7 tips for Skydiving at Sydney Wollongong
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The main highlight for this trip was drum rolls SKYDIVING!!! Most skydive locations across the world offer you a dropzone somewhere between 10,000ft – 19,000ft but Sydney Wollogong only offered a maximum of 14,000ft. Since we were probably only going to do this once in our lives, we decided to go for the maximum height of 14,000ft.
We signed up with Skydive Sydney-Wollongong two weeks in advance. Even then, there were already limited slots so we had to settle for a less desirable timing of 11am.
Tip 1 – Make your booking at least two weeks in advance. And if you are on holiday, try to plan your skydive for the first few days so that you have the option to fall back on alternative days should you be cursed with bad weather on your initial date ☔️☔️
At the time of booking, I thought we were only gonna do it once in our lives so might as well pay for the photos and videos which cost nearly half the price of the actual dive.
Tip 2 – DEFINITELY go for the photos AND videos package. You will regret otherwise.
While doing my research, I found it strange that no one really mentioned how long their entire skydiving activity was. So here is my GOLDEN ANSWER! Read on below hehehe. Due to kiasu-ism of getting lost en-route to the skydiving venue, we actually arrived there about an hour earlier. Since we were about to embark on an exhilarating activity, we decided to take a shit first (ok it was just me la 😝). Although if you were gonna be scared shit-less, not much point right? Lol.
1015 hrs – Checked in and they had to take our weight. We kept all our belongings in the car. You’re not allowed to have anything on you except your game face 😝
Chin Sian: I am more scared of weighing myself than skydiving!!!
Us: 😂😂😂
After which, we got ourselves geared up. We had to wear a pair of baggy pants as well as a harness that could be hooked to our instructor. I felt really safe as the staff were very professional and thorough in their checks. Thumbs up for ensuring our safety! #tooyoungtodie #butstillyolo 👍👍
Once we were ready, it was SHOW TIME!! We were introduced to our instructors (mine was called Tom) and they each had a GoPro attached to their wrists.
Tip 3 – You might wanna think of what you wanna say first since it’s gonna be captured on video and will live with you forever and everrrrrr lol 😂😂
There are only 3 phases of the dive so the briefing was pretty short and sweet. To be honest, nothing much can go wrong since your instructor will more or less be controlling you like a puppet. But still, good to pay attention hehehe.
First phase – Jumping off the plane
Second phase – Initial free fall
Third phase – Spreading your human wings aka hands and having the time of your life!
To get a good feel of how the entire skydiving experience is like, click HERE for my AWESOME skydiving video!!
Tip 4 – Remember to look at the GoPro so that people can see your beautiful face and fear in your eyes (or lack thereof… of either 😝)
1100 hrs – We departed on a shuttle bus to the nearest airfield. It was a 30 min ride but before we knew it, we were on the plane. HURRAY!!! 😄
1130 hrs – The plane that we got on was pretty small and could sit about 8 pairs of skydivers. Chin Sian was the last to get up the plane and her instructor told her to go sit with the pilot. Only after barging her way through and banging into everyone to get to the front of the plane did she realize that everyone was laughing as they were just pulling her leg!! HAHAHA!! Talk about Auzzie humor. 😂😂
Magnificent view on the way up
The instructors were quite the fun bunch as they played other pranks on us throughout the flight. It was a really noisy 15 min as the plane climbed to 14,000 ft with the incessant sound of metal vibrating. Close your eyes and you will feel like you are going to WAR lol.
Chatting with my friendly instructor Tom
Mask on baby
My turn soon!!
1145 hrs – Soon, Chin Sian’s instructor pulled the door open and without a moment’s hesitation, he brought Chin Sian to the edge of the plane and jumped off. I was like WHOA. And the rest of us followed suit like clockwork. You don’t even have time to think. It’s just JUMP and you realize you are free-falling already WOOOOO~~.
And here we go….
Great marketing shot, no?
View of the coastline
GLAM TTM!!!
Truth be told, skydiving is seriously NOT a glam activity. With the wind blowing your face at insanely high speeds, it is impossible to hide your facial flubber. Speaking from experience here huge sigh 😂
Tip 5 – If you want to look slightly more glam (esp for girls), just keep your mouth shut and scream in your heart. You won’t look natural in the video but at least your fat cheeks won’t be flapping around lolol.
Parachute released
After approximately 50 seconds of free-fall, Tom pulled the cord and the parachute was released. For those who studied Physics, you do reach terminal velocity!
Jack, I’m flying…… (sorta)
Here’s the thing. Parachuting is also quite fun!! After making sure we were in good shape, Tom handled me the toggles and guided me through a couple of moves. By yanking down on one end, the parachute started to spin in circles and this was pretty fun! If you are interested in how skydiving works, do visit this link.
Closer view of the coastline
We landed approximately 90 seconds after the parachute was released. I think landing is the most important part to pay attention to to avoid sustaining any injuries. I can foresee how some kancheong spiders will want to quickly put their feet on the ground but that is very dangerous!
Tip 6 – Just wait for the instructor to make contact with the ground and let your ass brush the grass before you let go off your own legs.
Landing soon!!!
Made it!!
Hmm… who is Ting Hui waving to?!?!?!
1200 hrs – We walked back to the check-in hut and took off our harnesses and baggy pants. With 30 min to burn as they needed time to edit the footage, we decided to check out the beach right beside the venue.
Love ma shades 😎
Stupid water bottle zzz…
1230 hrs – After taking some photos at the beach, we headed back to collect our photos and videos and we were DONE! So that’s a grand total of 2.5 hours spent for approximately 2.5 to 3 mins worth of adventure. Sounds like a bad time spent to adventure ratio but hey it’s worth it!!!
Certificate of ACHIEVEMENT YAY!!!!
At the end of it all, it was another item checked off our bucket list. HURRAH!!! 😅
One thing that I like about this agency is that they offer two-way FREE transport from Sydney from the following locations (IF and only if you jump at 1100hrs).
- Bus stop outside Bondi Junction station Grafton St @ 0730hrs
- King’s Cross Holiday Inn bus stop @ 0800hrs
- Central Station (outside Wake Up Sydney Hostel) @ 0830hrs
Cost for actual skydiving – AUD 329 (weekend) / AUD 279 (weekday)
Cost for photos and videos – AUD 160
Total cost for weekend – AUD 489 per pax
This sort of pricing is standard fare for most of such activities like bungee jumping, hot-air ballooning and the likes. While expensive, such memories are priceless imo. It would definitely be a shame if you don’t get the package #justsaying
Tip 7 – Stop contemplating and just get the damn package already!! 😝😝
At the time of purchase, there was a Mother’s day promo going on. Sadly, no one in my party looked old enough to pass off as a mother so I decided not to risk it (they must be pretty happy to hear that 😂😂). Apparently people like to buy skydiving gift vouchers for their friends and family.
And for all you hardcore people out there who think once isn’t enough, it’s AUD 199 if you want to skydive again in the same day. Wonder how many crazy people actually took up that offer lol 😂😂
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