Restrictions


USPA membership Not Required
AADs Not Required
Hook turns Allowed

What it costs


Jump tickets at 16 GBPto 15000ft

Fast growing fun dz, offering £13 slots for those undergoing FS or FF coaching. We drop from FL150 which is normally around 15000ft but when the air pressure is high it can be as much as 16000ft Hovercrafts for the weather holds. Come and jump the UKs biggest and best full time jumpship from the highest altitude and the lowest price in the UK! For more info on our DZ add "Skydive Chatteris" on Facebook.

Aircraft


Twin Otter

Facilities


Where we jump


Chatteris Airfield
LAT: 52.4857595610785
LNG: 0.090551376342773

Contact Us


Chatteris Airfield, March, Cambridge, PE15 0FB, United Kingdom
0871 664 0113
0871 664 0114 (FAX)
Website
E-mail

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FJB

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I did a tandem jump for a charity on my 50th birthday. Never done anything like this before. We arrived an hour before the place was open and there were already other people there. This meant that I was on the first plane that day. I jumped with someone called Mike who was very nice and kind and took great care of me. They are very safety conscious and do all they can to make you feel at ease. My jump was late November so it was pretty cold - wear lots of layers. Great place and MUCH cheaper than others that I considered which meant that more money went to the charity. Highly recommended. By 10am we were on our way back to London. They are fast, efficient and professional.

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CC83

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I had the most amazing day 8.10.13 at the North London Skydiving School set in the beautiful fenland in Cambridge...I have no complaints whatsoever, the staff were wonderful and the site was perfection to a tee for me!

No pleasing some people it seems, but I was more than pleased. Ecstatic is probably the best word to describe the whole experience and I want to jump again and again and again... Raised money with a colleague and 2 clients for the charity we work for and we were all treated fantastically. I loved the canteen, the grounds, the changing room, even the loos!! :)

Thank you to the greatest Team I was so blessed to meet, for giving me a day ill never forget... my trainer Gary and instructor Glenn were angels in disguise. To all of you, I'm so jealous of your profession and ill be returning next year. Unforgettable and perfection personified. I would highly recommend you give it a go. Best wishes to all the peeps at NLSC. CC x

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Wings33

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konstantinovs review was word by word my experience, I wish I had found these reviews before losing £300.... I have been there 3 times unable to jump, by now I have given up any hopes.


- "North London Parachuting Centre" is misleading, the centre is quite far from Cambridge.

- They always tell you to show up, once you are there they say its unlikely to there would be any jump but things change quickly so maybe you should wait... By leaving these small windy they keep you fooled for hours (spending money in their coffee shop). I believe they perfectly know that there are some days weather wont change but they are never bluntly honest that is just not going to happen...

- The website gives the impression that you could have a nice day while waiting because they have other activities, this is not true, there is nothing to do but wait in the car for nothing to happen.

- The accessibility of this centre is poor, to say the least. If you don't drive then you're in a pretty bad position. We had to take the first train from London as well as a taxi from the station which amounted to £50, and we arrived at 10am, solidly at the bottom of the jump queue. Of course we could've come the previous day and stayed in the centre's accommodation but that would've amassed even more costs.

- Most of the people there on the day seemed to be people returning after cancelled jumps so it seems their jump percentage is very low indeed.

I believe the business takes advantage of all those people that get tired of showing once and again. If its so unlikely that there would be a jumping conditions they should not sell so many places and they should let you know in advance what is their "success" rate. By the way, the centre is surrounded by wind turbines - so the area is obviously prone to winds

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LouiseB24

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First time skydive 14/8/2013
I was unsure of going due to the negitivity of the previous reviews, but I had already booked.
States first come first serve. We left Portsmouth at 3.30am, managed to get to the airfield by 7am - due to roadworks. There was already a few people waiting before us.
Friendly staff, never used canteen as we brought our own food/drink. After training we just sat in the car till we was called... We were jumpers 10 & 11 so waited just over an hour.
Jump was amazing, my instructor knew i was very on edge - dont like heights nor planes.. But made me at ease. It was amazing to do this. But felt sorry for the people with ticket numbers 30+ - but then it dose state first come first serve.. They can only send so many people up at once. I will be going again...

