Thai Sky Adventures

Around 40min of driving from Pattaya (taxi). Really hard to find taxi who knows where it is.

Dishonest business practices there, i saw poor tandem costumers who was waiting with me all day for a jump (around 10h).
I could not make my jumps, was strong wind in the of the day they start to do only tandems from 8k (I was count only 17-20sec on video). The video editing is horribly and video is shit (4500baht~130$). I would not buy it.
Doesn't have room for jumpers, there are 4 times periods in the day where you can go to 13k and that depends on if ATC gives permission or not, other times loads are to 9k
I will never recommend this DZ to anyone...
I only diffuse my bad experience. I heard in Thailand about enother DZ, but they require 500jump, maybe in next trip to country of 1000 smiles i go there.
They are listed as a reputable DZ, but my opinion NO!

Just completed my A License and become a part of the skydiving brotherhood, spent 9 Days with Thai Sky with my instructors 007 and the awesome kevin McCarthy (11,000+ AFF Instructional Jumps) There are 4 1 Hour slots a day to 13,000 Feet and when the weather is fine priority is given to AFF students then fun jumpers. The aircraft is superb , the Pilot told me it has the bigger engine and climbs at 1200 feet per minute all the way to 13K (and a new aircraft is coming in January)
The place is always busy with lots of Tandems but they explained the very limiting weather conditions for students which do not apply to the highly experienced Instructors, so, yes it can get frustrating but better safe than sorry.
Hoping to buy my first rig soon and will spend at least 1 weekend a month at TSA as commuting from Hong Kong is a bit of a financial drain, but all in all 5 stars all the way for TSA.....................

The DZ is located right beside a reservoir and on the backside of a low mountain range, this leads to a lot of turbulence in certain wind directions.

The airplane climbs fast but is very old approx. 1970's and doesn't have room for many jumpers so if you want to get a fun jumper load up you need to wait for a break in the tandems.

There are 3 times periods in the day where you can go to 13k and that depends on if ATC gives permission or not, other times loads are to 9k, if you do a tracking jump and exit after the tandems the plane is usually at 8k leaving very little freefall time.

The landing area is very large but is also public so at times there are pickup trucks freely driving around which can make landing quite treacherous. Until you have an A license you need to wear a flotation device as if you land out there is a good chance you are landing in the reservoir measuring 3.5km x 1km depending on the time of year.

As already said in another review, if you manage to get the high altitude loads, very nice place to get a couple of good jumps in. Lots of tandems so loads go up every 20 minutes, apparently they are getting a new aircraft in October 2016 which would be great as they seem to be busy enough to fill it. Weather holds can happen in between June and December.

As a beginner I felt really welcomed from the beginning and even got invited to jump with other more experience fun jumpers which for my level of experience was just ideal.

They have a fairly good shop to buy gear, they stock helmets, suits,altos, googles and even some new and second hand rigs.

It would be great if they start offering deals for blocks of tickets, like most of the big DZ's, specially for jumpers like me,that want to become regular customers and get lots of jumps in.

In my opinion, with the great location, weather, atmosphere and amount of tourists, and mostly for being the only real drop zone in the area, this place will grow and become a world class drop zone very soon.

It's difficult for me to write a review due to my unique situation. I was trying to get licensed but not actually through TSA but with independent instructors while using this DZ. The TSA instructors that I did meet there were very cool but there was some problem with the DZ owner and my independent instructors that caused me to have to cancel after 2 jumps. It left me feeling sour as I left the place. I really like my independent instructors a lot and was appreciative of the DZ for accommodating us at first. I saw a lot of tourist tandems and the customers seemed pretty happy. The AFF students that I saw appeared to be doing a lot of ground practice alone while instructors were jumping tourists. But I wasn't one of them and didn't talk to them much so I cant give a fair review. I really don't know what else to say other than I was really upset when the owner's only offer was for me to join the DZ's AFF my program was canceled. I really wanted to finish with the instructors that I sought out for 1 on 1 independent instruction. If anyone is on vacation in Thailand I would say go for a tandem jump. If you're a fun jumper and in Thailand then just do it, because there's nowhere else to go. If you want to be a student... well I'm just going to continue the endeavor when I get back to the United States. Overall I decided to recommend because I can only non-recommend for students, however I wasn't officially one of their students so my perception is skewed. I want to be fair but tell my story. By the way, there is a nice pro shop there if you need gear, rigging services or clothing.

I was there at 2015/02/02 only for one day. Aircraft arrived at noon, so I had to wait two hours. But there is a nice coffee shop.

