What is the cost of skydiving?

Question

in FL...

Want some good scenery .. like I wonna do it at a beach!

Answer 1

What are you planning on doing in skydiving?

If you are looking to just make one tandem jump then you are looking at about $200 for the jump and $50 to $100 for video. The prices are different at different dropzones and you will have to find out from them for the actual cost.  There is very little training that you go through for a tandem jump.  The reason is that the tandem master is a high trained and experienced skydiver who is in control during the skydiving and parachute piloting.  Your training to make a tandem jump is brief and covers mostly your body position on exit and what to do when landing the parachute.

If you are going into a student training program each training method has different costs. Static line is usally the cheapest, Instructor Aided Deployment would be next and then Accelerated Free Fall, but that's just my thought I don't know for sure. When I did my student training I went through AFF in August of 2005 and spent about $1500 for the jumps and training.

Buying gear is expensive. New skydivers should by used gear and there are a lot of reasons for this. Plan on spending about $5000 or more for a container, reserve canopy, main canopy, AAD, helmet and altimeter.

Once you have earned your license and have your own gear each jump will cost between $18 and $27 depending on the dropzone and a few other things.

I figure I spent about $10000 in my very first year of jumping so that I could be all the gear and training, jumps, food, travel... etc. I figure that I spend about $5000 a year right now on jumps and other costs related right now.

The cool thing about skydiving is that if it is something that you really love then the cost isn't anything important and you will find a way to make it work. I started skydiving when I was a graduate student living off of a $800 a month stipend.

There are a few websites you need to check out to get good info on skydiving.

http://www.uspa.org is the website of the United States Parachute Association, the governing body for sport parachuting in the United States. There is a list of member dropzones on the website along with all sorts of great info on the sport.

http://www.skydiveradio.com is just fun and a good place to feel like you’re at the drop zone when you can’t physically be there.

http://www.azarsenal.com/ is the website for the top vertical relative work team right now. Arizona Arsenal won the 2007 USA Nationals.

If you’re not sure about skydiving but want to fly you should look at the vertical wind tunnels. http://www.skyventure.com/ is the website for skyventure which operates many tunnels in the United States, Europe and Asia. I love flying in the tunnel. I don’t do it very much, I’d rather spend my money on skydives, but it is a great place to learn, work on my flying skills and just have a lot of fun!

Make sure that you contact the drop zone you want to jump at directly. There are a few scams out there, one of which is 1800skyride. They will take your money and send you to any dropzone they want too but only about three dz’s in the country except skyride tickets. So please, please, please contact the dropzone directly.

What does skydiving feel like? -- Freedom. For 45 to 60 seconds there is nothing but me, the air and my friends. Flying your body in the sky is the greatest feeling I have ever experienced. Flying and landing a parachute is a lot of fun too. I'd say it is kinda like driving a race car and landing an airplane all at once.

For me I find relaxation in free fall. I know no better way to relax then jumping out of plane and back flying solo.

It is very easy to breath in free fall. There is a lot of air up there. Being relaxed and just flying and having fun.

By the way, if you are afraid of heights you have nothing to worry about for skydiving. After about 2000 feet of climb it will all look the same. When you are in free fall you do not have the feeling of falling because there is nothing to tell you how fast you are falling. Think about as driving down the interstate and looking at an overpass two miles away. You’re doing 100mph towards the overpass but it does not seem to be getting any closer until you’re right up on it. Same thing in skydiving, the ground is far enough away that there is no ground rush. It took me about 100 jumps before I could see the difference between 12000 feet, 7000 feet and 3000 feet.

The length of a skydive depends on the type of skydive. a low altitude jump I may have 5 to 20 seconds of free fall. Full altitude I can have 45 to 60 seconds of free fall. If I’m free flying then less free fall because the speeds are higher. If I'm on my belly then more time because the speeds are lower. The canopy flight time depends on how you fly and the type of canopy. It can be anywhere from less than 60 seconds under canopy to 5 or 6 minutes for a normal jump.

My first jump was a tandem and I don't remember being in the door, but I remember the rush and how i felt like i was floating during free fall. My first jump as a student I remember climbing out of the plane and getting the shake from my instructors telling me they are ready. I thought, "What the F am I doing?" then I just took a deep breath and gave the exit count. Letting go of the plane and starting the dive flow. What a rush! It was so much fun to fly my own body!

Now when I jump I think about the next point to turn. I think about flying faster in a track. I watch my friends’ body position and try to help them get in a better position with hand signals or I get coaching from someone else and work on my body position. Under canopy I think about my set up points and how and where to enter the landing pattern and where I want to land. But more than anything I think about how much fun and wonderful this sport is.

The tandem is a great jump. I’d get video too. I made one tandem in June of 2005. If you are looking at skydiving as a one time thing, something to check off your life’s to do list then go right for a tandem. If you know you want to be a skydiver right now then go for a tandem or start student training. Either is great. I started skydiving by going for a tandem, thinking it was a one time thing and loved it so much that I have made it a major part of my life. In August of 2005 I started student training (good info about student training at uspa.org) and got my license. I’ve been jumping as much as I can and have a few hundred jumps. I have earned the USPA Coach Rating and plan to continue to jump for fun and help teach others how to fly and be safe in the air. There is nothing better than flying your body through the sky with your friends. The canopy is a lot of fun to fly too. It only gets better and better. Every weekend seems to be more fun than the one before. You will get into the sport for the rush, but you stay because of the people. I love this sport and I sincerely hope that you’ll become a full time skydiver and I’ll be able to make some jumps with you at a boogie!

Blue Skies! Black Death! And EFS!!!!

Answer 2

I didn't do it in florida, but for my first jump, plus the course and equipment rental, it came  out to $250 all together. Easiest way to find out is to find a place that offers skydiving and ask