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demoknite

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It's been almost a year since Ive been here, but my view from a fun jumper perspective. I believe it used to be quite the tandem factory, but with the twin otter and cheap jump tickets they are trying to attract some fun jumpers. However they are not quite there yet so they do the loads in cycles of 2 wherein they shut the plane down after the second load while the instructors pack the tandem parachutes back. So between them not having packers and not very many fun jumpers this makes for slow turn around even though they have the otter. If you come at first light leave at sunset you might get 4 jumps perhaps 5.

North London is a bit of a stretch as it's in the Fens. Almost every DZ in the UK could use the name. Fun jumpers know to bring their own food and drink so no complaints about the canteen from me. Never had it.

Landing area is massive. You can land anywhere in the fens and they will come get you.

The staff can be a bit grizzly and full of themselves depending on the day. They all take part in packing, collecting money, cleaning up, etc so they are usually very busy. The other club jumpers are some of the friendliest Ive ever met and will change suits just to jump with you.
This could be the UK's Perris Valley or Elsinore once they get a few logistical kinks worked out. If they still even have them.

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RealFood

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Have just had an unbelievable experience at Chatteris today and not in a good way.

I did my AFF ground school and Level 1 with them back at the end of June 2012 but as the weather was so bad and because I had got the bug, decided to go to Freefall Universtity in Spain (which was amazing by the way).

Came back to UK and did another 10 jumps at Chatteris and then when their twin Otter was out of action (and I was told I wouldn't get any lifts in the other plane due to Tandems) went and did some jumping at Headcorn. Subsequently went back to Spain for a week at the end of October and then last weekend a couple of jumps at Headcorn, before returning to Chatteris today with 65 jumps completed.

On arrival was told that the rental rigs I would use were out with AFF students but they might come free later on, so I hung around for 2 hours. Eventually Gary asked to check my docs and log book and then asked what I weighed. I am 6ft 5" and weigh 16.5 stone, which he knows, as this was an issue at the time of booking my AFF level 1. Nevertheless, he put me on the scales (fully clothed with winter gear and shoes on) and said since I was slightly over 17st, I couldn't jump!
I know there are weight limits and had gone through all this as an AFF student, but I am utterly staggered that after 65 jumps (including 10 at Chatteris) and being exactly the same weight as I was back in June, that suddenly this was not OK.

I can only speculate as to what happened here - maybe they resented the fact that I went to Spain to complete my AFF; maybe the fact that I recommended Freefall University to another Level 1 student (who they had just told not to bother coming back until he spent some time in a wind tunnel) who subsequently took that advice and has now got his A licence; maybe they had just decided to get rigorous with their rules (although being explicit on what basis the weight limit is measured would be useful), but if so it would suggest negligence prior to today. Of course its possible that they just didn't like me, but this would of course be a very unprofessional way to drive out people you didn't like.

Overall, my experiences at Chatteris have been OK until today, although as far as I am concerned they are not particularly enthusiastic about progressing recently qualified jumpers. If you are still renting a rig, they always seem to make it difficult and they don't like any communication prior to coming up to try to make sure equipment will be available as they rather expect you to make the journey and take pot luck.

After today , I will never be going back, even when I have my own rig, as I feel that the treatment I got today was really shabby and at best seriously inconsistent. I don't suppose they will shed any tears, as inevitably it is the tandem factory that is their main focus, although whenever I meet other skydivers in this very small community, you can be sure I will be communicating exactly what I feel about them.

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konstantinovs

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First of all, let me just express my amusement at the fact that this place is called the "North London Parachuting Centre". Being north of the M25 (by quite a distance I might add) does not qualify as north London. I live quite near to Scotland, but I'll start telling people I live in North London from now on.

