Skydiving – An Amazing Experience

Read the adventurous Dubai skydiving experience shared by traveller Tushar Ganer.

Skydiving had been on my bucket list for a long time, and it finally came true this year. When it comes to experiencing the thrill, there is no more thrilling sport than skydiving. Skydiving has always interested me. I’ve always wanted to do it, but I never imagined I’d be able to.

Well, this year on the occasion of my anniversary I got a chance to go to Dubai. We spent the entire week in Dubai seeing and experiencing many must-see attractions such as the Dubai Frame, The Burj Khalifa, Desert Safari, and Dubai City Tour, among others. To experience the thrilling sport of skydiving, I booked tickets at Skydive Dubai, Palms 2 months in advance, with a slot of 8:00 a.m. on January 9th. The interesting thing is that our first anniversary was also on the same day i.e. January 9th.

Check-in at reception

We arrived early at Skydive Dubai, Palms reception, and completed all of the paperwork. Here, I signed a standard declaration in which it was stated in bold letters that skydivers would be responsible for their own lives if any emergency occurs. Here, I also paid for skydiving photos and videos.

As I walked out of the reception, I looked up at the sky. The weather was extremely unpredictable. It was cloudy and raining outside, with a cold wind blowing. But I was fortunate enough because the weather was perfect when my turn came. The sky was now clear, blue, and sunny, with a gentle breeze. I thanked God for the beautiful weather and prayed that it would not change until my skydive was completed.

Distracted mind

Before it’s your turn, you’ll have an infinite amount of time in the world to think about anything else you can think of to distract your mind from the terrifying sport of skydiving. No matter how hard you try, it’s natural to be terrified just thinking about it. I took some photographs as a souvenir after arriving at the reception. Regardless of which skydiving slot you have reserved, due to a variety of factors (like weather conditions, etc.), you have to wait for at least one or two hours for your turn to skydive. You’ll see people getting on and off planes with parachutes at the reception, while their instructors take endless photos of them.

I began to wait for my turn, and as soon as I heard my name, I began to look for my instructor and photographer. My instructor and photographer arrived soon after and introduced themselves; the instructor’s name was Nickel and he was from Romania, and the photographer’s name was Nick and he was from France. Both had extensive experience as professional skydivers. I also introduced myself to both of them and explained that I am afraid of heights and that I want to skydive to overcome this fear. Nickel reassured me and gave me a jumpsuit, which is an essential piece of equipment for skydiving. The jumpsuit was a bit loose but Nickel fixed it later. Afterwards, my instructor, Nickel, gave me 10 minutes of skydiving instructions, which included crossing arms, throwing back head, bending knees, and jumping. The first instruction is that a pat on the shoulder is a signal to open your hands. The second instruction is to bring the arms close to the chest when the parachute opens and the knees are bent for landing.

ALSO READ: 10 Best Extreme River Rafting Destinations in India

Ready to fly

Within 15 minutes, my instructor took me to the airplane boarding area. They took my video interview and asked many questions like am I nervous, if it is my first skydiving, etc. While skydiving, my instructor told me to look up and smile at the camera. To be honest, I was a bit nervous but at the same time was excited that I was going to fulfill my dream of skydiving. Now that I was mentally prepared, I sat inside the plane with the other skydivers, as instructed by the instructor. By this point, I realized there was no turning back and that I had to fulfill my dream of skydiving. Inside the plane, there were 18 people divided into groups of three, each with a photographer and an instructor. My heart began to race as the plane approached 10,000 feet in altitude, and I became nervous. To get over my fear, I began looking out of the window and trying to smile. To be honest, the Dubai Palms looked even more stunning from a height of 10,000 feet.

The plane’s flight time was about 20 minutes. My instructor, Nickel, signaled me to walk towards the door once the plane reached an altitude of 14000 feet. To be honest, seeing my fellow skydivers skydive from the plane was a very disturbing sight for me. It was my first experience being inside an airplane in the open sky with the door open. When it was my turn, I reached the edge of the door and was mesmerized by the vast view below, now I was all set to Jump.

As soon as I jumped and saw the beautiful view below, my mind started to wander for some time. But once I realized I’d done skydiving, I felt a different kind of peace in my mind. At that moment, I could feel a cool breeze blowing on my face, as if it were greeting me. Although I tried to remember my guidelines, it is natural to forget some guidelines during the stress of skydiving, but your instructors are so experienced that they will not let you make such mistakes.

60-second free fall

You jump towards the ground at such a high speed that everything is blurred because of the strong wind. When we finally settled down, the view of the Dubai Palms below was breathtaking. I felt like I was flying during the free fall. I was supposed to hold my instructor’s hand, but due to the high wind speed, I couldn’t. Nick, our photographer, was taking close-up shots during free fall, which will now remain a lifelong memory for me. To be honest, skydiving is an interesting confrontation with fear.

Landing

After 60 seconds of free fall, my instructor Nickel opened the parachute and led to the drop zone. After a while, Nickel adjusted my glasses and asked if I was okay. He also asked if I wanted to do some parachute spins, and I said yes. Then we did some parachute spins before heading towards the drop zone. It took about 10 minutes from opening the parachute to reaching the drop zone. Our landing went smoothly. I can’t express how wonderful and beautiful this experience was for me. I got down and thanked my Instructor Nickel and photographer Nick.

I removed the jumpsuit and returned to nickel after landing. My first skydive, I believe, brought me closer to my existence and altered my perspective towards the world. I used to wonder how dangerous and terrifying skydiving from 14000 feet could be, but now that I’ve done it, I can say with certainty that the most dangerous and terrifying moment of skydiving is now a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me. if you have never tried skydiving, I would strongly advise you to do so at least once in your life; it will undoubtedly be a life-changing experience that you will remember for the rest of your life.

“God placed the best things in life on the other side of fear”
“Amazing experience is the only real happiness”

ALSO READ: My Mountaineering Memories of Manali | Travelogue by Avinash