Explore WEST Sumatra

Previously, this aerospace sport was called mountain diving. This is because paragliding takes a hill or mountain as the location for the drop. In 1993, the name mountain diving was replaced with paragliding along with the establishment of the first paragliding parent organization in Indonesia called the Indonesian Paragliding Association.
In 1996 paragliding finally officially became part of the parent Indonesian aerospace sports organization, the Indonesian Aero Sports Federation (IASF). Paragliding is officially one of the sports that is parallel to the Chantelle sport. With their recognition of them, Paragliding will be easier to develop in the future.

Although paragliding is not as popular as badminton, the achievements of Indonesian paragliding athletes are quite proud. Two paragliding athletes from East Java, Jafro Megawanto and Rika Wijayanti succeeded in making Indonesia proud in the international arena. On April 18, 2019, both of them took the podium at the Paragliding Accuracy World Cup championship which was held in Alanya, Turkey. The previous year, Indonesia won two gold medals at the Asian Games where Indonesia was the host of this sport.

Paragliding is not only about hobbies or achievements, lately, but this has also greatly influenced the dynamics of this sport when paragliding has become one of the most popular aerospace adventure tours. With the increasing number of flying locations and the development of communities as well as increasing nature tourism, paragliding is getting a positive impact from the attention to this sport.

Paragliding aerospace tourism started at the end of 1993 when the tandem parachute was introduced, but the development process was very slow until it developed rapidly starting in 2010. Currently, paragliding has become one of the mainstays of Indonesian adventure tourism, so many stakeholders are involved in developing it.

Gado-gado hill is located in the Mato Aie village, South Padang district approximately 7 km from city center Padang, the capital of West Sumatra. This place is now a magnet for tourists who want to see the beauty of the city of Padang from above. From the top, visitors will see the buildings, the Indian Ocean and the famous Air Manis beach with the legend of Malin Kundang combined with the trees that adorn the hill. The gust of wind at the top of this hill is ideal as a starting point for paragliding and hang-gliding. This is because the gado-gado hill area blows up winds that hit the slopes (dynamic lift) and the wind rises due to thermal (thermal lift). Both are used as a source of lift that causes the parachute flying into space.

There are two access roads to it. The first access is from the intersection of Senior High School 6 Padang, 3 km away. The second access is through the new access route to Air Manis beach, visitors turn left and follow the road until they arrive at the location. To get to the top, visitors must continue on foot for about 10 to 15 minutes with the contours of the road uphill. Meanwhile, vehicles can be parked right at the entrance to Gado-Gado hill. Both of these accesses are best reached by two-wheeled vehicles to facilitate travel.
If you are interested in trying paragliding, please come directly to Gado-Gado hill. There are places to rent parachutes, harnesses, helmets, and other supporting equipment. You will be guided by a licensed pilot who is assisted by a crew who will take you to fly over the city of Padang. The duration of flying is about 10-15 minutes depending on the wind speed.

For the landing site, usually the pilot who takes us to fly directs the parachute to the two landing sites. The first is at the landing point which is still part of the gado-gado hill and the second is at Air Manis beach. The landing point is marked with a bright-colored circle.

Apart from being a paragliding spot, the top of the Gado-Gado hill is often visited by young people, especially in the afternoon. They are here to enjoy the beauty of the sunset in the city of Padang at an altitude with friends accompanied by delicious cuisine. Of course, don’t forget to take selfies, which are a millennial trend. Gado – gado hill has become a source of income for local traders after young people promoted this place on their social media.