Skydiving: What You Don’t Expect

Anyone who's ever thought about trying skydiving for themselves likely has some ideas of how it might feel. Perhaps you know someone else who's tried it, or you've done your research by reading blog posts like this one.

Often, those ideas include a sense of what it might be like to jump from the airplane - exhilarating, loud, windy, exciting! Maybe you've thought more about the parachute ride and the views you will enjoy as you fly silently over the Long Island vistas.

Your skydiving experience will be unlike anything you've tried before. So complex, it's difficult to describe. The ideas you've got for yourself won't cover the half of what you'll find when you finally take the leap.

Let us share some of the lesser known parts of skydiving here, where we'll look at what you don't expect...

Skydiving is highly addictive!

So you're thinking about giving skydiving a go and, hey, chances are it'll be a one off experience that you can tick off your bucket list... right?

Not necessarily! The vast majority of people who jump with us absolutely love it and many of them vow to return to get their skydiving license. Did you know, there's a huge global community of skydivers who jump as their hobby and as their job?

That's in part because of the adrenaline rush you get when you jump. There's really nothing like it - a feeling of achievement and accomplishment in doing something out of the ordinary, mixed with that very basic 'fight or flight' reaction that causes your heart rate to increase and your senses to go on high alert. It's an addictive feeling!

If you do find yourself amongst those who absolutely adore the experience, you can come to learn to skydive solo with us, so you can enjoy the experience again and again.

Falling doesn't feel like falling

Skydiving is falling, right? At its very essence, skydiving is the act of exiting an aircraft and falling to earth at speeds of around 150mph from thousands of feet up.

That's technically correct and certainly for the first few seconds, you'll feel that sensation of falling. The wind rushes around you as you feel yourself accelerating toward the ground.

But there comes a point where you stop accelerating. You've reached 'terminal velocity', which means you're at the fastest speed you're going to get to. This happens after around 10 seconds of freefall and from this point on, you no longer feel like you're falling. Instead, you're floating, cushioned by the air as you remain at a constant speed and relax into the journey of it all.

In fact, those licensed skydivers we mentioned earlier use the 'floating' sensation to their advantage, learning to move their body in specific ways to control their rate of descent and the direction in which they move. Dropping an opposite arm and leg will, for example, enable the skydiver to turn 360 degrees, while pulling both arms in and stretching both legs out means they travel across the sky, seemingly flying like a bird!

Even if you're scared of heights, this 'floating' sensation takes all that fear away and leaves you with a weightlessness that you'll remember forever.

The views are incredible!

When we think about skydiving, we usually think more about freefall than anything else. This is the part where you're falling, completely removed from everything, and the wind rushing by you takes your breath away in the most exciting way.

Something we often forget is that skydiving also gives us access to some of the most beautiful, most rare views in the world. Whether you're in freefall or sailing around under the parachute in your 5 minute flight to the ground, you'll be met with incredible vistas across Long Island and beyond.

Think of it this way; how many people can say they've seen the world from 13,000 feet in the air and then plunged toward it at speeds of 150mph plus?

How many people get the chance to fly a parachute above the world below, looking out and taking in some of the most breathtaking views you can imagine. It's a whole new perspective and one you'll never forget.

You're going to feel really, really happy...

No matter what's got your in the airplane at the first place - a special occasion, a birthday, a desire to overcome a fear - the experience of skydiving is going to leave you feeling really, really happy!

When we do something out of the ordinary, it's exciting. It's not unusual for our bodies to take on that 'fight or flight' response that gets your heart rate racing and the adrenaline pumping around your body. On top of that, you've got the sense of accomplishment when you have done something that might be a challenge for you - such as overcoming a fear.

That's why, when you land, you'll likely have a huge smile on your face! It's that rush that sends endorphins (the body's 'happy hormone') rushing through you and giving you an elation that sticks with you for days afterwards.

There's a quote in skydiving that says 'when once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will always long to return'. We believe it's true...

Do you want to know what it's really like to skydive? Find out about Long Island tandem skydiving and come and give it a go!