Is it possible to level-up on the world’s greatest adventure? Why, yes! Yes, it is! With a little bit of added prep, you can make your tandem skydive EVEN.BETTER. We wouldn’t use all caps unless we mean it. Take three minutes to read this brilliantly written article (there’s a Jean Claude Van Damme reference … it has to be good) on how to guarantee an amazing tandem skydiving experience.
5 Tips To Guarantee a Great Tandem Skydiving Experience!
Tandem Skydiving Tip Numero Uno: Book Early
You know how those old foagies used to say “the early bird gets the worm”? Well, turns out it applies to having a great skydiving experience as well! The early bird gets the best skydive! Unless you’re from another country, you may not realize that NorCal gets as hot as H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks-Crazy-Hot, HOT! In our book, the earlier the better as the temps are cooler and the sky is generally less hazy if you choose to jump during the summer months.
Tandem Skydiving Tip Two: Invest In Your Success
You don’t have to tell us how expensive it is to live or vacation in Cali – it’s expensive and we get it! We’re all about saving a buck wherever we can, but a word to the wise: don’t price shop for the cheapest tandem skydive. To run a skydiving center and maintain all that precious life-saving nylon means it ain’t cheap! Have you priced out the tire for an airplane or replaced the main parachute on a tandem system? It will give you grey hair (our owner Aaron is starting to get a couple of grey hairs, but don’t mention it, he’s a little sensitive about it). To run a safe operation means you’ve got to charge a fair price to maintain all this aviation-related equipment and to pay the best skydiving instructors in California (that would be ours, but we’re not biased or anything). When it comes to running a skydiving operation, you want to feel good that no corners are being cut, right? Right. So, don’t try to skimp on this life-changing experience!
Tandem Skydiving Tip #3: Be Fashionably Fly
We know what you’re really thinking: If I get pictures, will I look good in free fall? (Glad we’re not the only ones who think about this). This next tip is going to break it all down from head to toe on how to look your absolute best and be comfortable while being windblown by a 120 mph breeze.
Headgear: If you’ve got long hair (ladies and Harley riders we’re talking to you), you’re going to want to tidy things up a bit. Bring along some hair ties because a ponytail is a girls (or bikers) best friend. We want you to be the star of the show and if your hair is flying into the eyes of your instructor above you, then… you know where this is going, it’s no bueno.
Eyewear: If you wear glasses, you don’t have to fly blind – we have some sweet goggles (actually they are a little boxy and not the most stylish) that get the job done. If you wear contacts or you’ve been blessed with 20/20 vision then we’ve got some streamlined goggles to snugly fit over your eyes allowing your baby blues to still show up in pictures without allowing them to completely dry out from that 120 mph breeze we mentioned! (Yes, that was a run-on sentence, but why compromise a good joke to accommodate good grammar?)
Shirt: To sleeve or not to sleeve, that is the question! On a summer day, it may seem obvious to wear a short-sleeved tee, but consider this: it’s about 25 to 30 degrees cooler at altitude than it is on the ground. So, if it’s the standard 112° summer day, then a tee-shirt will be ideal. If it’s a nippy day in December, then you may want to wear full sleeves as it will be downright chilly at 13,000 feet. If it’s a particularly cold day, then the correct play is to add layers, but stay away from that bulky Raiders Starter jacket that you’re dying to pull out of the closet – it’s way too big and way too out of style – don’t do it!
An added note to the ladies (and this is said with no judgment because we’re all about being who we are), but beware the low cut, plunging neckline, tee. Unless you’re wanting to express yourself to the world, you may end up revealing more than you had intended. We’ll leave that there and move on…
Pants
Even if you’ve got legs like Jean Claude Van Damme, listen up: don’t show them in free fall. Ask any skydiver about this and they’ll confirm it. Loose skin in free fall doesn’t look so good… it flaps and it moves in ways you’ve never seen it before. You’ll be shy to show your video to everyone because you’ll be all self-conscious about it even though it happens to every human being who skydives in shorts. That’s reason number one not to wear shorts. The second reason is actually for safety. The safety part is you may do a butt slide on landing. Butt slide landings are super common, but who’s to say you won’t butt slide in the dirt versus the grass (it could happen)… it’s not so pleasant and may leave a mark. So, long pants it is: jeans, leggings, athleisure, tracksuit bottoms all work just fine. While khakis will also work, that may look kinda weird, so leave those at home too.
Shoes
Those snakeskin boots you just bought do look good (where’d you get those from?), but you’ll not want to wear them on your skydive. Also, those work boots with the steel toes and those funny things on the side of the boots that you tighten your laces on (what do you call those things?) aren’t going to work either. We’ll keep this simple: running shoes. That’s all you need. Basketball shoes work too, but please don’t wear those Jordans… they’re going to get scuffed
and you’ll be so annoyed with yourself… jeesh.
Tandem Skydiving Tip 4: Eat Like a Vegetarian
If you’re a vegetarian, then it’s likely you’re a sensible person. You probably don’t overindulge with a Denny’s Grand Slam with an extra side of bacon on your way to Six Flags and then be surprised that you feel a little sick after going in circles on the kids’ teacup ride. Of course, you don’t do that because being a vegetarian is sensible and adult-like and that’s the way we want our guests to be too! Sensible. You can eat meat, of course, we were just trying to make a point, but please don’t overindulge because you may see your breakfast again and tandem instructors reeaaaaally kind of hate having regurgitated breakfast spewed on their jumpsuit.
Please don’t read this and go too far in the opposite direction by not eating anything at all! Whoa Nelly, this has been the cause of many a messy skydive! With all the adrenaline burn, if there’s nothing in your gut to support that surge then you’re going to feel kind of ill. Also, stay hydrated folks. Dehydration never leads to anything good!
Tandem Skydiving Tip Numero Cinco: Be Chill
RELAX, already! You’re likely going to feel a little edgy because you know, jumping out of a plane. It’s made worse if you arrive hangry, so again, eat something sensible because no one likes to be around a moody two-shoes. It’s not uncommon for guests to become impatient (irate) because waiting around is a pretty common thing when it comes to skydiving due to the weather. You may arrive all jacked up with excitement only to have that energy quelled due to low clouds. If you’ve never skydived before, it’s an emotional day of highs and lows, and patience is key as we have to contend with Mama Nature and her whims. Whenever it’s time to jump, the experience won’t be as great as it could be if you’re uptight from waiting (weather delays happen least often early in the morning… early bird, worm… remember?).
Wooosaaaa….
We hope you’ve enjoyed these insider pro tips to help ensure your first-time skydive is nothing short of stupendous. If you’re now ready to take to the sky, then click that Call To Action Button below which has been designed to look enticing enough for you to want to click on it, and spend your hard-earned money on a non-cheap skydive at Skydive California!
We love what we do and we hope it shows! Come join us for your adventure!
