Skydive Madrid (Ocaña)

Done my aff in nov 2013, been back four times since, cant get enough of this place, team of packers ready and waiting for you, great place to chill out in between jumps, staff are incredibly friendly and experienced and everyone shares the knowledge.

I did my AFF here last year and the instruction I received was fantastic. I'd previously done an AFF course 7 years previously in the USA (didn't get consoles completed in time) and the difference in the standard of instruction was like night and day.

I've been back since and am booked to go again as a fun jumper, and though their primary focus during the week is AFF and tandem, you can be fairly sure there will be some other experienced jumpers (mostly British) whenever you're there - in fact I've been there one weekend with 30 British jumpers, all there separately.

Yes, it does suffer from the lack of options at night and on bad weather days, but the latter are infrequent, and the move of accommodation back to Aranjuez may solve the former. But really this is the only negative point to what is a great little place.

I've jumped at other Spanish DZ's, as well as a couple in the UK, and I'll keep coming back to this one. Yes it has it's minor flaws, but the pro's massively outweigh the cons.

I just got back from my second visit to Ocaña, completing my AFF and getting most of my consols done this week, and I'm really impressed.

Pros:

This DZ is really friendly and well-organised. The training is slick and safety-oriented, and all instructors demonstrate shared responsibility for the students (AFF and beyond). There are two sets of students/instructors, the English-speakers (mostly British) and the Spanish - but most instructors are bilingual to various degrees.

I am impressed by how the instructors and other staff all continue to show interest in you once you complete your AFF - all the instructors are happy to talk through consols, demonstrate further techniques, etc. The people who run the manifest are helpful at including a mix of people on the planes so even once you're a fun jumper you're not crowded out by tandem jumpers or AFF students (having two planes helps - one tends to be mostly used for tandems).

There is a strong focus on safety; for example, while we were there last time, someone on a consol did something pretty stupid in the air - no harm done, luckily, but all the students got brought together immediately to be briefed again to learn from this, in a non-judgmental way. They're also very strict on things like consol jumpers being fully briefed and checked before boarding the plane, for example.

The DZ benefits from the great weather of central Spain, and they use this plus their two aircraft (Pilatus Porters) to maximum advantage, with good organisation meaning they get many loads up each day. It's mid-November now, and I managed to get five consols in today, for example. There can be 25+ loads a day going up in the summer, other students tell me - they sent up something like 15 today, despite being on hold for high winds for an hour. Very efficient use of daylight! The airfield is shared between the skydivers, a gliding school and stunt pilots, with clear airspace boundaries for each.

There are plenty of rigs available for hire - we have been there for a total of 13 days and only had to share a rig once and that was today, a Sunday, when it was really busy (although it is November). The packers are very slick and it's perfectly possible to get your rig packed quickly to go up on consecutive loads if you ask them nicely.

The DZ is really good for students in terms of being a very large area of completely flat, soft fields with clear demarcation by roads and easy orientation from the sky. There are also great views all the way to Madrid visible under canopy, though I guess most DZs have nice views!

In terms of facilities, the on-site cafe does drinks and a limited range of snacks (we took packed lunches) and the airfield buildings have a separate cafe too. There is fairly fast wifi all round the DZ buildings. There is decent student accommodation available pretty cheaply in the nearest town, with transfers to and from Madrid airport available plus daily pickups from the student accommodation.

Cons:

The local town, Ocaña, isn't exactly a centre of nightlife and the restaurant options aren't amazing but we worked out quite easily how to get by bus to Aranjuez, the next nearest big town, and there's a lot more there.

On site recreation is quite limited (ping-pong table plus the cafe, and I gather there's a pool in the summer) but I guess you're there to jump. I would take a laptop or something for down-time, though (the wifi is pretty good) and I might take a frisbee next time... The toilet block is quite basic and I'm not aware of there being showers there.


Overall:

I really enjoyed my time at this DZ and fully intend to go back again in future. The team are friendly and inclusive. There are many loads every day thanks to the favourable local climate and the DZ being well-organised. The safety culture is evident here, and equipment is readily available for hire with an efficient re-packing service. Highly recommended!