I originally booked my tandem skydive for June 2011, paying £195. We were told in the run-up to the day that we should turn up to the centre no matter what the forecast, as the weather can change for the better at any moment. Sure enough, the forecast was very windy and rainy. But we did as instructed and turned up in hope.

The accessibility of this centre is poor, to say the least. If you don't drive then you're in a pretty bad position. We had to take the first train from London as well as a taxi from the station which amounted to £50, and we arrived at 10am, solidly at the bottom of the jump queue. Of course we could've come the previous day and stayed in the centre's accommodation but that would've amassed even more costs.

Upon arrival, we were told immediately that it was almost certain that there would be no jumps that day, and we were free to stick around or go home. Good on them for telling us the truth and I appreciate that they have no control over the british weather. But they proceeded to tell us that we could've phoned the centre in the morning before setting off to see the forecast, which could've potentially saved us the journey. So why did they originally tell us to come to the centre no matter what the forecast? Very poor communication there!

Because I was not in the country for the rest of the year, the next opportunity I had to jump was June of 2012. I was told to pay an extra £25 because I had waited more than 6 months. This I find unacceptable - people who are forced to reschedule because of bad weather should not be penalised. If anything, they should be given preferential treatment at the least. There was nothing I could do about this so I had to pay the 25. However, the jump was called off AGAIN due to windy conditions, thereby putting travel costs and time to waste.

I rescheduled again for September 2012. Again, it was cancelled due to wind. I had to pay an extra £10 because I was over 15 stone. I am not conscious about my weight at all but I can imagine for some other people it would be very offending to be weighed in front of everybody else in the reception area and then told to pay the "fat-tax". I'm not sure why this "fat-tax" must be paid before the jump given that a large number of jumps seem to get cancelled. After the jump was cancelled I was not refunded the money until I was driving away and remembered to ask them myself. I can only imagine the number of people they've conned with that little trick.

Three times I have wasted an entire day travelling to this place only to find out it was cancelled. The total cost is approaching £300 now, in addition to all the time spent travelling. The fact that they are totally unaccommadating with regards to financial costs is quite insulting. Most of the people there on the day seemed to be people returning after cancelled jumps so it seems their jump percentage is very low indeed. What baffles me more is that the centre is surrounded by wind turbines - so the area is obviously prone to winds...

I will not be in the country for the next couple of months, so it looks like the next best opportunity I will have to jump is spring 2013. This will probably mean another £25 charge. I fail to understand how this makes sense, and it certainly does not encourage customers to return for another jump, or to promote the centre to friends.

On top of this, the "cafe" is extremely overpriced and seating is severely lacking indoors for those days when it is too cold to stand around outside.

On a more pleasant note, most of the instructors did seem knowledgeable and friendly. However, this did not make up for all the shortcomings of this centre.

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xxcarinaxx

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Can't believe the amount of complaints. 'I had a blast!'. I did arrive first time, we got training, had to cancel and go back home due to bad weather conditions. 27th July 12 was my day :D shame I didn't catch my instructors name. He made my experiance more special and exciting. He really made me feel at ease. The staff are fun, crazy, polite and chatty. Reception friendly and helpful. Just like we had expected. I am sorry to the guys whom got a bad experiance from the centre, but I believe and my collegues that it is not as bad as people are portrait it to be. I will defiantly be going again.

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Tea

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I've only done one jump, so count this review however you wish.

First impressions of the site had me a bit worried. Superficially, it's not the prettiest of places BUT it has everything you might need: Canteen, huge bloody plane, rigs, grass runway - errm, a friendly cat.

So anyway, I was trained for my AFF L1 by a man who clearly knows his stuff. This experience brought with it a bit of an ego but I'd prefer to be trained by a supremely confident person when my life is in their hands. I left the AFF Groundschool ready for anything.

