Like many people, skydiving has always been at the top of our bucket list. We’ve had the opportunity to do other thrilling experiences, (here’s a list of our favorites), but we’ve never been skydiving. After seeing the skydivers land perfectly on the Beach in our home town of Playa del Carmen we knew that it was time to freefall 10,000 feet out of the sky!

For the past 2 years we’ve lived in the beautiful beach town of Playa del Carmen, Mexico. It’s located right in between Cancun and Tulum and a short boat ride away from Cozumel. Being in such an amazing location there are endless amounts of things to do, but skydiving, above the beautiful coastline, has always been at the top of our list! Now that we’ve done it we can say that skydiving in Playa is definitely a must-do experience!

There are some things that you want to make sure that you are going with the best company around. I would say jumping out of a plane at 10,000 feet is one of those things where it’s worth doing a little bit of research before you go. =) That’s why we were extremely thankful to be skydiving with Skydive Playa. For one thing, they land on the beach right next to our apartment. So we have seen them land perfectly hundreds of times already. On top of that, the company employs the best and most experienced skydivers.

One of our skydiving instructors had over 18,000 jumps! We did the math and that means he’s averaged a jump every day for 49 years!!! (Needless to say we felt pretty safe.) Michel, the founder of Skydive Playa received his aviation and skydive certifications in the US and maintains the highest standards of safety. (Some aviation and skydiving requirements are more relaxed in Mexico than they are in the states so it’s important to do your research before you jump out of the plane =)

As soon as we finished the safety briefing it was time to put on the harness and load into the plane! 

I didn’t expect to enjoy the views of the plane ride as much as I did! Although the airstrip is right next to the beach, it takes about 20 minutes to get up to 10,000 feet elevation. The views were incredible. We could see for miles! The ocean is so blue and the jungle is massive! It was really cool to be able to see our apartment and the entire town of Playa del Carmen during our assent. It was like having our own private sightseeing tour of Playa! Before I knew it Danny tapped me to tell me it was time to jump!

In a few minutes we would be freefalling 10,000 feet to the beach below!! Danny connected me to his harness and then opened the airplane door. That was when reality started to sink in. Feelining rush of air and seeing the tiny buildings below meant that in a few seconds I would be in a 40 second freefall out of the sky. I waved goodbye to Em and then we stepped out of the plane, onto a small step.

The next thing I knew we were falling, and falling, and falling! We’ve done some falling activities before. (Some bungee jumps, free fall rides, and a 16-story free fall into a net.) But the time in the air for those were only a couple of seconds. Only enough time to think “what am I doing?” before it’s over. This was an entirely different experience. We were free falling for 40 seconds. There was enough time to enjoy the experience. I could see the beach, the jungle, and even the island of Cozumel. It felt like we were flying. 

Before I knew it Danny had deployed our parachute and we were slowly gliding above the beach. I was expecting the parachute deployment to be a lot more jaring, but it was so smooth I had to look up before I realized that it was already open! The views were incredible. The ocean was so blue that it didn’t look real! Danny said that he’s seen sharks and all other types of sea life during his jumps. He said that on a clear day he can see all the way to Cancun and Tulum! My favorite part of the parachute was how gracefully Danny could guide the chute! It was an amazing feeling floating through the air as we descended to the beach below. 

The final step was the landing. It’s amazing getting to land right on the beach! They had a small circle drawn in the sand to mark the landing spot, and as we’ve seen Skydive Playa do hundreds of times before, they landed perfectly in the sand. Emmy landed in the exact same spot shortly after me. I’m not going to lie there was a little bit of relief when we were both back on the ground! It was truly one of the most exciting experiences we have ever done! 

Skydive Playa is located right next to the airstrip just off of the main street in downtown Playa del Carmen. Unlike other locations where you have to drive to a remote location, we literally walked to their office from our apartment! Including transportation, the whole experience took less than 3 hours which is great when you are on vacation at the beach!

If you’re scared of heights or have some questions about the jump, Skydive Playa does a great job of answering those concerns. Any nerves or questions we had going into the jump were answered during the pre jump briefing. Once we arrived, Skydive Playa walked through the whole jump from loading into the plane to landing safely on the ground. We could tell that they took safety seriously and had pride in their work. It was one of our favorite experiences in our travels!

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