SkySurf Paragliding

Bald Hill above Stanwell Park is one of the best-known paragliding launches in the country — a grassy headland with the Illawarra escarpment behind and the Pacific directly below, close enough to Sydney for a half-day trip and reliable enough to have supported a flying school for years. SkySurf's chief instructor, Rafael Esquillaro, has flown since 2003 and instructed since 2010, logging more than 2,000 tandem flights and ranking third on Australia's national competition ladder in 2021. Tandem flights here run around 20 minutes, riding the coastal lift off the escarpment with landings on the beach or headland depending on wind direction. The school also flies from Hill 60 at Port Kembla and sites around Canberra and Lake George, and runs licence courses, skills clinics and cross-country coaching alongside the tandem program. It's a SAFA-approved training facility with full insurance, and the operator also distributes paraglider brands for the region — a sign of how embedded it is in the local flying community rather than a seasonal tourist operation.