bump*" Pretty awesome!). Aside from his great flying abilities, he's just an awesome, hilarious, and down to earth character who loves sharing his passion for flight with others. I'm grateful to be able to train with John as I know I'm setting myself up for a safe journey into this sport and having tons of fun along the way. read more

There is no other way to describe except INCREDIBLE! This is something I have always wanted to do. The BF purchased the trip for my Bday present. Paris Williams is a true professional and truly enjoys what he does. I was looking at the pictures and in every single one Paris has a huge smile on his face. The expressions on my face.... well there were a lot of smiles but a few moments of concern. We launched south of Fort Funston and landed at Ocean Beach for 30 minutes of the most incredible gliding! It was cold, a little foggy but I didn't care. Everyone must do this! Paris films or videos the entire experience which is included with the price. So much fun! I only wish it would have never ended. read more

We booked with Paris for hang gliding and it was the awesomeness. From what I gathered talking to Paris, he's the owner/ operator of California Hang Gliding. We had a group of 4, so he had one of his buddies take two of us, so at least two of us can be in the air at the same time. Apparently the hang gliding community is pretty small and everyone knows each other, so having a second hang glider take a client or two is common practice. They must just have some sort of fee sharing type agreement going on. I flew with Paris while my wife flew with Gordon from Pacific Tandem Gliders. According to Paris, Gordon is a bit more conservative when flying so you might not get tight and fast turns like Paris will do. Also, Paris has a cool rig he attached his digital camera to so you get great pictures of you and the background. Gordon, while a swell guy and everything, didn't have such a camera rig attached to his hang glider so my wife's pictures were done with the "extend the arm" trick, which naturally means the pictures aren't that great. Besides, Gordon was only able to take pictures when the flight was calm, while Paris had a button near his hand on the hang glider's handle so he was able to take pictures during take off, at turns, etc. So there's nothing wrong per se with Gordon and Pacific Tandem Gliders, it's just that Paris and California Hang Gliding offers a better package. If you come with just two people and Paris offers you the option of flying with another instructor, I would recommend you decline and both fly with Paris. If you have a bigger group, then you can decide if you're willing to wait around or if you'd sacrifice picture quality. Five stars because Paris comes highly recommended and if I were to do this again, I'd find him to take me again. read more

Perfect experience--this was my first time hang gliding, and it prompted me to write my first yelp review. Paris was awesome, the views were awesome, and the flight was unbelievable. My girlfriend bought me the gift certificate that got me the flight. Since I'm not a big risk-taker, I always get a little nervous before I do things like sky diving/hang gliding, and the experience is immeasurably better when I arrive and the person with my life in their hands is cool and comfortable and having a good time too. That's how it was. There are two locations. We flew at the Mt. Tamalpais location, and it was beautiful. Steep mountains, tall pine trees, and a nice sandy beach to land on. My flight was a mix of peaceful gliding and adrenalin producing dive bombs where my feet nicked the tree tops. It was perfect. read more

my first experience hang gliding and it was AMAZING! Paris is the only guy that does tandem hang gliding in Northern California, so this is an experience that is quite unique is you aren't trained to do this solo. the only thing about hang gliding is that it's completely dependent upon the weather, which changes minute by minute. i had bought this for my boyfriend as a birthday gift, but were unable to fly that day, so that was a bummer. this was our 4th and final attempt (i was pretty frustrated and just wanted a refund if we didn't get to fly) and thank goodness we were able to!!! We launched off Mt Tam with clear and sunny skies, perfect wind. soared over hawks and crows and beautiful redwood trees, chased a red-tailed hawk in circles, dove toward the ground till i thought my legs were gonna hit the shrubs... and then, he asked if i liked roller coasters. "hell yeah!!" so he did a straight drop over the water! then we soared sideways and almost upside down! slid onto the sand like i stole second base, for our landing... whooo weee! AND we got it all on video! great experience and a must try for those who love adventure and aren't afraid of heights. you do have to sign your life away, but Paris is VERY experienced. just don't get your hopes too high if you plan for a specific date because of the weather factor. Indian summer seems like the best time to do it since the fog isn't so bad during this time. read more

