What Do You Need To Bring?

We supply jump-suits, helmets, goggles, and gloves (in winter). You supply yourself with a sense of adventure, casual clothes and sneakers or trainers. You are also able to take a small camera with you for taking photos once the parachute is open.

How Much Does It Cost?

The cost of your skydive varies depending on how high you would like to go, and what type of skydive you would like to do. Video and photos are also available for an extra charge. We have regular specials and group discounts are available. See the tandem skydive page here.

Are There Age Limits?

Yes, the minimum age for a tandem skydive is 14 years of age and solo skydiving is 16 years of age. Any person wishing to partake in skydiving who is under the age of 18 years needs their parent or guardians permision.

What Are The Physical Requirements?

You need to be a generally healthy human being with an average fitness level.

Can My Family And Friends Watch?

The more the merier!! We have covered and grassed viewing areas from which your family and friends can watch the day's action safely. You will take off from the airstrip and land back in our grassed landing area, your family can even see you exit the aircraft 10,000ft up!
Please note that children must be supervised at all times. Pets are not permitted on the dropzone.

How Much Time Should I Allow For My Skydive?

You should allow for half a day. It generally does not take this long, but sometimes we get put on hold by air traffic control or weather.

Do I Need To Book?

It is preferable that you book so we can expect you. If you wake up in the morning and decide that today is the day that you want to skydive, by all means give us a phone call and we will make a reservation for you that day. Click here to see our contact details.

Why Dont I Get To Jump At The Time I Am Booked In?

The time you are booked in is your arrival time. When you arrive you need to complete some paperwork and then you are assigned to a load. We do our best to keep the day running smoothly but sometimes we are held up due to unforeseen circumstances. These include weather holds, ther are certain wind and cloud conditions that we are unable to skydive in. Air traffic control also have a say in when and where we can fly, sometimes we can be put on hold for up to 15 minutes, if this happens a couple of times in one day we can run behind. Safety is of utmost importance to us and if we have to wait on the ground for half an hour to ensure your safety, then we will.

Can I Get A Video Or Photos Of My Skydive?

Yes, you can get both. There are a number of options available. check out our photos and dvds page

Can One Camera Person Film My Skydive, And A Friend's Skydive At The Same Time?

We can include your friends in the ground footage, and the interview taken in the aircraft. when you exit the aircraft you will be leaving about 30 seconds apart from one another and although our camera flyers are good, they can't cover that much sky and produce a video that meets our standards.

Can My Friends And I All Go Up In The Same Plane?

That all depends on how many friends you have doing their skydive, and which aircraft we are using on the day of the booking. Our Cesna can take two tandems with dedicated video and photos. If you have a larger group, then it is not a problem , we will group you as you wish and you can watch each other take off and land safely in our grassed landing area.

How Do I Become A Licenced Skydiver?

You can learn to skydive with Vertical Descent using the Accelerated Free Fall (AFF) method. The AFF courses consist of nine stages. Each needs to be completed successfully before moving on to the next stage. At the end of the course you are licensed to skydive on your own or with an instructor. To become a fully licensed skydiver you will need to meet the requirements for the International A license. The Requirement are that you successfully complete the AFF Course, know how to pack a parachute for your own use and have had 10 unassisted landings within 25m of a nominated target. (This takes 17-25 skydives including your AFF) Once you have your'e A license it is internationally recognized and now have your passport to freedom and fun at dropzones around the world.

Is Skydiving Safe?

At Vertical Descent safety always comes first, fun comes in a close second. Our instructors are PASA accredited and highly experienced, our equipment is maintained to higher than recomende stanards and all crew abide by our sringent safety pro-forma.
Skydiving is an extreme sport, and like any extreme sport there is a certain amount of risk involved. All incidents, as small as they may seem are reported to the Parchute Associaton South Africa. Last years statstics stated that 1 in 10,000 skydives resulted in accident or injury. Compared with the statistics for registered cars in reported accidents, the most dangerous part of your day is going to be driving to the dropzone!

