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Author Archives: skydive

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Salmon Dance Skydive

June 8, 2016
Category: News, Pro Skydivers

Salmon Dance Skydive from 15,000ft!

Interested in doing your own Salmon Dance skydive? Check out our tandem skydive prices here.

What about the weather?

May 30, 2016
Category: Tandem Skydiving

What if the weather is bad?

Skydiving is a weather dependent activity, so the conditions need to be suitable for skydiving in order for us to complete your jump. Times when we can’t jump due to weather include:

  • When the ground winds are above 25 knots
  • When the cloud base (a blanket of cloud) is below 5000ft
  • Thunder storms
  • Heavy rain

Outside of these conditions you will most likely be able to skydive! It’s not un-common to go through some cloud whilst in free fall.

So what will we do if it’s really bad?

Generally we will know a day or two in advance if the weather is going to be bad and not suitable for jumping. If this is the case, then we would contact you as soon as possible to let you know that we’re not convinced the weather is going to be okay for jumping and we would re-schedule your skydive for another day.

If you have to reschedule due to weather then there is no expiry date on your skydive.

Should I stay or should I go?

The weather is a funny beast. It can be raining and thunder one minute, then sunshine the next. Unless there is a huge weather front rolling through Jurien Bay then normally the bad weather will turn good for at least a period of time during the day, at which point we will go for your skydive.

If the weather looks like it could be okay but we are unsure we will most likely still contact you and let you know, giving you the choice of whether you come to Jurien Bay or not. If you do come and the weather is on and off then you may experience some delays. This is quite common.

Jurien Bay weather facts

In summer Jurien Bay is known for it’s strong sea breezes. It’s for this reason that we schedule all skydives during October-March as early as possible, so that we can complete all jumps before 12-1pm (the time the sea breeze normally comes in). Once the winds reach +25 knots we cease jumping for the day due to safety reasons. All our instructors are very experienced at jumping in high wind conditions and because we’re on the beach there is very little turbulence, which makes things smoother under the parachute.

One of the great things about our northern location is the weather during winter (and autumn and spring), it’s beautiful! It’s more often sunny in Jurien Bay during winter whilst at the same time there are thunder storms in Perth. The conditions during winter are absolutely perfect for skydiving because there is often no wind and the cooler air temperatures make the parachutes fly nicer.

Do we jump in winter?

May 27, 2016
Category: Tandem Skydiving

Yes!

In fact, winter is the best time of the year to skydive in Jurien Bay. 

Due to being located north of Perth, more often than not we have beautiful sunny weather during winter whilst at the same time Perth is getting hammered by storms. It’s one of the reasons we love Jurien Bay, we can jump all year round.

But isn’t it cold?

It’s certainly colder than during summer, however just wear your most bad-ass hoody (so you look like a boss in your videos) and you will be fine. It’s only cold for a few seconds when the door opens at your jump altitude but as soon as you are in free fall the temperature will be the last thing on your mind, trust us!

Perfect skydiving conditions

Between March and October the winds are a lot lighter due to no sea breeze and this means we can jump all day long, making it perfect skydiving conditions. During winter we very rarely have weather holds due to strong winds like we sometimes experience during summer. Lighter winds and colder air temperatures also means that the parachutes fly nicer and the landings are more fun.

Escape winter and experience Jurien Bay

If you’re getting sick of Perth’s winter storms then it’s time for a road trip to Jurien Bay.

We look forward to seeing you.

 

Why we don’t do Groupon

May 24, 2016
Category: News

What we’re doing is not lawn bowls.

In Western Australia, we’re the only skydive operation not selling skydives through services such as Groupon, Scoopon, Adrenalin and Red Balloon.

How can they do it and us not? By cutting corners.