The morning of the jump came, but not before several weeks had passed. I had been ill and I live in London (This DZ is nowhere near London!). Terrified, I had my preflight briefing and morning training with the chief instructor of the DZ. He was less than impressed with how badly I had retained the information and how my nerves were interfering with what I had learned, and he made no attempt to hide this fact.

We drilled, drilled and drilled again until he was satisfied. Some might have called his demeanour rude and intimidating but you never know, his honesty and kick-up-the-backside attitude might have saved my life. I hope every beginner who can't recite every aspect of their training to the letter receives the same treatment - it really drives home the importance of everything.

I was on the first lift of the day with a bunch of tandems, a regular skydiver, a recently qualified and two other AFF (Consol 6 and L4) students. I was terrified. However, one of the instructors was chatty and pretty much said that what I was feeling was normal.

The jump went well. One of my fellow AFF student had to help me with my rig in the absence of any staff. I had to wait quite a while for my debrief as well, but this is understandable as the weather was closing in and the DZ had to do a few more loads (they are a business after all).

Debrief went well, and was very honest. I had some weaknesses, but I passed my L1. I will be back for sure in the new year.

Don't be put off by the apparent egos, attitudes, etc. These people are literally dealing with life, death and rank amateurs (like myself). What matters is the quality of the training (excellent), the facilities (good), the experience (life changing) and the feedback (honest, thorough, relevant).

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seaweedknees

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Great DZ thats always got lifts going up when the weathers good. Open midweek too which is a bonus!

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pumpshackle

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Recently did a tandem skydive there and absolutely loved it.

I decided to write a review of the place as I feel many of the previous reviews are totally unjustified and unfortunately, people usually only write reviews when they want to write a bad one.

Like many others I was unlucky with the weather the first time but guess what.... that's just the way it goes, skydiving like many other adventure activities is weather dependant. Yeah the cafe is a bit pricey and the food is quite rubbish but if you don't like it, nip down the shops like I did and get your own stuff. Easy.

Yeah sitting around waiting for good weather is mind numbingly boring, but the staff are in the same boat except in their case bad weather means no money.

The place is great and the instructors couldnt have been more helpful or professional. I absolutely would recommend this centre to anyone, just check the weather before you travel.

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Tim080772

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After a bad experience at another drop zone the day before, I was pleasantly surprised by the welcome I received here.

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BangTheBOmb

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I have been here twice now for a tandem skydive for charity - both times I've not been unable to jump due to the weather (low cloud/wind).

I've re-booked for the third time but as my original jump was on a Wednesday (which is cheaper), I can't get another jump until July, which is not exactly ideal, especially as I'm jumping for a charity.

However, we live in the UK and have to expect the weather to not be great at times so I understand this.

I do however have several reasons why I would never go here again (once and if I do finally get a jump).

The main one is that they are not up front with you. The last time I was there all looked good, until we went in for training at around 9am, when the instructor said the immortal words 'if we jump today'. I should have read more into this at the time as I ended up spending all day sitting in my car, before going home at 630pm. We heard absolutely nothing from the staff until 12pm when we had a weather update that it should clear up by 4pm. At 4pm we had a similar update - should be better about 6pm. It wasn't. Again I know the weather can't be blamed but they must know from experience what to expect. I think they are more interested in making money from the cafe (were it is made VERY clear no contraband must be eaten or drunk there).

If they had been more honest from the start and said at 9am 'look - there is a good chance there may be no jumps today' it would have given people an opportunity to leave earlier. (I had a 2 1/2 hour drive each way).

When booking in I was told (not asked) to get on some scales and charged additional as I was 'overweight' at 15 stone 2 pounds - Again to a degree I understand, but it was quite embarrassing as was done in front of everyone.

The 'cafe' does not offer much and is very expensive.

The website advertised hovercrafts for use on a track during the day - these were not operational.

The wind tunnel did not seem to be available for use (although I never asked, it was never offered).

As we sat around bored for hours, some of the staff were chasing each other around and mucking about in a very unprofessional way - They could have spent more of their time getting things working as above, or at least giving more regular updates.

