MEXICOTHE AMERICAS
My Tandem Skydive Experience In Playa Del Carmen, Mexico
A Complete Guide to Skydiving: Cost, Experience, Logistics, Video, Location
So you must be thinking where did this come from! Well, I thought let’s take a break from Colombia series and write about this beautiful experience I had in Mexico. “Beautiful” may not be the best first adjective to describe the skydiving experience. Well, this is the first thought that comes into my head while writing the post but it was certainly not the first thought that came into my mind when I was actually doing it. So I have done skydiving last month in Playa del Carmen in South Mexico. Read on:
WHAT IS TANDEM SKYDIVE
First things first let’s talk about what is Tandem Skydive? Tandem Skydive or Tandem Jump is an act in which a person jumps with an instructor attached by a harness from a plane at an altitude of above 10000 feet. The initial part of the jump is free-fall which last for 30-45 seconds followed by the opening of the parachute. The whole experience lasts for 6-8 minutes.
THE MOTIVATION AND THE MEDITATION
Well, I had no plans on doing the skydiving when I started my solo trip to Mexico back in November last year. As they say, things fall into place. When I was at the end of my year-long Latin American trip, I was looking into doing Scuba diving. While searching about it online, I stumbled upon a Skydiving experience at Playa del Carmen in the South of Mexico. It is rated by many as one of the best skydiving experiences in the world. Before starting my now doomed(Thanks to the pandemic) South American trip, I bought USD 300 and I had it with me all along and the skydiving experience fell into my budget. I had thought about doing skydiving in the past but always had this fear in my mind. This time I made my mind to finally do it and end my year-long trip with an unforgettable experience. I start thinking about the skydiving experience during my daily meditation sessions a week before the said day. The whole experience played in my head and slowly I got used to the idea.
THE LOGISTICS & THE COST
The skydiving experience takes place at Playa del Carmen city in the state of Quintana Roo of South Mexico. Around 45 min ride from Cancun International Airport. The company I did the skydiving with was SKYDIVEMEX. The best thing about the skydiving experience here is it is budget-friendly and we jump over the beautiful beaches of Playa del Carmen which are not man-made like Dubai. Eating a light meal 2 hours before the jump, wearing comfortable clothes and closed shoes are recommendable. I was lucky to avail myself of the ongoing offer and paid USD 250 including video. The general rate is USD 269 + USD 99 Extra for video.
THE EXPERIENCE & THE VIDEO
So the day has come. I woke up in the morning with a dream about skydiving. I went to the designated place at the designated time but as luck would have it, I had to wait because the direction of the wind was not suitable for the jump. After waiting for several hours, finally, we got a go-ahead for the jump in the evening. They gave me two options: To do it now or do it tomorrow morning. I didn’t want to wait for one more day and decided to do it right away. I was introduced to my English instructor. He has done more than 5000 jumps till now and was quite professional. He is relatively new in Mexico though. After doing all the necessary formalities of registration, signing a waiver form, weight check and wearing the gear. We boarded the AirVan GA8 plane. We were three jumpers on the plane and I was the last one to jump. When I asked my instructor: “Are we going to jump last”, He said, “You don’t want to be first, trust me”. Some assurance that was! We flew for approx. 15 minutes up to an altitude of around 13000 feet. I was really excited and pumped. Looking out of the plane’s window and enjoying the stunning views. Beautiful crystal clear water surrounded by eye-catching nature. I was given goggles by my instructor to wear over my glasses. It was nicely fit. The moment has finally come. The first instructor opened the plane’s door and I could feel the strong gust of wind. The moment I saw the first jump (which I shouldn’t have), my mind PANICKED. It felt as if someone just did suicide from a high-rise building. My mind was sending me “MISSION ABORT” signals. The thing I learnt from meditation is how to train your mind to get used to negative thoughts. Always focus on the idea of a blue sky. It helped me to maintain my composure at that time. Also, the best thing was after the first jump, the second and the third (mine) jump happened in quick succession. When I was at the plane’s door, my heart was beating so fast like it will be going to pop out anytime soon. And then we JUMPED! I closed my eyes for a couple of seconds and when I open my eyes. WOW! I felt like a superman. There’s no other way to explain it. I was literally flying. All the fear and anxiety were gone! I was enjoying every second of it. My mind was saying to me “You could be anything/ You could do anything”. That feeling was really really special. The wind was gushing through my face and hair. We were going down at a speed of approx. 110 mph. After around 35-40 seconds, my instructor opened the parachute and we could finally talk. My first reaction was a shout of joy thanks to the adrenaline rush. I was ecstatic by what just happened. The rest of the way down, I enjoyed the stunning beach views. My instructor let me handle the parachute for a short while briefly. He even showed me a whale shark in the waters. It was a fun experience once the parachute opened. We had a smooth landing on a beach. I was a bit disappointed to be back on the land haha. My first thought after landing was I wanted to do it again! I was filled with this confidence that I can do it better next time. Maybe it was the adrenaline rush talking 🙂 The only scary or the difficult part was the jump itself and if you have done it once. It won’t bother you again. The company’s vehicle picked us up from the beach and drop us at the office. You can watch the edited video of my skydiving here.