Well I've never written a review before and this is only from a student perspective. I've been to this place twice to do my AFF course. The 1st time was almost 2 years ago. I attempted to do my AFF over Friday-Sunday. Spoke to the school and they told me it was definitely possible. I did my ground school day one and could not do level 1 the same day due to rain. The school only had 1 plane then and we felt that the priorities were given to tandems over the weekends. I managed to get 4 jumps in during saturday-sunday. One instructor took me for ground school and was the second instructor up to aff level 3. Instructor had a very friendly approach however would make you go over drills and scenarios over and over again if he didn't think it had sunk in. Even thought it was me having to repeat them I was glad to be put through it so it was solid in my mind. My main jump instructor was brilliant. Real skydiving enthusiast you could go into very technically details about all aspects of skydiving put taught you with very straight simple instructions of what you needed to do. This approach was great for me as I didn't want to over analyse everything I was doing while stressed in the sky.
So I left very happy with the instructors but annoyed that I'd wait around for hours doing nothing getting ready to jump.
My recent trip there only a few days ago made me fall in love with the place. All the good points remained and the bad points have greatly improved.
Went through ground school with the same instructor and felt very confident with everything before I progressed. He didn't sell me short thinking I'd already done it but made sure I still new everything.
The dropzone can be broken down to three organisations. The Spanish AFF school, The British AFF school and the Spanish owners of the dropzone. I can't speak for the Spanish school as I didn't really speak to them however really liked all the instructors at our school. Everyone has their own teaching style. I think this is a great plus in that some students who just weren't getting it benefitted from another approach. It would be easy for them to make that person do the same level over and over again for the money. However these guys really wanted to get you there. Whether you want heaps of information about every step and thought you should make and think, a drill sergeant, or someone who'll just correct you on the things you need to change or work on there is an instructor here for you.
The dropzone now has 2 pilatus porter planes. Seems the owners listened to everyone and also figured out how to make more money. Tandems and a few fun jumpers on 1 plane, AFF students and fun jumpers on the other. Both planes generally run on the weekends at the busy period. However I still got three jumps in by 1pm on Saturday taking it easy while it was busy. During the week I could literally get onto the next flight up as soon as I landed after I finished the AFF.
The packers here are great, if I really wanted to get up on the next load they could pack my chute within about 7 minutes. Most of the instructors pack their own canopy so 3-4 packers was plenty to get everyone done quickly. Granted if they instructors requested an AFF students be packed first theirs would be. I don't think this is too much of an issue because as soon as they are done there would be less instructors on the plane leaving more space for us.
The landing area is huge and even a guy to come pick you in a van up to save you walking so far in the sun.
The facilites are basic but have improved afterall this is located in an aeroplane hanger which backs on to huge fields. Limited menu for food and not much else to do at the dropzone. But hey we're there to skydive!
The pick up and drop offs were always on time and meant I got on site for 1st jump each day. Drive Phil was a great guy who is at an early stage in his skydiving so great to have someone who went through what I am not long ago.
The student apartment was in near by Ocana about 3 km away from the dropzone. Had 6 bedrooms, kitchen, lounge/dining room and three bathrooms. Very affordable and great to be around other students to talk about your day and go get some food/beers with. Ocana it’s self doesn’t have much there besides a square with a few tapas bar/restaurants. But we were happy with our new local or cooking at home.
So I loved the place and think the instructors were great. Facilities could be better with more things to do while you wait and better selection of food. After speaking to other fun jumpers from the UK and about how they are treated at UK dropzones. I don't think I'm going to be heading to a different DZ anytime soon.

I've just returned from a 2nd trip to ocana from the uk. after meaning to do an AFF cse for years & not getting round to it/not having the funds, a mate said 'lets go to Spain & do it, found this place on line'. Needed a holiday & wanted to go skydiving having done 2 tandems at uk parachuting, my local dz, a couple of years ago, so killed 2 birds with 1 stone.

An email & couple of phone calls to paula, flights booked deposit paid sorted! Mate whose idea it was bailed on me (his loss) so mid april I headed off to madrid on my tod. followed the directions as emailed by paula & arrived at aranjuez on sat afternoon, by the time I got to the dz it was too late to do anything, but as I'd been up since 3am I was fine with getting some scoff & a brew & meeting people. everyone, & I do mean everyone, the staff, other students, fun jumpers, pro jumpers was really welcoming & friendly. I almost feel more at home there than i do at home! The Sunday was my birthday, & I did my ground school 1 to 1 with jane. very thourgh & comprihensive, my previous military experience helped, but jane was brilliant, cracked it by 3 or 4 (time flys there!) & got levels 1 & 2 done with mike, hispa & jane on level 2. monday dawned & brough 5 days of the worst weather in recent times, irritating, but what can you do? drink lots of strong coffee & learn to pack is what.