The cost of photo's DVD's and VHS video's ?, seem to me to be very expensive (not far off the cost of the jump itself).

One poor girl there was in the office when I was and was upset because this was the 6th jump she had turned up for but could not do, and her ticket was barely up to six months old, meaning they had to pay an extra £25 to extend. She had paid for train fares/taxis each time and the people in the office would not budge one bit - you would think they would have at least offered her one more jump slot free of charge as a matter of decency.

In general, you can't blame the weather, but the place doesn't offer you much in the way of activities or customer service and there are signs all over the place basically saying 'don't moan or you will be kicked out'. They seem to be there for your money I'm afraid.

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tality

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I bought my boyfriend his first sky dive for his birthday yesterday, and he took a day's holiday off work so that we could get the reduced rate that you pay at this centre if you attend on a Wednesday (I'm a student, so this rate -£165- is still a lot for me actually, but I thought an experience like this would be worth the cost).

After a long journey and having to stay overnight in a guesthouse nearby, we arrived at 7am and were second in the queue. We had been told beforehand that if the weather conditions were right, jumping could commence at 9am. However, the staff took a long time to get everyone registered and only took my boyfriend in for training at around ten past 9 - at which point the weather was fine for jumping (as confirmed by a member of centre staff). After a lot of faffing around and trying to sell him a video (for £140), they got him into his suit along with a bunch of other people. At five to ten they were finally ready to board the plane, and as they were about to get on, one of the centre staff called them back. It took a while for us to find out what was going on, but it turned out that the wind had literally just picked up too much, and it was no longer safe to jump (the limit is 23mph, and the speed had gone from 23 to 28mph in the time it had taken for them to train him and get him ready, all of which SHOULD have been done BEFORE 9am).

Had the centre staff been more organised, he would've been able to jump yesterday. Instead, we ended up sitting around for an entire day to see whether the wind would drop, and finally being told to go home at 4:30 after having waited for nine and a half hours. I wish I had spent the £250 it has SO FAR cost me (counting train fare and overnight at a guesthouse as well as the £165 I have so far paid to them) on something else.

Now, I understand perfectly that these people can neither control nor predict the weather, and that's fine. However, the entire process of jumping takes about 15mins, and they had a window from 9 till 10 when the weather was fine for jumping, and they missed it because they were not organised enough. Furthermore, I found their attitude quite rude towards their customers. For example, there are signs up all round the place that are pretty appallingly worded - one says 'Food/drink not purchased in the canteen is not allowed!!!!!!!!!!!' and I am not joking about all the exclamation marks. It seems a bit rich to make you have to buy their canteen food after you've paid so much money to be there already, especially when all they sell are pretty expensive burgers and chips (which I really didn't want given how unhealthy it is), and it's £1.50 just for a cup of tea. There were also signs up which said sky-diving is a weather-dependent activity and if you can't handle that, then don't book in the first place. This, to me, indicates a failure on the part of the centre to understand and respond to the needs of their customers. Obviously, if we had attended, waited, and been turned away in any manner it would have been disappointing. However, there is a complete lack of empathy from the staff about the situation, and you are given very few alternative options because you are NOT ENTITLED TO A REFUND.

All you can do is come back again and again in order to try to jump again, most probably having the very same experience several times before actually managing to jump. Plus, if you want to jump on a different day - because, like us, you have booked time off work to attend mid-week, but can't afford to do so again - they charge you more money (another £55 on top of what you've already paid) to attend at the weekend, so there is absolutely no attempt made to make it easier on you next time given what a rubbish time you've had of it already!