Think about it… the bargain basement price these online discount sites promote means zero profit, and often a loss for the operator, meaning they are forced to give you a no frills and lower quality service. Other ways some skydive operations can afford to sell such cheap skydives is by flying customers to lower altitudes (to reduce fuel consumption) or asking for additional fees upon your arrival (for example at many skydive operations excluding Skydive Jurien Bay you’re forced to pay additional fees if you’re above 90kg in body weight.

In keeping with our company values and philosophy of providing the very best and safest tandem skydive experience in the world, we carry out only ethical and sustainable business practices that allow us to be able to acquire the most talented instructors and staff, use the most technically advanced and modern equipment, meticulously maintain our fleet of multi-million dollar fleet of aircraft and invest in each staff members professional development.

If quality, safety, transparency and professionalism are values that you do not care about then maybe Skydive Jurien Bay is not a good fit for your needs. However, if you care about more than just price, then Skydive Jurien Bay is the only place you’ll want to visit for your skydive experience!

“The Bitterness of Poor Quality remains Long after the Sweetness of Low Price is Forgotten.”

Skydive Jurien Bay’s Chief Instructor, Pete Lonnon, is Western Australia’s most experienced operator, having maintained an immaculate safety record spanning over a 30+ year career in skydiving.

Skydive Jurien Bay is a premium skydiving operation and we refuse to lower the quality and safety of our services and your experience for your skydive.

So that’s why we do not offer skydiving ‘discount deals’ on any of those Groupon/Scoopon style websites.

We recommend visiting our competitors locations and websites to understand and compare the difference between our product and theirs.

awards

“Tasting Flight” doco

January 29, 2016
Category: Learn to Skydive

Tasting Flight – a learn to skydive doco

Follow seven friends as they travel to Jurien Bay, Western Australia from different locations around the world to start & continue their journey into the world of Skydiving. Share & be inspired by their experience and we dare you to get your skydiving ticket and learn to skydive solo. AFF courses running March – October every year.

Tasting Flight – a learning to skydive documentary from Skydive Jurien Bay on Vimeo.

Transcript

Greg: My name’s Greg. I actually live up in Singapore, and I’m down here in Jurien Bay to have a couple of fun jumps skydiving. I came down with a couple of mates.It’s been a while since my last skydive, about three months. But I had a few mates up in Singapore. I finally convinced them that it was a good idea to throw themselves out of a plane and here we are.

Martin: My name’s Martin. I flew into Jurien Bay from Singapore where I’m a farmer, of all things. I went up there with a big group of guys and got into this because of a good friend of mine named Greg who’s a big jumper here. And, yeah, it’s pretty awesome to get down here and to try this.

Johan: I had some friends that kind of did it before Greg, Dave, all you skydived before, and just couldn’t stop talking about it. So I thought I’d see for myself more than anything.

Stefan: A lot of snowboarding, a lot of white boarding, race cars, and ride motorbikes. So I guess I’ve always been after a little bit of a buzz. But I think skydiving is probably the thing that worried the parents the most when I started, but in a lot of ways it’s a hell of a lot safer than anything else I do.

Martin: It was always one of the things, especially when you’re a kid, you just think it’s almost a little bit too frightening, a little bit too extreme. I mean, I do a lot of extreme things, but skydiving has always been a little bit out of the box. But once Greg started getting into it and he started telling me a little bit more about what skydiving was and all the measures in place. You know, if you do it the right way it can actually be safe. I just thought, so I’ll give it a try.

The first day during the ack, it was a lot of information. I found it really, really hard to remember. And then just getting everything right and going through the drills, I guess, putting up with just having to go through all of that at the early stages. That was probably the hardest part. Actually jumping out of the plane wasn’t that hard, to begin with. It felt almost quite natural.

Stefan: To be honest, I found because, again, I was afraid of heights, I actually thought I’d be really nervous about being in a plane, but from that height you don’t really have that perspective of sort of where you are in the sky. And it’s really when you pitch your canopy that you go, “Wow, I am really high up.” And you kinda go, “All right, but I just came from 15,000 feet and now I’m at sort of four, so it’s not really high at the end of the day.” But like coming in under the canopy I think that’s probably my favorite part, and that’s probably the bit I most enjoy about the actual skydive because, you know, particularly here in Jurien, you’ve got the beautiful beach out to the coast. You’ve just got so much to look at. It’s a really, really nice thing to be under the canopy.