Note on the packers, wow, under 5 min, helpful if you are practicing (did quite a lot of that). got level 3 done on tha sat just before my transport to the train stn arrived. 3 jumps in a week is not ideal, 1 of those weather induced things.
on returning home, umed & ahhed a bit about when to return...... booked flights for a fri to sun w/e so as to be back within a month.

Last fri i arrived at the dz around 1400, only to find 4 guys who also hadn't completed the same week as me & excellent weather (as forecast), by the time we headed back to aranjuez I'd done levels 4,5 & 6. as 1 of the porters was u/s & there was 70ish tandems booked in as well as 8 AFF students it was agreed that there'd be a 9 o'clock load on sat morning, apparently unheard of on any morning (this is Spain), so by 0915 there were level 6's & 7's going out the door! given that only the 1 plane was flying I still managed to get 4 consoles in as well, last load of the day, wind had dropped completely, sun was low, it was, beautiful! Sunday morning I got console 5 & my hop & pop done before returning home. best w/e in a long time, cemented friendships & made some new 1's too.

The only thing is possibly some minor admin issues, but nothing major & if the right people are spoken too, avoidable. Can't fault the training, staff, banter. Quite possibly my favorite place on the planet (carsberg don't do dz's.) plan to finish my consoles at beccles but will be spending at least another 2 w/e's at ocana this summer.

I started jumping end of July, since then I have visit another two DZ, and I always come back home, where the instructors are there to help, always, there is loads of people, americans, English, Spanish all talking to eachother planning some jumps, if not you always have Vicente and Juan ready to organize a jump!!
There is a nice cafeteria and very friendly staff where jumpers get together at the end of the day, lovely swimmingpool in summer..
The shop and Admin are good, the staff is very very helpfull always!!!
Top packers, masive, large landing area.. just great!!

Hello everyone.
A really good DZ about 30 minutes from Madrid airport, new Bar(very friendly skydiver bar), new chill out room with free internet,computers,tvs and dvds players.Separate skydive shop and manifest, new video rooms and new planes.Only the free beer is missing!

DZ in itself could be run more efficient and have happier customers. But all things considered its a friendly DZ that means well. If you come self-sufficient to fun jump its a nice little DZ.

Freefall University is located at the Dropzone. After having worked there one full year and two summers, I'm not too impressed.
We ended up leaving because of poor management and personal difficulties with management.

Our students often felt poorly treated by the owner and there was seldom help from the on-site managers. However students still left happy. The instructors are for the most part very good people and good instructors; some better than others. For students its a good set-up. Very student-minded and good social life amongst the students who stay in the nice nearby town of Aranjuez. A lot of returning former students bring the place together.

Only really sad part is that my partner and I feel that the high standards of the schools education is mostly marketing and too little fact! We decided not to work at the place when things developed to the point where it became approved procedure to slack on the quality, to accommodate quantity.

I have made almost all of my 160 jumps (incl. AFF course here). Used to be a great place with skyidiver vibe and excellent facilities, accesibility and dz layout that welcomed everyone. Now, only one Pilatus, and clear priority on AFF students and tandems. Substantiation: After bad experience many previous sat/sundays (at least 10), I called at 12:00 noon and asked if skydivers had a chance today or if I should drive there later/tommorow. They pretended my question was unsubstatiated and asked me to come ASAP. Arrived 12:50 and paid. Went to manifest and was told booked on load 13 when load 10 was leaving. Was told later I had time for lunch because they needed to move me to load 14. Had lunch. Ended up moved to load 15 which got in the air at 16:45h. Landed and was manifested on load 18. Packers had priority on tandem and student gear. Could not make load 18 and gave up! Left at 17:45h with one jump and lots of frustration....

We recently had a trip to Spain and we planned to jump form Ocana. For the period we were there, six days, there was no plane at this DZ??!! Although, we were told it would back tomorrow every day.

I do not know what the DZ is like so I can not comment so my overall rating is neutral.

I would urge anybody planning to go to Ocana, particulary the masses of students that visit the Freefall Uni, to check that it is operational before you travel.

If you do not you will end up at Lillo and the conditions there are currently atrocious.

Please see my review for Lillo for more information.

Having wanted to do my AFF for years, and never finding anyone to do it with, I finally went out to Ocana by myself, and haven't looked back (quite daunting, especially for a girlie!)! The people are great - both from the English and Spanish schools (2 different companies, but not apparent!).

You can do your course in a couple of days as the weather is great most of the time, and get onto the real fun!