Is It Normal To Be Nervous?

Yes! it is absolutelly normal to be nervous. Jumping out of a perfectly good airplane is not something that normal people do everyday. You are about to freefall towards the earth in excess of 220 kph from over 3.5 kilometers up, if your adrenaline isn't pumping, then I think we had better check for a pulse! You will arrive nervous and even a little scared, but by the time you leave you will be feeling ten foot tall and bulletproof!

What Happens If I Am Afraid Of Heights?

Believe it or not , a good percentage of skydivers and pilots are afraid of heights. from 3.5km up you will not feel vertigo like you would climbing a ladder or standing on top of a building.

What Happens If I Get Up There And I Chicken Out?

This does not happen very often. Our instructors are trained to deal with these situations. Most people who skydive have thought about it, and it is something they wanted to do. When it is time to exit the aircraft it all happens so quickly you won't even have time to think about it. Remember, the only free part of skydiving is the freefall.

What Does It Feel Like?

It is the closest a human can get to flying and no words could do it justice! When you enter freefall you are accelerated by gravity so you will not experience the stomach lurches associated with roller coasters. Freefall is something that has to be experienced to believe it, it is definitely the fith element.

Can I Talk In Freefall?

You can talk in freefall, but nobody will hear you. The sound you hear in the freefall is called a white noise, imagine sticking your head out the window of a car travlling at 230 kph.

What Happens If I Get Motion Sickness?

It is very rare that anyone is sick in freefall. If you are prone to motion sickness eat a light breakfast or lunch about an hour before your booking time. If you do start feeling queasy under canopy, let the instructor know, they have sick bags at the ready for those rare occasions!

How Long Will I Be In Freefall For?

The amount of time you will spend in freefall will be approximately 30-35 seconds from about 10,00ft.

How Fast Will I Be Going In Freefall?

The terminal velocity (maximum fall rate) of a single person in freefall is approximatelly 120 mph or 230 kph. a tandem will be faster than this but is slowed down to regular terminal velocity by the release of a small stabilising parachute called a drogue.

Does It Hurt When The Parachute Is Opened?

You wil feel a slight jolt as the canopy opens, but as long as you put all your important parts out of the way when you tandem instructor is gearing up you will be fine.

How Long Will I Be Under The Parachute?

It does not matter what altitude you decide to skydive from, all of the tandem skydives have the same canopy ride. your tandem instructor will deploy your parachute at approximatelly 5,000ft. This will give you about 5minutes as you soak up the spectacular veiws.

What Happens If My Parachute Doesn't Work?

All skydiving rigs(the backpack thing and all its bits!) are equiped with two parachutes by law. The main parachute is the one that gets deployed all the time. in the event that the main parachute is malfunctioning, the reserve parachute will be activated. In the event that no main parachute is deployed, all of our rigs are equipped with an automatic activation device (AAD) that will deploy the reserve parachute if you are still in freefall at a certain height.

How Hard Is The Landing?

As a tandem student you will be insructed to lift your legs up in front of you so your instructor can touch the ground first. If you don't land on your feet, you will glide in on your bottom and the landing impact is just like stepping off of a chair or a step

What Is "A FUN JUMPER"?

A "fun jumper" is just another term for a licensed skydiver, that is, someone who has completed teir solo (AFF) course. Once you have completed your AFF course and recieved your "A" license, you can go for a skydive by yourself or with other fun jumpers whenever you like!

How Are You Regulated?

Our sport is regulated by the Parachut Association South Africa(PASA) who work under the the Cival Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). PASA has specific operational regulations and a code of ethics that we as members of the PASA agree to abide by. The PASA conducts regular safety audits of all skydiving operations in South Africa.

Why Jump From A Good Airplane?

Freefall is one of the biggest adrenaline rushes you could experience and once your parachute opens your whole experience does a 180 degree turn, it is so quiet and peacefull as you fly along under your parachute. It is something that you have to try to understand and it can truly be a life changing experience.

Still got some questions? Please feel free to contact us and someone will be able to answer your question for you!