Coming into it, I was probably worried about gear malfunctions and the actual equipment you’re going to be using and what if my parachute fails. The training that you receive focuses a lot on building confidence in that gear. It teaches you how it operates, how it works, and by knowing more about the gear you can become a lot more comfortable with the fact that you do have a lot of things built into the gear.

Johan: You were talking about trust earlier. I think that’s the one that a lot of people have trouble with. You don’t just trust your instructor, you trust the person packing your chute. You trust the person flying the plane. And it’s not like do I trust you to go to the shop and buy me a chocolate bar, it’s do I trust you with everything.

Will: Words can’t explain. I’ve been going up in the air really. It’s lived up to everything I thought it would be so far.

Martin: Just jumping out the airplane is just, its far beyond what I think anyone would expect. I don’t think anybody jumps out expecting what it’s gonna be like. I think its, words can’t describe it put it that way.

Greg: When people ask me why do I skydive. I said, “Well until you’ve done one, you won’t understand why you skydive. Once you’ve been up there, once you’ve smelled what it smells like at 15,000 feet in the air, you really have a different appreciation for what you’re doing everyday.

Will: It was incredible. I can’t describe it because you really have to do it to understand, but all the experiences and everything rushing up towards you and everything happening at that one moment time slows down a bit.

Martin: You learn a lot of life lessons, I reckon, after you start skydiving. It’s a leap of faith and it’s a lot of trust in others and your gear and yourself. That’s been massively translated, like I run my own business as well and me being able to translate at that level of commitment to something’s that scary and unknown has just paid off a lot.

Greg: I mean, it’s pretty funny because I think this is the third group of people that I’ve brought back here to Jurien to learn to skydive. I mean, the reason I keep coming back here is because I tell them it’s the best place to learn. The experience that I get here, even not learning to skydive, but just from being able to jump on a daily basis with the people that work here. You pick up so much knowledge from that. You now, the people here are really, really welcoming when you come in.

Martin: Can I swear? It’s unbelievable. So unbelievable. We came down and all I’ve wanted to do was get back up my first jump.

Greg: I mean, that’s the only place I recommend people to come and jump now because if they’re coming I’m going to be coming with them. So it’s definitely gonna be the case.

Martin: Everything that we’ve managed to do here at Jurien Bay has just amazing. The instructors here, by a landslide, are the best. You feel like you’re part of the family as opposed to just a customer that comes here to jump. You’re looked after.

Johan: Even if you jump alone, it’s still a huge sport, put it that way. Everyone’s got their different roles, different positions. It’s not just a sport, it’s far more, like, a sensation when you jump out of a plane. There’s nothing else, nothing really matters, nothing, nothing back home, no stresses. You’re just there for that.

Becoming a solo skydiver


Category: Learn to Skydive

how to become a solo skydiver

Here we take 5 with Skydive Jurien Bay owner, Christine Sparrow, to discuss how someone can become a solo skydiver and learn to skydive in Perth.

Interviewer: Now, for someone that hasn’t skydived before, what does it take to learn to skydive?

Christine: Well, we have an Accelerated Freefall course (AFF course) which normally takes between 3 and 5 days to do 10 jumps over the course of that time. It starts off with a Tandem Skydive where we really tend to concentrate on learning to fly your parachute safely and accurately and that’s like a dress rehearsal for your first solo skydive as well. But even in your first solo skydive isn’t really solo in that you have two instructors that hold onto you in free fall all the time and they’re making sure that you stay stable and height aware and that your parachute is deployed at the correct altitude. And then you’re flying your own parachute from that point. The instructors have a radio that they can talk to the student on to help direct them down under the parachute.