They do say on their website and in their paperwork that it is a weather dependent activity, I'll give them that. However, I believe they do not make clear just how unlikely it is that you will be able to jump on your first attempt. I assumed that, say, 80% of the time you will be able to jump, but we spoke to numerous other people yesterday, and most of them were individuals who had attempted to jump three, four and five times, without success. I'd say you probably only have a 20-30% chance of jumping first time. If I'd realised it was that unlikely before, I would never have booked this in the first place. And now I KNOW how unlikely it is, I'd like to get at least SOME of my money back so that we don't have to pay rail fare and bed and breakfast fees to most probably have to undergo the very same TERRIBLE experience yet again. I would much rather take him out for a plush meal somewhere than ever return here.

As I say, I appreciate that they cannot control the weather and that is fine, but a little more warning about the unlikelihood of jumping first time would've been appreciated, as would some empathy when people are disappointed. The opportunity of being able to eat our own food while waiting for nine hours just to be turned away, would also have been appreciated, as would the opportunity to claim back at least SOME of the money spent rather than being roped into either (i) losing all of it for nothing or (ii) returning again for, most probably, the very same experience. I wouldn't have minded losing my £50 deposit, for example, but I paid an extra £115 yesterday to sit there and drink expensive tea in a horrible environment. Should one hire equipment to go scuba diving, and be unable to go because the sea is too choppy, it is equally not the fault of the people who hire the equipment out to you that you cannot make use of it, but they GIVE YOU YOUR MONEY BACK, and I don't see why sky diving should be any different. They haven't spent any money on aeroplane fuel etc., the staff man the centre ever day anyway, and they've made fairly extortionate amounts out of you by insisting that you buy their food and drink from their rubbish canteen. I imagine many people do not bother coming back here after their initial experience of the place, which means they make £200 or so out of each individual, and in many cases do not deliver what has been handsomely paid for.

My advice would be: unless you live somewhere fairly close by, from which it is relatively easy and inexpensive to get to, and unless you don't mind returning on several occasions before actually completing a jump, do NOT book with these people. Don't give them the business, they are undeserving of it. Ideally, if you are going regardless of my best warnings against, drive there and take CDs with you and food to eat in your car, and, as I say, only go if you don't mind the almost certain prospect of return.

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stephski86

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I think a lot of the reviews on here are either out of date or unfair. After reading them yesterday before my jump today, I was expecting the worst, but it was great! It was slightly difficult to find, and the road in is very bumpy. Parking is fine, toilets weren't very clean but were acceptable. We didn't use any of the facilities such as the cafe or wind tunnel, and didnt pay the extra for photos/videos. I was jumping with my partner, and we arrived at 8am, being one of the last to get there. We queued for a while (lots of people to register) then we had to fill out forms and return them. The first jumpers went up at half 9, and we did have to wait a while, but we had jumped by half 1 being numbers 44 and 45 on the registered list. We were worried the weather wouldnt be good enough, it wasnt windy but it was very grey and cloudy so we were expecting them not to jump but they did it anyway! The training was a bit limited, but then I guess there's not much to know, and they did try the hard sell with the photos and videos, but generally everyone was friendly. My only concern was that they would say 'any questions?' and then not really leave much of a gap for you to think of one before they were onto the next thing.They seemed quite rushed to get everyone up but everyone who came did get to jump, no one missed out. The instructors were great, at least ours were.In the plane they're all very chatty and reassuring, and when you're parachuting down they point out where you're landing, your altitude etc etc. I was nervous but he really made me feel at ease. Overall, I have no complaints. They weren't at all over booked, the weather was bad but they still let us jump, and the instructors (apart from one guy who didnt seem to enjoy his job) were all enthusiastic and also reassuring about any concerns. Yes you may have to wait, but we brought our family to watch, all had a picnic on the benches, and it was great watching the other jumpers tumbling out of the plane as tiny dots and then landing right in front of you.

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Robert_Davis

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This is a great place to jump. The staff are professional and friendly.
I had to return 3 times before the weather was suitable for me to jump but hey, thats the british weather for you. The jump was AWESOME and I hope to repeat the experience in the not too distant future.
I will of course be returning to the North london Parachute Centre.
Like the last guy said, dont listen to the whingers, some people just arent happy unless theyre complaining.