After checking my documents and a briefing on the landing area, I could buy a ticket (incl. rent for rig) and was manifested for the next free load.

There are three time slots for 13.000 ft: 11-12, 13-14 and 15-16. Other times are 9.000 ft.

I did 3 jumps, including the sunset load. After my last landing, I get a can of cold LEO beer, nice gesture.

I you know about the time slots, I can recommend this drop zone without any limitations.

Sorry for my bad english... :-)

Dirk

People have complained about tandems and sure they do as many tandems as they can... that is what is going to pay for the place to stay open. I get that. They can take 8 jumpers, that mean 2 tandems and video, which means to fun jumpers can get on every load, minimum. But you have to speak up! The atmosphere was comfortable and was very inclusive from the beginning. I think where the complainers go wrong is they are not proactive at the DZ, they are not ready for loads and do not speak up to get on the board... they want everything to be done for them. All the instructors know what's going on and are super experienced, Jonny, Troy and Slava are good guys, but huge respect for Jonny Guru, the place wouldn't be what it is if he wasn't there.

I did my first tandem at Thai sky adventures last august! The staff are so friendly and professional, making my first sky dive an amazing experience! Amazing view on the way down.. Perfect location!! Could not fault it! Also close to pattaya, near many other amazing tourist locations! I would definately recommend jumping with Thai sky! The video and photos were excellent so can relive my jump!! Can't wait to to jump again!!!! Amazing

I went to TSA to get my A license and I got it!
I had the best instructor but they are all awesome with heaps of experience.
Wind can be a bit annoying with waiting around, but it is what it is. One of the owners was really good at making sure I got on loads to get the jumps needed for the license. Also the fun jumpers there are super friendly.
You should pay them a visit.

I went here for AFF and I recommend that you do not come here as a student.

It is a tandem business only. If there is a space the manager might put one of the AFF, A license students or fun jumpers on but they con the students to pay already so it makes no difference to leave them on the ground. They close early and start late dependent on when the tandems arrive, even with full loads of students and fun jumpers waiting.

Organization is poor from the start, paid deposit and spoke to DZ a few times and they still were not expecting me. They don't give any information before, only what's on the website which is all wrong.

Instructors are great, professional, experienced and friendly and they will try to get you put on a load but the manager has his focus and it's for tandem business. Hope this works to make money, maybe in a few years it will be a good DZ to fun jump.

Also it's only 9,000 not 13,000 as on website...Big difference when learning free fall skills.

Spent a lot of time here recently and after visiting many dropzones, I can honestly say Thailand is the place to jump!

Did the AFF course here after reading the reviews on here and trip advisor. All I can say is this is a totally professional setup with good Instructors, top quality equipment and a fun atmosphere. Sure, like any setup there are a few problems, the video editing is horribly slow but just about everything else is top class. Thanks to all the guys and gals for a great 2 weeks in Thailand

Love it, awesome place, jumped after 6 years but the staff helped me greatly in the retraining process and helped me break my jinx. Will be jumping here every 2 months

- they promise the world to you and are NOT honest

-on the website they promise 13000feet / but they are NEVER going above 9000 feet

-Tandems are ALWAYS priority

-you make 2 jumps max

-plane is used for VIPs as well

- only go there if you just want to jump once or twice and don`t care

- DON`T do AFF there ...

Can not emphasise how amazing the staff, Jose and Peter and all the guys are soo good. Always happy faces . Really professional multi-lingual staff

They were quick to get people in the air and the videos were really good quality

Overall a great experience

Thai sky is a newly established drop zone, so there are areas to improve but every time i visit they are moving in the right direction....

The staff are friendly, welcoming and the nearby town of pattaya is a great place to stay, hang out and party with great beaches, unrivalled nightlife, great food etc. It's close to Bangkok International airport for connections and only 40 minutes from Bangkok and all that has to offer!

Only one aircracft for now but they seem to be seriously working on improving that.

Seem to be professional operation with proper respect to safety standards but stll plenty of fun to be had. Both on and off the drop zone.

I can't wait to see how they are doing in 1-2-3-4-5 years as they expand and establish themselves. More aircraft will be a good improvement but in the meantime it's a great place to spend a week!

I showed up one weekend and had a blast there.. It's a beatifully placed DZ, next to a lake.. The facilities are all brand new and it is a big improvement from the old DZ facilities. The airplane is in really good condition it seemed and there is a resturaunt or 2 very near. They were in the middle of building a gun range, massage parlor, and some other things from the look of it. It's a new DZ so there were some issues, but the staffed seemed to be willing to hear me out and work with me on some things.. It is Thailand.. Cool people, good vibes, I'd go back there. Go check it out.

