Skydiving is a once-in-a-lifetime experience (at least to most of us) and an activity that many have on their bucket list. So what better place to jump out of a plane than beautiful Cape Town? With Table Mountain in the backdrop, you’ll get the most amazing video footage of you flying towards the earth and hopefully landing safely with full of adrenaline and joy.

Although this is not a kid-friendly activity per se, you can still enjoy the excitement and fun as a family and share a unique and wonderful memory. If you’re a really cool parent, you might give consent to children under the age of 18.

Skydive Cape Town is located about 40 minutes out of town when you move towards the north and pass Melkbosstrand. On the Westcoast Road (R27), you turn right and arrive at your final destination (little word play here and there) for your Tandem Skydive. Obviously, they won’t throw you out of the plane all by yourself. You will be strapped to an experienced Tandem Master who will also give you a quick 15 minute introduction of the basics of Skydiving on the ground.

After the ground briefing, you will enjoy a spectacular 20 minute aircraft ride to 9,000ft above ground level, experiencing the finest views of the West Coast, Cape Town, Robben Island and Table Mountain. When you’ve reached the required altitude, the doors of the aircraft will be opened and you have to hang your feet out of the plane while your Tandem Master is still right behind you in the plane. Probably, that’s the most scary moment during the entire time as you don’t know when you actually jump out at have a free fall at 200km/ph.

Holding your breath is not an option, because the free fall lasts about 30 seconds. So rather scream your lungs out to release the energy and enjoy every single moment of it. At about 5000ft, your Tandem Master will open the parachute and you cruise down towards the earth with a slow, scenic parachute ride that lasts about 5 minutes. If you’re lucky, you may be able to steer the parachute yourself.

If you’d like to capture this experience, your Tandem Master can film your skydive by means of cameras attached to his wrist.

Bookings are absolutely essential as the jump is very much dependant on the weather and won’t take place on rainy or heavily windy days. So even if you have a booking for a specific day, make sure to call them before you drive out in order to avoid disappointment. Little spoiler: Klaus and I weren’t able to jump on our preferred day (which was Klaus’ Birthday) because of the overcast weather. So we had to re-schedule multiple times until the weather was finally right. It’s recommended to arrive at and just before your booking time to avoid long waiting times. In case you do arrive early, you can grab a few refreshments and snacks from their Hard Dock Cafe on site.

Requirements

• General good health (age, illness or operations may exclude participation).
• Maximum weight of 100kg. Passengers will be weighed on arrival to facilitate loading of the aircraft.
• Wear comfortable clothes and well fitting shoes (no flip flops, heels or sandals).
• Contact lenses and/or glasses can be worn as normal. They provide goggles to wear during the skydive including goggles that fit over spectacles.
• Cell phones, cameras or other loose objects are not permitted on the aircraft.
• You won’t be able to bring your own camera equipment to shoot a video of yourself.

Prices

• Tandem introductory skydive Total Price: R3450 — includes briefing, the skydive, the Tandem Master fee, hire of equipment, packer’s fee
• Optional: Handicam video plus still photographs Total Price: R800

You can pay in cash, via credit card or EFT from a local bank account.