Skydiving! Diving in the sky or what? And how and where. Many of us have seen air pilots jump off the planes for safety in their parachutes and some stunts in a Republic Day parade. But did you know you could do that too? Like jumping off a plane for an adrenaline rush. Yes! Totally
Some feel totally petrified with the idea of jumping off at that height, while some just wanna try some khatro ke khiladi stunts. Some cannot even imagine in their dreams that they would want to do that, whereas some will put it on their bucket list.
We’ve surely seen the sky from our airplane windows and seen the beauty all up there, but just imagine jumping into the clouds and coming touch down to earth from up above is really an experience to remember.
Well, you do need to be trained, guided, and save up some money, for it’s not as cheap as you think it can be.
First to head up in an aircraft takes you to 10,000 to 15,000 ft high up in the sky.
It’s a freaking free fall of about 40 to 85 seconds to feel that fall off before you pull the parachutes out.
It’s called an air sport that requires you to literally jump off in the air and not from your house. You should be mentally prepared for this one for sure.
So for beginners, you won’t have to jump off alone, don’t worry, you will definitely be sent with an expert instructor and skydiver. It’s called tandem jumps.
I’m sure this comes with a strict guideline, training to sky behaviours, explanations to risks, and definitely a sign needed on a paper to go with in case of any unforeseen accidents.
Only professionally trained persons are allowed to go and jump off alone.
Obviously, with safety gear, you cannot jump off, whether alone or with a trainer. There are special jumpers that are used to help you do your dive safely with the parachutes.
It has an automatic parachute activation system that opens up on its own after a certain time frame. There is definitely a manual option, too, to open up your parachutes. But the automatic ones help you in case the manual doesn’t work well. That’s like building your trust up there for sure.
The trainers and company you choose to dive with will give you some important safety rules.
They will share some procedures to be completed. They will also train you in how to position your body while doing this sport and how supportive, attentive, and mentally prepared you and your diver need to be. Also, how to handle emergencies.
Double-check gears and definitely follow the aircraft safety protocols. You also need to keep in mind the landing techniques.
Wear the most comfortable clothes, keep your health check, and definitely fit into the weight and age criteria.
More than a physical and technical preparation, you need to keep your mindset strong and keep your calm.
Follow the communications given by your trainer and diver.
There are different kinds of jumps, as we shared, a tandem jump is the one who jump off with a diver, a static jump is done by professionals, Aff where you jump alone but with two more trainers that hold your hand.
Also, you will have to look up which month you want to do this as the sky needs to be in good weather for allowing you to do this sport, hence the months from October and maybe, avoiding too much heat also, till March sounds perfect.
Where can you go sky diving?
Don’t worry, it’s not that you have to go abroad, you have it in India too. Not very expensive, you can shell out around ₹20k to ₹30k for a dive. Spots are lonvala, but that’s in Aambey valley.
It’s in Maharashtra and one of the coolest hill station spots. It’s a premier place to do this sport; only tandems are conducted. You can see some great valley views and the Western Ghats with proper gear and joyful free falls.
It will take an hour to get trained for your jump. There are European and American professionals who will take you through this. So trust that it’s going to be a safe jump. You will have to book in advance with good adventure companies, which are known to you, or official vendors
Next up, you can visit the Dhana airstrip in Madhya Pradesh. Here you can get a 30min to one-hour jump ride for four to ten thousand. From tandems to aff and solo are all available here.
Mysore is yet another airstrip you can dive down from.
Also, don’t miss skydiving at Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah with the best view, Queenstown, New Zealand, Switzerland for the Alpine views, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and Nepal to get the Mount Everest view.
