Skydive DeLand

If you are going to jump out of a working airplane, I recommend Skydive Deland. My guide, Will, was cool, calm and collected. The location has a bar/​restaurant so you can chill with your peeps before and after your jump. The price was steep for a few minutes of death defying drama, but if you buy packages the price goes down.
Tips: wear a headband so your hair doesn’t fly all over the place.

Ok so I gotta review the 2010 jump since that’s when this was taken. They have upgraded since but the first thing you did was go inside the gift shop and sign your life away! B) Next you sit down just feet away in the middle of the gift shop in some crappy chairs in front of a tiny tv that has the 2 dials on it for channel and volume (old school 70 – 80’s)!! Lol… like it wasn’t scary enough already but this did not build any confidence whatsoever lol haha! Then the 1970’s video comes up about safety and it’s only natural to look around for hidden cameras because this has to be a prank on a show haha (I’m only laughing from fear)! Ok ok… so I waited about an hour because I didn’t have a reserved spot and during that time I probably went to the bathroom like 5 times just to make sure I was empty as possible lol (I’m reliving this all now again)! It was scary, I have a true fear of heights and hate planes in general lol. Ohhh boy! So I finally get walked to the back with my instructor (a really outgoing Brazilian guy) and he went over the details of it all, put me in my harness and asked if I had any questions. Honestly I just told him no spinning me around (we are strapped together) because I cant even ride the Tea Cup ride at the Fair with my nieces/​nephews w/​o getting sick! Lol… he assured me he wouldn’t and honestly I felt as comfortable as I could! Then we waited and the little drug plane touches down lol as we are instructed to run towards it with another group. We were first to get on so YES we were last to jump lol CRAP!!! We slowly climbed to 28,000 ft and it seemed like it took forever but I actually found my peaceful place! Long story short, if you get motion sickness of any kind, take non drowsy Dramamine! LOL I didn’t take any! We had to make a tight turn around after dropping the others off so the pilot could drop us off in the same place (automatic sea sickness feeling)! I thought about backing out but he asked if I was ok and then I just gave him my best poker face while nodding yes lol! I’m glad I did because we got to the edge of the door I had bigger things to worry about and before I could have my next thought, we were speeding towards earth lol. I hyperventilated for maybe 20secs lol as we dropped from the sky but quickly caught my breath as he helped me calm down! All I could feel from that point on was pure joy and utter excitement! I was flying… safely lol! One of the best days of my life and completely changed my point of view forever! UHHHH mazing! I gave it 4 stars even after everything I went through because it added to the experience and made it all that much more exciting! They have since made those improvements needed! You can have it videoed and pictures taken which I wish I did but the memory will always be there and believe me, it’s enough! If anything there’s a restaurant attached there so you can grab a beer and watch people fall from the sky! It’s been 6 yrs since my very first jump and they have updated a few things but the core of it all remains intact! The people involved have a real deep passion for it all and even though I can’t guarantee you won’t get sick or end up coming back with the plane, it’s worth driving out there just to see for yourself! Safety is number 1 and it’s actually a lot safer then many activities we do on a day to day basis (like driving your car lol) YOLO…I’m jealous because I wish it was my first time! ENJOY

Great facility for skydiving and watching skydivers perform all kind of activities. There is a ‘tikki’ type restaurant close by. Landing area is pretty large and it allows skydivers with different experience level to do safe landings. Gear rental and store is available. Great place to be.

We had a nice experience. I felt safe, there was safety checks and straps were great to ensure a safe landing. However, I was really upset that my reservation was for 5 made like 2 – 3 months in advance and our group was separated. I guess I wouldn’t have minded so much if it didn’t take almost another hour out of our day for the second half of our group to take their turn. The guy I was tandem to was also in a bad mood because of a tooth ache. I felt bad for him but he made the rest of the experience seem down and in entertaining.
Also, if you want pictures and video that’s an additional like 95 $ on top of the 175 $ jump. A little pricey but not worth nearly a 100 bucks for someone to video you with a go pro.