Summary: California Hang-Gliding is only one of two certified outfits to take you on a commercial tandem flight in the Bay Area. They provide an absolutely amazing experience for thrill seekers and those interested to find out more about hang gliding. No experience necessary. The operator, Paris Williams, is a four-time US Champ and he also runs his business with the same dedication as his passion for flight. He was courteous and on-time, and kept in touch via cel phone before our flight, constantly advising us of the weather conditions. He's super nice, athletic, and really loves the sport. Paris has over 5000 commercial tandem flights and a 100.0% injury free record. We flew at the Mt. Tamalpais site on a last minute location change due to weather conditions but we couldn't be happier. The view was spectacular from the mountain top and the 10 minute flight that culminated in a ocean-front landing on the beach was just too picture-perfect to miss. We met Paris at the top of the mountain where he outfitted us with the proper gear and gave us some basic ground lessons. His equipment is superb and he has designed his tandem setup to maximize your comfort and safety. In fact, my gf who typically is very afraid of heights, felt totally comfortable by the time Paris was ready to take her up for her flight due to his meticulous preparation. Paris also let me fly the glider after some in-flight tutoring ... wow, what a feeling. One unique feature about going with Paris is that he has rigged a digital camera onto his hang glider so he can capture pictures or even video of your flight while you're in the air. It's totally awesome. If you're interested in a Bay Area thrill, or just want to experience flying like a bird, you can't go wrong with California Hang Gliding. read more

Great experience! My partner researched and booked this outing so can't comment on comparative pricing, etc but I find it hard to imagine a better or smoother day out. We were on call starting in the morning and like most days in SF, there was a ton of fog so we didn't get the green light until around 10:30 am. Drove over to Mount Tamalpais Park and to the top of the hill. Always gorgeous! Paris met us at the top, gave us a quick briefing, did the paperwork, and I went first. A little crazy to run OFF a steep cliff on purpose, but other than that it was very smooth, fun, and not a scary feeling like bungee jumping or skydiving. Paris is super-experienced and has done competitive hanggliding in something like every state and 20 countries, so felt we were in very good hands. And the view cannot be beat! Photos of the trip were also included in the package, and they came out great, sent via cd and arrived ridiculously quick. Great day and great experience - highly recommend! read more

John Simpson, the owner, was amazing! I wanted to take my boyfriend hang gliding for his birthday as he is an avid kite boarder, but wanted to fly high in the air. He has talked about trying this for months. John responded to me promptly answering all my questions via email and suggested a chat on the phone for more clarification. He fit us in sooner than I thought was possible. He called me the morning of our flight to let me know of the weather conditions as hang gliding is very weather dependent. He said we were good to go! He made sure we felt safe and had a good time, he is a real goofball and made the experience memorable and 100% worth it.....although I think my boyfriend may be addicted now!!! We both recommend hang gliding if you're thinking of trying it and John will show you the ropes and a great time!!!! read more

My girl bought me a tandem flight with Paris for my B-day about 1+ year ago. Truly the best gift I've ever received. Ever since that day I've dreamed about getting up in the air on a regular basis. Paris was super professional, made everything super smooth. We flew for almost 45 minutes!. Top notch guy. read more

Let me start by saying I am not a customer but somewhat of a competitor. I say somewhat because nobody is as good as me when it comes to flying hang gliders. With that said, John is a very good hang glider pilot. I would trust him fly my grandmother any time. He has an excellent safety record and if he says the wind is too strong to fly, trust me, you don't want to fly that day. There is no better way to experience flight than on a hang glider. I recommend that you call John and take a hang gliding flight with him as soon as you can. You will be happy you did. read more

