Ground Rush Adventures

I recently moved to Windhoek for work and was in need of a new home DZ. After looking on dropzone I drove to the skydive club at the main airport and then to ground rush which is located in town but the "airport" is about 15min out into the middle of BFE.

SO, Ground Rush, great place to be a funjumper, I got 9 jumps in over two days, even though I'm still just a license I had no problem finding people to jump with, the DZO is involved in his DZ, knowlegible and a GREAT guy too!

They have a U206 with a IO550, nice clean aircraft, since they are out in the desert there is ZERO land or air traffic to worry about, the only thing out there you could hit is the actual DZ building!

Later on in the day they had quite a few tandems show up and rather then bump the fun jumpers off the loads they called in another 206 to fly over and to keep us in the air!

Very happy to say I found my new home DZ!

I did my first jump here (tandem) and it was a fantastic experience. The crew is experienced and laid back and I felt safe and confident at all times. The view of the Namib desert, the Skeleton Coast and Swakopmund town was breathtaking, which was good since the plane took 15-20 minutes to get us to 9000 feet. The crew was very supportive of our group of newbies and everyone had a great time. After the jumps we watched the videos in the Anampuri lodge bar and knocked back a few drinks with the instructors and camera guys.

Ground Rush Adventures operates no longer from Swakopmund airport, but from an airstrip in the desert, which is a few kilometres northeast of Swakopmund. The drive takes about 15 minutes from Swakopmund city centre, where the office is. The office is at the Amanpuri Travellers Lodge, which offers double rooms with bathroom and breakfast for 700 Namib Dollars (65 Euros). The Amanpuri rooms are nice, but remember that skydivers may be loud in the evening, so if you like it quiet a B&B in the city might be the smarter choice. The bar is open until late.

At the dropzone you will find two small houses, one for manifest and the tandem instructions and one for packing. Cold drinks are provided for purchase, and two desert bathrooms for dumping the drinks later. It is all african style but well maintained and as clean as possible. Normally they operate a Cessna 206 which goes to 10000ft (3000m), but if a larger group is coming and let them know, a Caravan can be organized. Both aircraft were in a good shape and fitted for skydivers needs. The landing area is huge, you can land anywhere in the desert. The surface is dry, but mostly soft from the sand. Rigging service is provided at the office, and if the rigger is at the dropzone also there.

There are not many local jumpers in Swakopmund, and most of them work at the dropzone. However, if they are not jumping tandem or camera they enjoy funjumping with visitors, whether it is RW, freefly or Birdman. And one thing must be mentioned here: These guys are the coolest bunch of skydivers I ever met! Even in Eloy it is hard to find people, which are in such a good mood and so open-minded towards visitors. Jumping and going out to town with them was pure fun.

Overall, the dropzone has my absolute recommendation. Whenever you go to Namibia visit Swakopmund, and try to find some friends to join you to fill a Caravan.

The tandem masters and instructors are highly experienced, but very friendly and forthcoming. Professionalism shows and a great atmosphere exists. It is definitely a good place to visit for a FJC, Tandem Jump or loads of fun jumps.