Amazing how quick you are up in the air! No nonsense and waiting hours to jump like other places! Very efficient and friendly! And the jump was Amazing!

I live out of town and my boyfriend lives over an hour away in Florida. I wanted to take him skydiving for his birthday while I was in town since neither of us had ever been. So we checked the weather that morning. It’s Florida so yes there were a few rain clouds on the radar. But overall, looked clear. So we drive over an hour to get there. We arrive a little early to check in. When we first walk in there are 2 random kids jumping up and down on the counter. It takes a moment for someone to greet us, even though they saw us standing there. Finally we get greeted, they sit us down to watch the «safety» video aka just an explanation of why we can’t sue. And we couldn’t even hear the video because of the kids screaming. We fill out our waivers after the video. She then tells us that it’s about to rain so we will have to wait for it to pass. Ok no big deal. While waiting we notice the nastiness and unprofessional behavior of the people that work within the complex. Cussing, very bad hygiene for people who are serving food and dealing with customer service. After over an hour of waiting we hear the lady in the back ask the front desk lady «are there a lot of bookings or just like 1?» She tells her we are the only ones. So she tells her to just go ahead and call it since we are the only ones. We are then told they won’t be jumping today. Really??? Couldn’t have called us ahead of time and tell us there’s a chance of cancellation due to weather before we drove all the way out there. And then just because we were the only ones it gets canceled? I feel like had it been a plane full of people they would’ve tried a little harder. We will not be coming back.

AMAZING! Well organized.
Everyone is friendly!
Did the early jump (0800) & was done by 0930.
Pine was my instructor and Luke was my photographer. Everything came out great.
Best experience for my first time.
14,000 is pretty decent height!
Great view, got to see a bit of Daytona Beach… You can see the buildings on the horizon.

I visited here just over a year ago as an unlicensed sport jumper looking to knock out a few coached jumps when I was working towards my A license. I called a few times ahead of time to be sure they could accommodate what I was looking for, and they were nothing but polite on the phone. Everyone I met there was very helpful and nice, which was a plus. Going to a new dz, especially as a new jumper, can be really intimidating and I was never made to feel uncomfortable or out of place here. If I remember correctly, my coach was an older fellow named Gary who was AWESOME and so SO helpful with helping me achieve my goals while I was there. I have yet to return since getting licensed, unfortunately, but this dz is definitely on my list of places to make it back to!

I don’t know if you can have more fun skydiving than anywhere else, and skydiving is pretty damn fun!
From start to finish these guys are incredibly professional and have a profound respect for safety nowadays. The facilities are great and exactly what you’d want for a skydiving joint in Florida.
I went when they were doing a promotion so I got a great deal on my first jump.
If you can handle being strapped to someone else for around 30 minutes than the tandem jump is a lot of fun, especially if you get to do a back flip out of the back of the SkyVan.
I wish I lived in the area so I could get my rating from them.

I went to Deland for my first skydiving experience, I can tell that place was loved by a lot of people since there are people camping there for repeated jumps! There were also many Europeans there going solo.
I got the video/​photo package as well, so I had a photographer following me around, I’m SO GLAD I GOT THE VIDEO FOR MY FIRST SKYDIVING EXPERIENCE, YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY GET THE VIDEO/​PHOTO PACKAGE FOR YOUR FIRST TIME! They’re all professionally done and capture the very first of your skydiving expressions/​movements!
The plane ride was very smooth, me and my tandem coach were the last ones to jump out followed by the photographer. My coach also taught me some parachuting maneuvers. I was never nervous at once, it was one of the BEST EXPERIENCES I’ve ever had, I wanted to go back again as soon as I landed! I highly recommend people to try skydiving at least once their life time.
Deland Skydive is definitely a good local place for some skydiving fun. I’d go back to get my skydiving license if I had time, hopefully soon!