FINAL WORD
Coming back to the word “Beautiful”. When I think about the experience now. There’s no other way to describe it. The experience was exciting, scary, liberating, ecstatic, fun and ends with a feeling of gratitude and achievement. If one experience gives you so many diverse feelings, I think that experience is nothing but Beautiful 🙂
That looks like an amazing experience! I would love to skydive one day. Although, if I’m being honest, I’m not sure if I’d have the courage to do it.
Wow…. loved the pictures and what an amzing experience 🙂 My sister did this about 2 years ago and love dit. She has video of her jump too which is fun to watch but I will be honest and tell you…there is absolutely no way ever that I am jumping out of a plane LOL…… I will fly in one but no sky diving for me. I have no interest but it’s is super cool and my sister really is so glad that she did it.
You are so brave to be doing this. I wish I could but I think my heart will literally just stop haha.
I’ve done this a couple times! Great pix! My two cents: Don’t drink too much the night before a jump.
Congrats on the jump. It looks like you had a really good time. My son just did this about a year ago and he liked it too. 🙂
That looks like a very exciting experience. My dad did tandem diving many years ago and absolutely loved it.
Mission abort sounds like something my brain would be telling me, and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t get over that fear 😀 but I love seeing and reading about other people’s experiences with skydiving, and yours is one of my favorite! Definitely “beautiful”!
I’ve done sky diving in the states a couple of years ago, the experience was wonderful! I can’t wait to do it again, can’t wait!
I loved your whole story, and it actually helped me think a little deeper about skydiving. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do, and I’m sure I would love it, but I have that same fear in the back of my head that has prevented me from actually spending the money to book it. I love your tip about meditation – I had never thought of that!
I did that in Australia and it was so fun and exhilirating! Glad that you had fun anf enjoyed it as well. – Knycx Journeying
Waah, reading this made me have a lot of goosebumps! Scared, excited, and at the same time laughed at your experienced. I don’t know if I can do this but I wanted to. Thanks for sharing!
You are so brave! This experience is beautiful, empowering. Will stay with you for life.
We were supposed to spend our summer 2020 exploring Mexico, especially around Playa del Carmen and also Guatemala and Belize. If our trip had taken place, we might have tried out skydiving. Although… not sure if we would have dared doing that! haha… But it’s good to learn from your post that skydiving is such a beautiful experience!
I always wanted to go skydiving, but never pulled the trigger. It isn’t the fear aspect, it’s me justifying the almost $400 for 6 minutes… My logical brain always calculates how many hours of fun I can get for $400. That side of my brain always wins out.
Hmmmmm…… nope, no, no, no, not for me! Ha ha! I have to admit I always wanted to do this but then I suffer with a fear of shear drops! I really need to overcome this so I can get to experience chucking myself of a plane. 😀 I am so happy you got to experience this and you look so calm throughout. 🙂 Amazing photos. Still in two minds about doing this mind you. 😛
What an incredible and amazing experience. I have this on my bucket list, actually. I hope to do it soon!
Your photos of the wonderful beaches and the stunningly turquoise waters want to make me go on vacation right now. So, I’ll take a flight over those amazing beaches any day. But, unlike you, I stay inside the plane and enjoy the view a little longer. I am glad you enjoyed it and the video will conserve your memories a lifetime.
This looks like such an exhilarating experience! The Riviera Maya sounds like the perfect place to try out skydiving and I’m glad to hear that the jump is the only scary part. I think I would be so freaked out; I don’t know if I’ll ever skydive but it’s incredible to see the photos and read about the experience in detail.
WHOA! It’s so beautiful from up there! I always have wished I was brave enough to do this, but still haven’t quite gotten there yet!
I never would have that of this as a great place to go skydiving but the views during the dive are gorgeous. I think I would have become very nervous as I waited for the wind to be right to jump and may have backed out. Very cool to see a whale shark during the dive. I wonder why the instructor said you don’t want to be the first to jump.
After having done 150 skydives, I still get excited when I hear about people’s first experiences. What a great view you got on your jump. I do understand the panic when the door opened. I never really got over that need to take a big gulp of air before leaving the plan. So glad you had a great experience.
Omg, this is amazing! Look at that turquoise water and the views! Personally I have never dreamed of skydiving but I totally understand ow cool it is. It must be a great adrenaline rush. And what a better place for it, than straight to the sandy beach. This is a great guide for anyone who is planning to do the same.
Sky diving is an amazing experience. I have dived twice before and I still want to do it again. I also did Tandem sky diving. Both the times the adrenaline rush was pumping and I had the same amount of fun.
Wow! Wow! I absolutely loved reading about your experience of skydiving. It is indeed beautiful. You described your feelings so well. It was something I had when I went scuba diving (I am scared of water and cannot swim). But once I did it, I wanted to do it again! Yes, meditation helps a lot. So thanks for sharing that tip! The views from the air place are gorgeous.
Congrats Saurabh for the tandem jump. I can relate to your feeling as I have done my first few years back in Spain. The views were amazing in your pictures. Goodbye world was true, hahaha that feeling of jumping off the flight is crazy. This will stay with you for your lifetime.