The people really do make it stand out from the rest - everyone is helpful, will happily give out advice (and not in a condescending or patronising way like I've found at some of the UK dz's), and they all are so passoinate about jumping that if, like me, there are times during the AFF course that you're not sure you can do it, just seeing how excited they are to get up there and have fun keeps you going.

Their packers are brilliant - super quick and you can't fault their packing, the prices are reasonable, the rental gear is good, and the attitude is right.

It was so good infact that after 2 weeks of coming back to the UK I headed straight out there again, and already have my next 2 trips there booked.

And then there's those huge vodka's the local bar staff pour.....

Ocana, what can I say other than what a great dz! In February myself and several other friends decided to beat the winter blues (and Bad weather) and head over to Ocana for a spot of jumping. The main purpose of the trip was for some of the members of the group to get some free fly coaching from Avalore’s Louis Harwood who is based in Ocana, and they were not disappointed as some FF1’s were achieved! The DZ itself is very well managed and very friendly, the manifest was really well organised, with clear calls for kit up, unlike some dz’s. The Dz is based on an active airfield but with the huge landing area there is more than enough room for everyone. Unfortunately for us our plan to escape the bad weather didn’t work and we had some of the worst weather Spain has had in years, but we managed to pile in plenty of jumps from the dz’s porter on the few nice days we got! Many thanks to all at Ocana, thank you for looking after us so well! This is a great little dz and well worth a visit, so why not hop on an Easyjet flight and check it out for yourselves!

After giving up on a RAPS course in the UK due to too many weather delays I decided on the Free Fall University based at Ocana DZ because it seemed to be the most organised and advertised website. It didn't disappoint! The people; (instructors, manifest staff, pilots, riggers, admin staff, etc); whether they are Ocana DZ or Free Fall University employees are the friendliest bunch of people you are likely to meet in any sports centre. From the moment you arrive you feel welcome and by the time you leave you feel part of the team.

I went with 3 friends and we all completed our AFFs in a short time by having fantastic instruction and availability of equipment and plane lifts. The staff are willing to advise you on any topic and spend as much time as necessary to help you both through the course and any advice you require afterwards. They make sure you are comfortable both at the drop zone and during the rest of your stay in the surrounding area.

The DZ itself has all the facilities you need and is still expanding plus it shares facilities with the other aviation businesses which includes a bar, restaurant accommodation and swimming pool. The landing area is enormous and the weather, being Spain gives you more blue sky days than not. Prices are very reasonable for both jumping and socialising and there are plenty of lifts so even on a busy weekend you don’t notice the crowds.

I can’t recommend the place or the Freefall University more!!

quite simply a great place to jump. with not a hint of attitude or ego from any of the workers/regulars....in fact, everyone seemed to be genuinely happy to help, chat or have a laugh. this kinda stuff is important to me.....i cant stand stuffy 'holier than thou' skygods..... a lovely huge big landing area....nice porter....i just dont have anything negative to say about the place.
as for coaching, i got my AFF thru the FFU who are based there (just over a year ago....a great school to learn with) and have just got back from a freefly coaching bonanza there with Louis Harwood's school 'Avalore Freefly'. This trip resulted in me getting my FF1, all thanks to a top coach who was prepared to get stuck in with a totally novice freeflyer like myself.By the end of the course his coaching style ensured i was up to the standard required for the BPA FF1. I was so happy with the way the coaching was going that i carried on coaching with him working on tracking dives, varying freefly exits and extra skill refinements. Check this place out....for fun, training or learning....its sweet. :0)

Sky Diving can be daunting enough, but the guys at Freefall University at Ocana do all they can to make your stay excellent. The people are very friendly and professional and the location is excellent. Great dropzone, great nightlife and if you can drag yourself away from the dropzone for a change, there is plenty of local culture to explore. Just read any of the customer reviews on their website!
I am certainly looking forward to returning ASAP.

Just finished my AFF in Ocana and I can positively reccomend it. Save for the odd day, the weather for jumping was fantastic. The incredibly relaxed and informal attitude of the instructors and all other staff create an amazingly relaxed atmosphere which is instantly enjoyable. By the end of the first day, you feel as though you've known everyone there for years. The experience and professionalism of all the instructors and staff here is instantly recognisable but never intimidating, you're never made to feel like a dickhead newbie. The first jump terrified the shit out of me as did the last jump. The difference is that whilst being equally terrified, by the last 10 jumps I was jumping out with a smile on my face (and somtimes laughing my head off). This place and the people there are bloody great.

Cracking DZ - they're really friendly, have a Porter (sometimes two!) & have a landing area the size of a small desert!!