Before you come to do the solo skydive course we have quite an extensive online training course as well so it’s all nice and stuck into your brain about all the things you’ve got to do and once you’ve done that first solo skydive. After that first jump we have the rest of the course and the whole AFF course is ten jumps. Early in the course we do a couple jumps with two instructors holding onto you and we slowly start to release you in free fall ’til you’re actually free falling solo.

You go down to one instructor after a couple of jumps and after about six solo jumps with instructors you’re allowed to do jumps completely solo without an instructor with you at all. And you go through until stage 9 which is actually your graduation jump and it’s a lower altitude jump where you just jump out of the plane at a lower altitude (5000 feet) and deploy your parachute and land and there’s lots of celebrations after that. And that really is the start of a big learning curve because we really never stop learning in skydiving. There’s so many disciplines and so many new things to be doing all the time.

We prefer to do the solo skydive course intensively so that you can do three or four jumps a day when you come and learn to skydive with us. So again, it’s all fresh in your mind you haven’t got to retrain and you get through the stages much easier and feel a lot more confident as well. Doing the AFF course as quickly as possible is the best way to do it.. so 3 or 4 jumps a day is perfect.

Interviewer: what sort of people learn to skydive?

For us here lots of FIFO workers like to do our course because we do it very quickly which fits in with their rosters. That said, you get all walks of life learning to skydive ranging from doctors to cleaners and everything in between – it really is a diverse mix of people and that’s one of the reasons the sport is so great.

But really anyone can learn to skydive. We are really focusing on girls this year (2016) and last year we had a massive percentage of girls coming through because it does tend to be a bit male-dominated and we don’t want it to be a football club here so we really focus on giving lots of TLC and lots of encouragement to girls. Most people tend to be 20s or 30s but we teach people right through 40s, 50s. One of our female students recently wrote an article about her experience learning to skydive – click here to read it.

Ready to get your skydive ticket?

Go to our “Learn to skydive” page to learn more and book your solo skydive course. You won’t regret it!

Why’s it so good?

January 28, 2016
Category: Learn to Skydive, Tandem Skydiving

What’s so good about skydiving?

Here we take 5 with Skydive Jurien Bay co-owner, Christine Sparrow to ask “what is the best thing about skydiving?”

Christine: Well, the best thing about skydiving is what it gives you in your life afterwards, and it just gives you this confidence that you can do anything. Especially learning to skydive, it’s the people you meet because skydivers are a big family. And we’re all united in our love for one thing, and that’s flying and freedom.

The people you meet, you’ll make friends that are just friends for life, that you couldn’t even imagine before you started skydiving. And it just comes through in everything else you do in life, in that it’s just this confidence and this feeling of anything is possible…Sometimes when we have our students phone in to skydive they tell us, they’re dreaming about it and they go back to work and they can’t stop thinking about anything else. It really is a quite an addictive activity.

If you want to travel, it’s so awesome for travel because everywhere you go from then on, you just go to the drop zone, and you don’t even have to get accommodation. There’s no more staying at backpackers. You can always stay at the drop zone, and people will take you in, and take you home. You really do get to see the best, sort of, sightseeing. We call it flight seeing, because then you see that new country or that new place from the air, and you meet the locals and they tell you what to do and what not to do.

It just really does change your life in so many ways, and I see it, especially with our students coming through, all the time. All of a sudden, their life’s never the same again. A couple of years later they can totally change their careers, and the next thing they’re working as a tunnel instructor in Poland, and they’re an international skydiving coach. Their whole life changes and it really is so satisfying for us to see that happen to people, and see these amazing opportunities open up for them, which they would never have had if they never learnt to sky dive.

How long does it take?

January 27, 2016
Category: Tandem Skydiving

how long does it take to skydive from 14000 feet?

Short answer: 60 seconds. Have you ever sat in front of a microwave for 60 seconds? Seems like a lifetime right?