Let me start by saying that I did not get to fly with Paris and I cannot comment about the actual flight experience. What I can comment about is the customer service and their ridiculous cancellation/refund policy, or lack thereof. I had initially purchased a flight for my father, but due to some unexpected problems, I was forced to cancel it. I was vaguely aware of their policy, but as it had been only a few days since I ordered the flight, and two weeks before the reservation, I did not expect there to be any problems with getting a refund. Unfortunately Paris was completely adamant that due to his no-refund policy, my only options were to re-schedule or transfer the flight. Since re-scheduling was not an option for me and I do not know anyone to transfer the flight to, his only solution was for me to put the lesson for sale on craigslist. His exact comment was that "putting it on craigslist seems to have worked well for other people." Apparently I am not the only one who fell into his trap. He even went as far as to explain to me that forcing people to re-sell their reservations for him was his only way to make money in the hang gliding business. So just to be clear. Paris charged me money, he did no work, and now I have to do work to get the money back. I understand that the hang-gliding business is tough, but I do not believe that tricking customers into doing marketing work is the solution. So if you plan on booking a flight with California Hang Gliders, make sure you are fully aware of their strict no-cancellation / no-refund policy. If worst comes to worst and you do have to completely cancel, your only option will be to basically work for Paris by trying to sell one of his flights on craigslist or through another method. Also note that the policy listed on the website is slightly yet crucially different from the one listed on the confirmation email. The policy listed in the confirmation email, is contradictory. At first it says "There are no refunds, though flights may be transferred (contact us for details)." Then it adds "No-Shows and flights canceled with less than 48 hours notice will be forfeited with no refund." Which implies that a refund will be given if the flight is canceled 48 hours prior to the appointment. read more

For my 47th birthday, my family surprised me with a tandem hang gliding session with Paris Williams. We flew on Sat 8/1/09, about 2pm, from Mt. Tamalpias to Stinson Beach. My sister told me how prompt and professional Paris was in his responses and communication arranging my surprise. We all had to coordinate coming in from different parts of CA. Paris worked out all the details with ease. The flight was incredible! Paris is so calm and relaxed that all I could think of was how easy he made the flight and how amazing it felt to soar through the air, over the trees and the ocean!!! Paris explained clearly each step in the process: launch, flight & landing. Never did I feel scared or uneasy about the experience. I was exhilarated! It was my extreme pleasure to join Paris on the hang glider. Flying my first time was extra special as Paris' passion for soaring like a bird shined through in every action he took. I highly recommend Paris Williams as an instructor/flight companion; and I would do this with him again! read more

Let me preface this by saying I am not a dare devil nor a thrill seeker and I avoid Rollar Coasters altogether. Last year, I made the mistake of telling a friend how cool hang gliding looks when I watch from the cliffs of Ft. Funston where I walk the dog. I turn 50 and the well-meaning friend gets me a gift-certificate for a hang gliding tandem ride with this outfit. Fantastic! I exclaimed to my friend, while my internal voice said, shit! I've got to do this thing?? This weekend I gathered all of my courage and did this thing and it was FANTASTIC. Paris Williams is an extremely experienced flyer. He trusts himself and I thoroughly trusted him and because of that, I had a blast. Paris is calm and mellow and playful and made me feel so comfortable and at ease that I actually and quite literally ran off that Mt. Tam cliff with him (yes, I was clutching tightly on to him) and soared like a bird. Go have some fun! read more

I went hang-gliding with John absolutely certain I'd post a 5-star review, but unfortunately I can't say that. John is a nice, friendly guy and an excellent and safe hang-glider, and the California Coast is beautiful. I got super lucky because the weather was great, so we flew much longer. John was also very nice in lending me two windbreakers. These things are so awesome that I was tempted to give more stars simply because hang-gliding is awe-striking. However, unlike some other reviewers (who mention specific planning), I had planned to meet with John around 4 PM, and he did not show up until 4:40ish, so the tandem did not start until after 5. Some of his hang-gliding buddies helped reach him to get him to land. Upon landing, he explained that he got carried away because the weather was so beautiful. Later, he asked if it was worth the wait (after the tandem flight). Obviously, a wait is nothing compared to the beauty of flying, but the wait itself was unnecessary and unprofessional. I was frustrated especially because there was no heads-up at all for the wait - in fact, John had mentioned that he'd start setting up the tandem glider for us, which it wasn't set up, and recommended taking an Uber to get to the coast faster, which I did pay for and was the reason I even waited that long (didn't want to waste the money I already spent). It was only because there were other hang-gliders there who had seen John that day that I even knew he was still around. I know sometimes owners respond to reviews like this saying "you could have told me" or offering a re-do of some sort, but I really didn't feel comfortable annoying someone who was going to be stuck in the air with me for 30 min. John is a very safe pilot, so no worries there, but I didn't and still don't know him well enough to be sure he wouldn't have made things awkward or uncomfortable if I complained. So unfortunately, that's two stars off. I did not take off extra stars for this, but this did make me uncomfortable: After we landed, John's friend had made hang-gliding necklaces/bracelets, and John insisted that I should buy one. I did not want to be rude to John's friend (and she did not pressure me at all), but the pressuring was unprofessional, and hang-gliding is already pretty expensive. read more