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JCrabbe

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We had brilliant day. 17 of us turned up on an earlier visit but because low cloud & high winds it got binned. Glad it was = on the second attempt 10 of us made the day - it was blazing hot, blue skies. We all had different instructors & everyone was calm, funny & made the day.
Don't listen to whingers - expect to be there all day, take a picnic, have a laugh & chill.

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bunnytops

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I am so disappointed in the negative reviews on this website as I feel they are completely un-justified!

Weather in this country is always going to play a major part and I should know- I had my jump cancelled 6 times!! However, each time I always found the staff extremely helpful. They give you plenty of advice (if you ask for it)and a link to the met office website. They can't jump in conditions of low cloud or in wind speeds of 23 mph or more (which is why it always pays to look at the gust speeds as well). Therefore, if the weather looks particularly bad then you can ring them on the morning of your jump day and you can re-arrange your if they advise of bad weather......which is great because I live a 2 hours drive away so in all I only had 2 wasted trips down!!

I rang the airfield Thursday 1st July because the weather was looking better on Friday 2nd July than it was on the Sunday 4th (the day I was booked in). To my surprise they were extremely helpful and said I was more than welcome to come down on the Friday instead. So we did- we got there and thick cloud had come over........but we were told that if it cleared it would be 3 hours from the first plane load leaving to me jumping. 12pm the first plane went up........3pm I got into the plane 3.30pm I was the happiest girl in the world having just jumped out and landed safely!!!

All it takes is a little common sense- the instructors love their job and want to get as many people jumping as possible in a day. Check the weather forecasts the night before and the morning of your jump (they can really change!) and you should be fine!!

As for over priced food then yes I agree. But there is an area that you can eat your own food and lots of picnic areas outside.

And as for refunds then I agree with the centre not giving them. You are warned that parachute jumping is an all day event, you are given the option to go home if the weather isn't great (they wait until mid-day in case the weather does improve....no one wants to be sent home too early now do they?!), re-booking is easy, and they will help you out with the weather if you don't understand what conditions are needed for jumping in.

To the gentleman who said that a 'few' photos for £80 was a rip off then I would strongly disagree. I had over 100 photos, which are amazing- great quality and I also purchsaed the video, which everyone agrees was well worth the money!


Thanks to the North London Parachute Centre for one of the best days of my life!!! I would reccommend them to anyone!!

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hammo999

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Went with daughter and family. Daughter was booked to do a Tandem. Told to be there at 8.30.a.m and told we could be there until 8.p.m. if weather not good. Ok fine! Understand the english weather thing.We Don't know about wind speeds and cloud cover and the likelihood of jumping, as we are new at this game.
So it would have been nice if we had been given some idea first thing when we booked in. Instead I had to take to drinking copeous amount of tea at £1.50 a throw. what a con! Costing 6 quid a round of teas I thought i was back in the Pub.And you cant eat your own food in cafe area! Why not! You can take over £200 quid off of my daughter and make me stay there most of the day but you also want me to buy your crap food too.
Well we heard nothing from them until about 12.pm when they took you in for "Training " or should I say "Selling" as most of the chat was on how you should have a DVD done at £100 or a few pics for £85.
Then at about 1.p.m they told us that there would be no jumping today. Cheers for letting us know so early, Glad you got a bucket full of teas out of us and glad you made a few quid from others on the wind free fall simulator thing before you told us what was going on and sent us packing with very light wallets.
They also have a few computers in the cafe areas to use.. Thats good i thought. Do you remember years ago when you had a computer that took most of the day to load a page, well, they are here at the north London Parachute centre. North London! No where near london. I live in Essex and I am about 50 mile closer to London than they are. OO and one last thing. I was not dissapointed when i visited the toilets and shower area.. Dirty and what i expected. Come on you lot , sort it out and dont treat us like idiots.

