Skydive City - Z-Hills

I came to Z-Hills over the Boogie Week and had a week to remember. I arrived on Monday and 7 days later left with my AFF Cat 8 (& A license) having done 5 jumps on my own gear and $140 down from buying beer. Great week and weather. All the staff were fun and friendly. I was picked up a few times by the Skydive wagon due to off landings in nearby fields (nice touch!) and enjoyed many a Corona with lime after sunset by the fire which seemed to have an endless supply of logs. On site there are packers in Nylon City ready to do outstanding pack jobs for $6, 22/22 soft and on heading openings - ya beauty... not to mention The Sunshine Factory - a cool shop for all Skydiving needs - great Staff (hi to Dave Ruffell :-) and Co.). All in all, if you want a chilled out week and like buying people beers, Z-Hills is great. I'll be going next year for more jumps, fun & Corona.

If you are in the vicinity, try it - you wont be disappointed if my experiences (two trips)are typical

Very friendly DZ, no complaints would nt change a thing, awesome people, from the newbies to the oldies, everyone is "one"!

I just have to say from someone who has been around skydiving her whole life, that I had a blast there at -hills. I went down there in late March and ended up spending almost three weeks, I loved it so much. I am a Michigan jumper that has to suffer three to four months of off time each year and it was so nice to go to Z-hills and get to jump again. I loved the DZ so much I have since decided I am moving down here this winter. I would recomend that everyone go and spend soom time down in Z-hills.
Thank You Z-hills
From all the frozen northeners

This is my first DZ. I did a tandem here a few months ago and am now doing my AFF. This place is great. EVERYONE is eager to help out newbies like myself. The cooking is GREAT at the snack bar, and it just feels like your part of a family when your there.

Went out there as a B license holder on Jan 28th from snowy TN. I bought a tent and sleeping bag ($35) at Walmart in town. Made my FIRST (yeah I said it, and bought the case of Yingling) jump New Years ever at 9pm and another a few minutes before midnight. It was AWESOME to see fireworks exploding all over the Florida... below you at 3,000'. The rest of the time was great. I took my first freefly lesson with Pip and got the sit first time. Awsome instructor. Great snack stand, and the rigger hooked me up by replacing my worn-out BOC in about 30 min so I could go freefly. Weather cooperated, mostly. Tony from Tony suits stopped by. Having just shy of 100 jumps, the other fun jumpers with 800 or so would jump with/ gie me pointers (and I'm not even a chick). Nailed my first 8 pointer with Mike, jumped with Hans alot, and even Ben and Chris from Canada. Everyones great...
Thanks Z-hills,
Mike
Oh, and the Sunshine factory has everything you could want.

After spending almost a week in Lake Wales, in comparison, Z-Hills was a breath of fresh air -- especially the night life!! The people are *SO* friendly, enthusiastic & inviting. The otters provide a very quick ride to altitude. The bar, snack bar, and dinner buffets were a wonderful convenience (especially for the out-of-towners) -- I can't wait to go back!

I had the honor to go to ZHills for 6 days to do my AFF. It was quite likely the best 6 days of my life. This dropzone is incredible. It is a very laid-back, friendly DZ. Everyone is treated as a friend when they first show up. The skydiving is incredible: Huge/easy landing area, awesome planes quick to altitude, great instructors and organizers, a gear shop full of anything you could want. They also have a snack bar and a bar (that opens after the sunset load). The people at ZHills are incredible. I have a feeling I could travel the Earth the rest of my life, and never find a DZ as good as ZHills.

Z-Hills is awsome. If your going to learn to skydive... this is the place. They go out of their way to teach and make you a better skydiver. Not only are they great skydivers, the staff are great people as well. They bend over backwards to help you learn. If you are an experienced jumper then this is also the place for you. Great aircraft, Freefly school, awsome coaches, highly organized, and professionally run. There is something here for everyone. Last but not least the people are great. There are skydivers from all over the world there. It is so easy to meet people to jump and chat with. Oh yea and the beer selection is better and cheaper than any bar I have been in.

ZHills is the absolute shiznit. HUGE landing area, rocking packers, a kajillion organizers, a pond for entertainment, pauls $2 beer bar, janines food, OTTERS all the time, enough camping jumpers to be considered a small city, fabulous gear store, nightly bonfires... this place rocks my universe.