This was my first skydiving experience and Skydive Deland did a superb job. We were told that this would be an all day event however we were in the air 30 minutes after walking in the door.
My instructor, Bob Crossman, was awesome, he was funny and kept me distracted, while reassuring me of how great a decision I was making. I, like another reviewer, didn’t know we were airborne until my videographer pointed it out. Bob went over what I needed to do and made me feel very secure with the fact that I was indeed going to jump out of a plane at 14,000 feet. After the freefall Bob swooped around with me in the parachute and really made my experience even better.
When the jump was over, the bar next door was great. I had the best beer of my life served by a very friendly bartender. She was efficient and timely. They have a giant tv with which to watch your newly minted dvd of your jump.
All of the staff were very friendly, helpful and knowledgable. The next time I’m in Florida, I will be jumping with them again.

There’s a reason this is one of the top rated skydiving places IN THE WORLD!!! THEY ARE AMAZING! At first I was afraid, not terrified, then I met Pine. He was my tandum diving buddy. He put me right at ease and his accent just made me trust him… not sure why haha. He had me practice the manuvers we were going to be doing and made sure I was ok and calm and happy. He wanted the best jump for me and did what it took for that to happen. The plane was amazing. Not bumpy or rattely, I didn’t even know we had lift off til I looked out the window and saw that we were in the air… that’s how smooth it was. Pine kept reassuring me that we were gonna have a blast and if I kept my posture right (arched back) that we would do some flips!!! yes please!!! bring it on! I also had a camera guy there to take video and pics, (DO IT, YOU WON“T REGRET IT) and he was awesome too, kept getting me hyped and excited, not scared. My boyfriend John went with me too, I forget the dudes name that was his instructor, but John had a great time too.
Anywho, time for the jumping… Pine was the man, He told me to let him do everything… not the typical response from a man, but ok! So, I did and he did everything great! He led me to the ledge of the plane, held me close and we fell out… doing a couple of flips… yaaahhhooooo!!!
Breath taking and so much fun! All the manuvers we practiced went perfectly, he gave me an over view of the scenery and you can even see the beach… beautiful!!! Landing was ridiculously smooth and I can’t wait to do it again. SO MUCH FUN!!! Service was amazing, Pine was amazing and the memories are amazing! I love my pics and video and highly recommend that you purchase those. AMAZING!!!

I came here on the recommendation of a friend who skydives regularly and said this was the place to go in the Orlando area. It was my first ever (tandem) jump and it was a great experience. My instructor, Bob, was fun and professional and his calmness and confidence made me feel totally safe. He also gave me cool Red Sox gloves to wear during the jump because I’m from Boston. Go Sox! My photographer/​videographer, Lindsay, was super fun and cheerful and made a great video that captured all of the important moments.
There were all kinds of interesting people jumping from the same plane – one guy was testing prototype equipment, there was a Czech team working on formations, and there were a few others – who knows who they were!
All in all, a great experience! I’m excited to go again!

My friends surprised me with a tandem skydive for my birthday and this place was AMAZING! The entire staff was friendly and very reassuring and comforting. They have a great little restaurant/​bar that you can have a quick bite or drink while you wait. My tandem instructor was Bob and he was the greatest. If you have ever even thought of going on a tandem, DO IT! And do it here!

If you’re looking for instruction on how to skydive, come to the Skydiving Training Capital of the World. Seriously, while sitting on the deck of The Perfect Spot Restaurant and Bar, you will hear numerous foreign languages and accents being spoken all around you. I’ve also heard that many of our presidents have sent their kids here when they wanted to try out or participate in the sport. Skydive DeLand has the instructors, credentials and equipment (including hangars, video rooms and aircraft mock-​ups) to offer everything from tandem first jumps to year-​round championship coaching. Skydive DeLand also claims to be the first to develop the tandem skydiving technique.