When you tandem skydive you’ll be falling at speeds of around 220km/h! It’s fast and adrenalin fuelled.

But first, no matter what height you skydive from you’ll have to sit in a plane as it climbs to your jump altitude. Depending on where you skydive it can be a very scenic flight (like in Jurien Bay) and is kind of like the calm before the storm. You’ll go through a wave of emotions as you get closer and closer to your jump altitude. If you’re jumping from 14000 feet then this plane ride will last around 20 minutes.

Now it’s time to jump. When you first exit the aircraft your airspeed quickly builds up until you reach terminal velocity. Terminal velocity can be defined as “the constant speed that a freely falling object eventually reaches when the resistance of the medium through which it is falling prevents further acceleration.”

Once falling at terminal velocity you will be covering a distance of approximately 1000 feet every 6.5 seconds.

Your tandem instructor will deploy the parachute at 5000 feet, meaning on a 14000 feet tandem skydive you’ll have around 60 seconds of adrenalin fuelled freefall. It’s only a minute but it will feel like a lifetime.

After the freefall you have around 5 minutes under the parachute where you can take your goggles off, take in the amazing views and even get to control the parachute.

At Skydive Jurien Bay you can choose to skydive from 8,000ft (20 seconds freefall), 10,000ft (40 seconds freefall) or 14,000ft (We recommend this. It’s 60 seconds freefall).

For prices and more info click here. Or Book online now!

Weight limit for skydiving

January 20, 2016
Category: Tandem Skydiving

The weight limit for skydiving in Australia

The tandem skydive weight limit in Australia varies depending on which skydive operation you choose. At Skydive Jurien Bay we have set a maximum weight for a tandem skydiving customer to not be greater than 115kg. At other skydive operations throughout Western Australia (and Australia) maximum skydive weight restrictions range from 100kg to 115kg.

Why your weight is important

Weight restrictions for skydiving exist for one reason, safety. The weight and size of a customer can have an impact on various aspects of the tandem skydive including:

  • How the harness and equipment fits (if you’re very short and very heavy the harness will not be overly comfortable)
  • The ability to move inside the aircraft when the plane is climbing to jump altitude (everyone needs to be able to move around in a confined space)
  • How the parachute opens after being deployed (Our instructors are conditioned to take a few beatings each day but if someone is above 115kg the parachute opens too hard and can injure the instructor)
  • The landing (each customer needs to be able to lift their own legs to ensure a soft landing)

If you’re a fit and agile 115kg person then there is no worries at all (all of the aforementioned points do not apply, generally speaking). It becomes challenging when someone is very heavy, unfit and physically unable move easily or lift their legs when landing.

Whilst doing a tandem skydive requires the customer to do very little training and preparation they are still required to assist at various times during their skydive. An example of this is when coming into land. The tandem customer is required to lift their legs up at a 90 degree angle (for a few seconds) to ensure a smooth landing. If someone is so heavy and unfit that they are unable to do this then there is a possibility that they and the instructor will have a rough landing.

Another reason we need to know your weight before you skydive is because aircraft are very sensitive to weight and we need to accurately understand how much each person weighs to ensure we keep the total weight of everyone on the aircraft below the aircraft’s maximum take off weight limit. It’s the same as when you travel on a commercial airline where each passenger is only allowed to bring a specified maximum weight of baggage and also why they charge such a premium for excess baggage. Any situations where an aircraft is overloaded (too much weight) can cause excess stress on it when taking off or landing.

Do heavier people get charged more?

Skydive Jurien Bay is Perth’s only skydive operation that does NOT charge an additional amount for customers that weigh above 90kg. A number of Perth’s skydive operations (excluding Skydive Jurien Bay) will charge a customer up to $75 extra should they weigh above 90kg. If you’re skydiving anywhere other than at Skydive Jurien Bay make sure you read the fine print closely otherwise you may be hit with some unwelcome surprises on the day of your skydive that will leave a hole in your wallet.