Hang gliding made my wife's birthday an amazing and memorable experience. As first-timers, we were a bit nervous, but John was a total pro and he also kept our anxiety level down with his great sense of humor. After showing us the glider, explaining how it works, going through some basic training and testing us, he took us each up for a tandem flight over the beach and it was incredible. The view was breathtaking, the rush of adrenaline was exciting and the overall experience was just plain fun. Don't be nervous; just do it. We both enjoyed this way more than skydiving and we'll definitely go back for more. If you decide to try it, you really can't do better than flying with John. He was incredibly accommodating, informative, considerate and a genuine pleasure to hang out with. He even sang "happy birthday" to my wife while they glided over the sand and waves. Highly recommended. read more

We had an unbelievable experience with California Hang Gliding and John this past weekend. We'd been trying to get my 18 year old daughter up for several months now and the weather was just never right. John was great at communicating with us and setting realistic expectations so that we were never disappointed. Finally the day came when the wind was just right and we met John at Fort Funston on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon. He and his staff were super friendly and helpful and made us all feel very comfortable. My daughter had an amazing experience and we were able to take lots of pictures and videos and were kept informed the entire time about what was going on and where was the best spot to watch from. We would definitely recommend this. I might even have to try it myself it looked like so much fun. read more

Amazing experience. Although most of the reviews mention Paris, the pilot that took us up was named John, and he was fantastic. He's a very easy going guy that's committed to finding you a good time to fly, and making sure you have fun. Fun guy with a good sense of humor. II had never even seen a hang-glider in person before trying it myself, but it's very easy to learn, and you don't have to do much besides just hold on for the tandem flights. Before flying John went over the basics verbally, and then when all suited up he repeated the most important parts (very straightforward). After checking me over himself, he even had another experienced hang-glider pilot double check that both him and I were safely strapped in. This was our third time coming up to try and fly, but it seems like because the weather is so unpredictable that this is a common occurrence. The first time we came up it was way too windy, and the second time it was way too calm. John tries hard to let you know before making the trip whether the weather looks good or not, but when its' a toss up we made the trip anyways, and it just happened to not work out. Third try was a charm though, and I'm so glad I did it. Crazy awesome to be able to fly up with the birds, right along the ocean. Go do it, you won't regret it. read more

John was amazing with my 9 year old! Yes, 9 year old! Something she wanted to do and it was spontaneous! She felt safe and had a blast! Now she wants to take lessons. You can tell this is something John loves to do. I couldn't have put my daughter with a better pilot! If it's something in your life you wanted to do John is your man!! read more

Super fun and great experience, but wow, what a rip off. My flight was maybe 5 minutes long and the weather was perfect for the voyage so I'm not sure why it was so short. Very disappointing, although I'd still go hang gliding in a heartbeat! Perhaps with Paris again as he's extremely knowledgeable, but hoping that the flight is much longer next time. read more

John (new owner of California Hang Gliding) was awesome!!! He was professional, thorough, and fun to work with. Bought this as a present for my partner who had never hang glided before but wanted the experience of flying! And wow, what a great experience it was. We had to wait for the wind to pick up a bit but that was, of course, of no fault of John's. He made sure to show us all that was available at Fort Funston while we waited to keep us occupied and entertained. Off they went for their tandem flight for approximately 20-30 minutes and he gave us a beautiful disc of the flight. It was AMAZING! If I thought I had the guts to jump off the cliff I'd do it myself! Would recommend John to everyone who wants to experience an amazing tandem flight with incredibly beautiful scenery. I believe he even has packages for individual instruction to become a pilot too if that is what you're looking for. Totally awesome fun!!! read more