REVIEW: SKYDIVE DUBAI

Last March I actually did it, I jumped (or got pushed) out of an airplane at 13 000ft! When I wrote up my bucket list the previous year, skydiving was one of the very first things I noted. After seeing the Flo-Rida video Wild One I had my mind set on doing my skydive at Skydive Dubai and nowhere else.

The night before I was tossing and tuning in my sleep thinking this must be the dumbest idea I’ve ever had in my life and that I’ve only paid half of my deposit…. so I still have time to chicken out. I had even Googled “Skydive Dubai accident” or “Skydive Dubai death”.  I confirmed there has been no such incident since they opened 4 years ago so don’t worry – if those search terms brought you here then you’ve got your answer right there : ) be sure to book early though.

SkyDiving Dubai is a very modern and professional site. It’s a very busy place and it’s definitely noticeable from the staff’s behaviour. Don’t expect any kind of nurturing or reassurance. Just suck it up and get on with it. There is no room for second guessing that’s for sure.

Here comes the scariest part of the whole thing for me – signing my life away. Who does that willingly?! You have to literally put your signature agreeing that if anything happens to you, they take zero responsibility and I mean ZERO. Even in the act of negligence or accidentally pushing you out of the plane…. oops! I signed it anyway and said my prayer. Remember that every person who’s ever done a skydive has signed this paper so don’t let that be the deal breaker.

After around one hour of waiting, it was my turn to get prepped and there comes Anouk – the woman who I had no choice but to trust with my life. The intro training is pretty brief and the main thing to take away is “legs bent back and chin up!”. With the tandem package comes a video and plenty of photos. They include some pre jump interview footage and your reaction after you land as well. 

Funny enough, when the plane took off I went into complete survival mode. What nerves? Any kind of fear I had before completely went out the window. When the door opened and I was staring 13,000 ft down, I was ready to jump without a doubt. In fact it’s a lot scarier to look up at the plane and parachutes than it is jumping down.

When jumping the first thing that came out of my mouth was oooh myyy gooood – it was such a kick. It literally doesn’t feel like you’re falling because of the 120miles/ph speed. Imagine a cushion of air holding you up which makes it feel more like you’re floating. There is no roller coaster drop kind of feeling, just soak it in because it doesn’t last for very long. I wish I could have remembered it more as it went so fast! The palm was beautifuul. 

Before you know it the parachute opens and you can relax. This was the only time there was a drop feeling and I could see the camera man tumbling down as he hadn’t yet opened his. Only in that moment you realise at which speed you were actually falling. It is still very surreal. Being that high up felt like I was looking down at miniature structures. Dubai is a great place to do it because of the scenery and the weather which generally makes the fall quite pleasant.

The Fun Times Mag explains quite nicely the steps in your actual fall. There’s not really much you can do apart from mental prep! All you need to do on the day is to give them the approval to throw you out of the plane. Haha, remind me again why we do this? I am so happy that I did it but I’m not sure if I’d put myself through that again.

Let loose and enjoy the moment. 

It was a wild one for sure and I’m still alive! Thank you Anouk!

TIPS
– I had seen some people online mentioning that its hard to breathe when falling. Don’t worry it’s not, unless the reason for the difficulty is because of a panic attack. Otherwise it feels exactly like speeding in your car with the window open.
– Make sure you have a light breakfast, the last thing you want is to feel or be sick up in the air.
– Bring shoes! It sounds obvious but when you’re packing for a trip to Dubai, the last thing you think about is sneakers.
– It’s ok to wear contact lenses as you receive a transparent eye mask.

Comment below if you have any questions. The tandem package cost £350 including everything (1,999AED). It’s pretty steep but if you’re going to do it, you may as well do it right. I’d recommend SkyDive Dubai.

DO IT! Peace out x