I lived in Thailand for over 5 years (2007 to 2012) and as a Skydiver since 2004 (still only 70 jumps but lots of windtunnel time, 17h), I only heard about Pattaya DZ (Thai Sky Adventure and didnt know about the other one Bird's Paradise at that time which is the opposite feelings of this review) and being close to Bangkok, it was practical for me to go there and also to stay sometimes in Pattaya.

In June 2011, when it was still in the previous location near Pattaya, I went for a recurrency jump and did 2 more jumps, there was no issues at that time and the instructors and staff seemed friendly...

In 2013, after they re-opened in the new location (lake reserve area further away from Pattaya beach), the bad experience all started... I will only summarize the most annoying parts from my experience, but after discussions with other jumpers, TSA (Thai Sky Adventure) has a bad reputation and seems to be cheating and stealing and lying to customers...

First of all, the exit altitude is now 9000ft (from my experience in Feb-Mar 2013). When the clouds are below 9000ft, they sometimes drop you at 8000ft to have a visibility below clouds. While doing that they cancelled the AFF students and bring them down but still drop the tandems so they don't have to refund them obviously and still drop them from lower altitudes.

This DZ is totally oriented Tandems and Marketting. They pickup tourists on Pattaya Beach 3 or 4 times a day and bring them to the DZ... like 6, 7 tandems a day was common at that time...
I met 2 AFF students who joined the program for A-license that they offer (25 jumps) but those guys (including myself) were never able to jump.

It was always tandems in priority...

I spent 5 days from 7:30am to 5pm hoping for a slot on each plane and managed to jump only 3 times... Even fun jumpers coming would jump the same day and leave the 3 students on the side claiming the winds are above 14mph or 12mph but will pick up (winds were actually 10-12mph most of the time)...

I ended up wanting to do a tandem jump to be able to jump (ridiculous when you have over 70 solo jumps).

Then trying to take a video or a coach jump seems a huge complicated task as they are all booked for tandems of course...

They even sadly offer me 2 "available" instructor but incompetent to me... One is above 70yo and I was his first coach jump, the person couldnt even start or set-up his go-pro properly and the video results is so poor, he dived after me and never managed to come close to me... I was looking for him the entire dive (while doing my program too)... Big waste... The second "available" instructor is like 50kg or less and no way he could jump with me (90kg)...

Some good instructors are there but unfortunately too busy...

I understand busy DZ and tandems priority to make the DZ leave or survive (grow) but this one is particularly outstanding...

They would feel bad for me (and the other 2 students) waiting all day each day with hope and apologize by the end of the day when the beers appear. They would even tell me to come at 8am the next day and would be guaranteed a slot on the first load...

Then being in Pattaya (party city) and combining it with Skydiving is not possible so I had to sacrifice party and showed up each days at 7:30am but to discover that tandem customers just appeared from nowhere and it was not possible for me to jump...

I did my recurrency jump but could only do 2 more jumps in the next 4 days... I was willing to do 4 or 5 jumps a day if I could...

I had at that time jumped in 8 DZ in 5 countries in 9 years with only 60 jumps but never got the A license. I was willing to do that and time and budget was not the problem for me but TSA never helped.

I now have 75 jumps and got A and B license (seriously as per the book with proper canpoy training, exams, check dives, water practical training) from Bird's Paradise in the North of Thailand and I am motivated again to continue this amazing sport...

TSA staff is one of those DZ that demotivates people and erase the fun of this sport (to make money out of low altitude commercial tandems)

I will never recommend this DZ to anyone...
I only diffuse my bad experience (and actually have much more to say outside this review section) but I will continue trying to go there at least once a year to confirm my statements or hopefully to see it improve to my expectations....

Turbine P6,moved DZ and closed over 1 year, find them on FB and ask any jumper who has visited.

Dishonest business practices-
DZ takes bookings and money from tandem passengers and when the customers show up or call-no response(search them on www.tripadvisor.com).

Failure to report aircraft accidents, falsification of reports and documents. (Refer to Aviation Dept. of Thailand)

Profit motivation to fail students, rather than safety motivation.

Investigation resulting in Instructor loss of ratings( refer to USPA). Amazing, they are listed as a reputable DZ.

Infighting, visible to customers

If you just want to tick of your log for a turbine P-6 in Thailand, enjoy and with extremely low expectations you might get a glimmer of light.

It's warm, possible to jump year round(windows to jump even during rainy season) and plenty of relaxation away from the DZ.

Not a place for fun and relaxation. Bad vibes, bad organization and service operation issues