Lots of AFF students that seemed to progress really fast with the Freefall University so there's usually a crate of beer at the end of the day!

I was doing freefly coaching with Louis Harwood of the UK team Avalore which was spot on; I've improved loads in just a few jumps and would definately reccommend it.

-A great DZ, strating to attract more fun jumpers too - I've already booked to go back!

This dz is a def must to anyone thinking of jumping in Spain. It has the largest landing area that I’ve ever seen and the nil winds made it perfect for students and swoopers. It certainly helped me sort out my nil wind landings.

There is an indoor and outdoor packing area. The outdoor packing area gets a little dusty but I believe they’re sorting that. There’s a café on site for snacks and drinks and an after jumping beer.

Our accommodation was even all booked for us. We chose to stay at the hotel at the dz but Aranjuez is only 10mins drive away with more hotels and all the restaurants and bars. Very shortly they will have transport to get jumpers from town to the dz and back again.

Freefall University is based at this dz so lots of AFF students who all seemed to enjoy their experience and quickly qualified which meant always having a beer being put in your hand at the end of jumping. They also have a freefly school, Avalore which Louis Harwood runs out there. You can get individual coached jumps or a block. I opted for some coaching which was tailor made to my abilities with thorough briefings and de-briefs and a dvd to take away.

You can buy individual jump tickets or blocks of 25 tickets which work out cheaper. Two porters mean that you get to 13k quickly and jumping into blue skies was great. For €5 you can buy packing tickets so that you can jump even more. A huge plus was in the morning you can go to manifest and let them know how many jumps you would like to do that day and what kind of time gap you would like between each jump and they’ll manifest you for the day. A huge plus. Alternatively you can take it easy and do a few jumps then chill by the on-site pool!

All the staff, coaches and instructors were extremely friendly and helpful. This is def the type of dz that you can come to on your own as everyone is extremely friendly and welcoming and always happy to help. Def go and visit Cheers, the local haunt for skydivers in town.

This is a fantastic dz with excellent facilities and a big must for skydivers of all levels.

i was sick of jumping the same DZ month-in, month out, so when i was reccommended to oncana, i thought i'd give it a whirl...

its always strange turning up to a new dz on your own but i was collected from the station and introduced to the faces on the dz...

its a serious shame that this place has gone un-noticed, its the size of the arizona desert, the instructors and coaches are world class competitors, and what i enjoyed most was the atmosphere - its as relaxing or hardcore as you want it to be - a big bar, swimming pool and all that george... or on the other hand they'll have you up and down like a bloody yo-yo if you feel the need..!

i thoroughly reccommend ocana to anyone wishing to do AFF or coaching/fun-jumpng, and i'll be back soon!!!

GHANDI

The first time I visited I didnt know where to go so we headed to the town of ocana and after a couple of minutes of looking we found it.

The staff were very friendly, they showed us around, told us all about their future plans, and came for a coffee with us.

When I was there they had a pilatus porter but was told that the the other porter had just gone for its routine service and that they also have a cessna caravan.

There is an amazing onsite hotel, cafe, resteraunt and a huge pool. Very cheap and plenty of room for loads of skydivers.

They have the freefall university and lets go skydive running AFF courses and there will hopefully be a new freefly school there soon. This place is growing very quickly.

Its not far from madrid and only 5 minutes from aranjuez, which has everything you would need from night clubs, resteraunts hotels and supermarkets. They are starting to run regular shuttle servies from the dropzone to aranjuez so you wont even need to rent a car.

The jumps are cheap,€20 but you can get it down to €17 if you do enough jumps. The landing area is huge and owned by the dropzone.

The actual layout of the dropzone is compact but has everything you need at the same time.

Keep looking out for this place, its gonna keep growing and in my opinion will be one of the best places to jump in europe.

This is a great DZ ! you have awesome facilites and its not stuck in the middle of no where, you actually drive past Ocana on your way south..... ahem ... anyway the crowd are great, they just crack on and are modest as hell. The skydives are awesome, some good people, and the future is going to be very very interesting here, alot of new investment will put this DZ right up there !!! Watch out !!

A genuine 45 mins from Madrid Barajas airport, and located just next to the A3 motorway - but not too close! Bar, restaurant and swimming pool with rooms available at the DZ.
Massive unobstructed landing area and good facilities with everything in its place. "Not what I expected in Spain", someone was overheard to say!

The people, how it is controlled (safety), services, all are excellent. Big and safe landing area. Independent staff and students landing area increases its safety.