Is there a minimum weight?

There is no minimum weight limit.

Summary

Now you understand what weight restrictions exist for tandem skydiving and why. Whilst skydiving is a fun and exciting adventure activity it still is an extreme sport so safety always remains our number one priority. It’s for this reason that Skydive Jurien Bay has a flawless safety record.

If you’re over the weight limit but really want to go tandem skydiving then why not use it as your motivation to get down to your target weight below 115kg. If you need a Personal Trainer to help you get there, we recommend Milla at Nes Fitness.

We hope to see you soon. You can view prices or book online directly on our website.

Cost of skydiving

January 15, 2016
Category: Tandem Skydiving

How much does tandem skydiving cost?

So you’re seriously considering to go skydiving and now is the time you’re asking “so how much will this all cost?” Well prices vary depending on where you skydive, how high you skydive from, and what photo or video options you decide to get.

Where you skydive

In Australia, the cost of your tandem skydive can vary from $270 (Australian Dollars) up to $550. There are skydive operations that offer very cheap skydives and there are places that offer more premium skydives. Some of the key differences between sky diving locations include the following

  • The views – are you jumping above ocean views or a paddock in the middle of nowhere?
  • The landing area – are you landing on a nice beach or a dusty hot property?
  • The level of service – Skydive venues differ greatly when it comes to the facilities, staff, and overall levels of customer service.
  • What else is there to do? Can you make a road trip of it or are there nice beaches where you can relax and enjoy time with your friends and family?

So it comes down to understanding the differences between each skydive location and you deciding which location will provide better value for money. It may be that the cheapest option has a lot of average or negative online reviews or is in a location that is lets say, less than desirable. You may decide that whilst one location is more expensive you perceive the value of that choice to be greater than alternatives.

How high you skydive from

The height you choose to tandem skydive from is a key factor that influences the cost of your skydive. The lower the altitude you jump from the cheaper the skydive. This is because the aircraft will consume more fuel the higher it goes so naturally prices increase the higher the plane goes. In Australia you can tandem skydive from as low as 6,000ft and as high as 15,000ft. Each skydive location offer different heights and prices. At Skydive Jurien Bay we offer 8,000ft, 10,000ft and 14,000ft. Throughout the year we have promotions where we go to 15,000ft. The higher you skydive from the longer your freefall time is, and the freefall is most peoples favourite part so we recommend choosing the highest option.

Photo & video options

Choosing to get photos and or video of your skydive will increase the cost of your skydive adventure. Typically prices for photos or video are around $120 and at Skydive Jurien Bay you can get both (photos and fully edited video) for $150. Now this may seem quite expensive however if you only skydive once in your life it’s definitely worth paying that bit extra so you can re-live it over and over again, not to mention share your experience with your friends to show how brave you are.

Your tandem skydive instructor will capture your skydive on GoPro cameras which will be mounted on purpose build skydiving wrist mounts. It is against the Australian Parachute Federation rules for any skydive operation to allow the customer to take their own camera and the main reason for this is safety. Often you will tandem skydive above a populated area, so if a customer was to drop their camera and it landed on a car, house, person it could cause serious damage or worse, death. Also, your instructor does it for a living, so he knows how to get the best shots and will hold the camera steady for you, ensuring you get a fantastic product. You’re going to be very overwhelmed by the entire experience so the chances of you taking a good video are very slim. Just relax and enjoy the moment and let your instructor do all the work.

Summary

Budget $400-$600 for your tandem skydive experience. Like any product or service, you get what you pay for. If you go the cheapest option don’t expect too much. Let’s face it guys, this isn’t lawn bowls or golf so it’s not the time to be skimping on a few dollars. Do your research, read customer reviews and choose a skydive operation that you’re confident will give you the experience of a life time. If you only do it once, you may as well go with the best.

For details on Skydive Jurien Bay prices click here.

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