What You Need to Know Skydiving For the First Time

So You’re Going Skydiving for the First Time…

Have you already checked out our frequently asked questions about tandem skydiving? Awesome. Now you’re ready for the more interesting stuff! We’re stoked to prepare you for your first time skydiving with some next-level information to help you get ready for the most thrilling adventure of your life.

Skydiving Is a Sport

Sure, you’re getting harnessed to a stone-cold-pro athlete and rolling out the door of a plane into the big, blue void — but this is far from a passive “ride.” While it’s true that the majority of the work on a tandem skydive is done by our first-rate instructors, there remain a few (key!) responsibilities that you’ll take on as a tandem skydiving student: lifting your legs for a safe landing, for instance. The upshot: You should be in fairly good health and physical condition.

What does that look like in practice? Well: We won’t ask you to run a 5k, but we will ask that you possess close to full range of motion in your extremities. If you have any doubts or questions about your physical or medical ability to skydive, please give us a call! There are medical limitations that can be managed if our instructors know about them.

Oh, and a quick word to the wise adventurer, if you’ve recently gone SCUBA diving, you’ll need to wait a few days before you experience the thrill of freefall with us. Give us a call for the details.

What to Wear for a Skydive Definitely Matters

In skydiving, fashion comes first – just not the way it does in regular life, y’know? In the same way that you wouldn’t wear towering heels to play baseball or rock up to a wedding in your sweatpants, you wouldn’t want to show up dressed incorrectly for your jump.

Here’s some solid advice on what to wear skydiving: dress comfortably for the weather on the ground. Wear clothes that move with your body that you don’t mind potentially scuffing with a bit of grass debris or dirt. If it’s a little chilly on the ground, put on a pair of leggings underneath and keep your top half cozy with a base layer and a fleece. Footwear is simple: just wear lace-up trainers.

The Weather Is Going to Be a Factor, Fo’sho

Since the sky is our playground — naturally! — skydiving is a weather-dependent sport. Less-than-lovely weather can prevent us from conducting jump operations. No doubt, a few puffy clouds can provide a jaw-dropping backdrop for your tandem skydive. We love puffies, and Mossel Bay gets its share of stunners! That said: As a responsible, safety-minded skydiving dropzone, we’re required to follow visual flight rules (VFR). If visibility is impeded by too many of our puffy little friends, your skydive may have to wait until they clear. There are other unsafe skydiving conditions that keep us on the ground: rain, high winds, and fog. Trust us, we want to skydive as much as you do, but we refuse to put our instructors (and you!) in danger. We’ll wait patiently with you until it passes.

The Key Requirement for Skydiving Is a Spirit of Adventure

Preparing for skydiving is a mental game for everyone who makes that first jump. Nearly everyone is a bit nervous when they make their first skydive, but the zinging euphoria that’s waiting on the other side of that anxiety makes meeting the challenge totally worth it.

Give us a call or book online today!