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kittt

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I have worked as a freelance instructor at NLPC. The instructors are among the most experienced and current in the country, because it is a busy well organised centre. They do not overbook, because all the people booked in will jump given reasonable weather. The centre has a reputation for safety, so if the weather conditions are not suitable, parachutists have to wait until they are suitable. There is a weather update at midday, if there is a delay, so parachutists are kept informed. There are days which are less busy, usually, tuesday, thursday and friday. If you want to jump early, make the effort to get there early, to book in early, as a first come, first jump, seems the fairest system to all. The centre probably also has the least expensive skydives for first time jumpers in the UK. Skydivers are used to waiting for the weather to clear up, first time skydivers are not. There is a canteen, with internet access and a pool table, plus a wind tunnel and hovercraft, to pass the time.

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jumpvirgin

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I'm not going to write a novel here, there's no need. Everyone else has already pointed out the bad points about the North London Parachute Centre, I just wish I'd listened to them before purchasing a tandem jump.

I've been to the centre three times now without being able to jump. The weather has been fine each day, they've simply overbooked the days so I sit around all day waiting and then get sent home. Frustrating!

When I finally tried to get a refund I was practically told to get stuffed and it was made clear that I was no longer welcome in the office.

I'll be going to the small claims court for a refund.

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soulrider

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I had my first Tandem jump with them on the 9th of July and after booking and receiving my information pack I had to say finding the place (which is an hours drive away for me) was pretty easy and the directions provided were spot on. All though warnings about the unmarked police vans on the A141 would be helpful.

Right from when I arrived the place and set-up looked very professional, and when booking in I was treated really well and given information on what will happen etc. We then had the brief shortly after which again was really well done and the fact the instructors had a laugh and joke with us made the experience all the better. sitting on the plane this continued with friendly banter through out and generally a good vibe. Which really helped to keep you relaxed.

The sky dive itself was amazing as expected which is why I'm now booked on an AFF course in Spain. I would thoroughly recommend this DZ and all though it does seem to be a DZ focused mainly on students I will be returning once qualified to try and get in some fun jumps.

Give the DZ a try before writing it off, after all if you jump in this country you are going to be reliant on the weather what ever DZ you are at.

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Skydog9

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Hi there, North London Parachute centre is my local dropzone, I have spent several years jumping here now. Many of the reviews on this sight are totally unfare as they are mainly to do with weather, (wind or cloud base)
If you are a tandem student, this drop zone is very busy however the proffesionalism of the instructors and video work is outstanding. As I understand they carry out more tandems here than anywhere else. The staff have always got time for any questions posed to them.
Rightly so the weekends and wednesdays get extremely busy, thats why a first come first jump policy exists, when initially booking you are told about this.
With regards to students whether it be RAPS or AFF this dropzone offers excellent tuition and I have seen many people graduate through the system. Some of which are competing at high standards, or instructors themselves.
Finally if you are a student and wish to progress you need to understand that certain weather conditions apply to you for your own safety and therefore you may remain on the ground whilst tandems continue jumping. If this annoys you take up golf as this isnt the sport for you, or jump overseas as the weather is in the hands of the gods, not the staff at NLPC.
Before you knock this place come and jump here and enjoy the use of the outstanding facilties, Wind tunnel ect.
If not your loss.

Safe jumping!

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paneaj

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Lets get the bad stuff out of the way first. I have to say we had to wait the whole day for a tandem jump. However when we did do it it was one of the best things I have ever done. I was terrified of doing it but the instructors were really friendly, calming and funny!

You may have to wait a while but Its definitely a good place to go

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GeorgeRa

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I'm truly fed up with the north London parachute centre. As with everyone else, I've now had my 4th visit to the place without being able to jump.

I not only want a refund but I want my expenses paid. If they weren't so stupid and greedy trying to get so many people up in one day then I wouldn't keep wasting my petrol and time driving to the darn place.

You'd think by now they'd actually realise how many people they can realistically put up in one day but alas no, they'll still tell you to come and then send you home after waiting for about 8 hours.

All I can say is AVOID them.

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