Well I did a tandem 2.5yrs ago and went out to Z-hills and talked to TK about starting my training and the next day I was sitting in my FJC. I was met by nothing but smiling faces and confidence inspring comments by all the staff and fun jumpers. I did an IAD from 4500' about 4-5 minutes from takeoff (Twin-Otter) and had a perfect opening on a student 280. After I landed I dropped off the rig for the packer and got plenty of "congratulations" and "good jobs." I can't wait to get back.

Jeffrey Dahle.

I visited Z-Hills a few times in the fall of 2002. I had about 50 jumps at the time and I did some fun RW jumps, some with a coach (and I didn't have to buy his slot.) They have three or four Super Otters and a big safe landing area. Its been a home to skydiving forever. Lots of people live there in trailers in the winter.
I took some friends for tandems and they had a blast. The instructors were very friendly.
I've heard that New Years Eve is really cool there.
I will definitely visit again.

Spent 2 days jumping at ZHills in Jan. 2003. Had a blast. Huge landing area, friendly people. I'll definitely go back.

I left Canada on Dec,26th and drove straight through to Skydive City. As I had arrived late into the evening, I had a welcoming party (Sunshine Factory staff member David Ruffle). He hung around to make sure I got there. In the morning, I met TK Hayes (DZO). Between his staff & the DZ itself, I knew it was going to be a great adventure. *this was my first time north of Detroit, and only my 2nd DZ i've visited.* The camping was GREAT, manifest was very helpful, have the BEST gear store on site was wallat depleting, and the Hard Dock Cafe (Janine), was a great source of GREAT food. In 12 days, I did 50 jumps. Every one of them was incredible. The Otters, and the helicopter was a lot of fun. I had visited another DZ while I was in Florida, and after 2 jumps there, I could drive fast enough to get back to Z-Hills. This will be my home DZ when I return to the states. All other DZ have will be judged my my holiday at Skydive City!!!!!

Me and a mate visited just before Christmas, and as in my previous visits loved the place. It may not send the loads all day every day like Deland or Eloy, but the planes and DZ are great. Personally I don't mind jumping, packing, manifesting, relaxing etc.. as I don't normally set jump number goals for a day, so Z-Hills is perfect. Polite, friendly staff, and a wealth of information around. Freefly scene rocks, Colon truely is one of the best, and the locals are all very friendly. RW, Crew, Swooping scenes are also very active so what more could you want! This place rocks, check it out.

My boyfriend and I just took a two week trip to Florida to get away from the cold (Michigan). ZHills was by far the best dz we visited.

Camping was perfect. The shower facilities were some of the cleanest we've seen - lots of hot water too.

Manifest was very nice - big bonus.

FOUR OTTERS. Loads ran non-stop. Turned quickly. Well organized. And I didn't make a solo once.

Great freefly coaching with Pip, as well as experienced jumpers willing to coach for free.

Huge landing area.

Nice variety of jumpers - flat flyers, freeflyers, accuracy, swoopers, etc.

And Paul runs a great bar.

We ended up staying three days longer than planned.

Simply put: Don't miss this dz. Go there!

I'm a pretty inexperienced skydiver, but after a boogie at Zhills, I can clearly see how my skills improved. TK Hayes gave a canopy control class that brought me from "hitting the target if I'm lucky" to "within 5 meters of target every time." I started the boogie barely able to sit-fly. Within three days, I was doing leg-docks. You only get improvement like this by jumping with great skydivers. The facilities are great, plenty of demo gear, and great, fast, and friendly rigging service.

That all being said, some low-timers seemed to have a little trouble finding people to jump with them. However, just be friendly and listen to your elders, and watch your skills improve. Great atmosphere here. Cool vibe.

I have never jumped at any other DZ but my home DZ. I came to Fl to see family and look for a business to open. I went there and right away,was made to feel like a part of the crowd.I got in about 13-18 jumps while there, and everyone made me feel welcome.If your ever in Florida, and want a place to jump, this is the place of places.TK is one of the funniest I've ever seen.Manifest is different than what I'm used to, but its the best going.Stop in and meet the crew and get some fun jumps in.

just got home from 8 days at zhills. weather wasnt the best and i only did 4 jumps. coulda went hard core but i want to enjoy my skydives, not wonder if my fingers have fallen off.
I liked the huge airport. My first jump I couldnt help but see the airport, then it only took recognizing the landing area and determining if i could get back home safely.
A lot of it was new. They Free Fliers go out first, then the belly fliers. That sorta freaked me out. but nothing bad came of it while i was there. Also, people were landing however they felt. I hadn't jumped at a dz w/ a swoop pond yet, so that may have been a factor. but it wasnt just the swoopers, it was a lot of other people too. But the landing area is relatively large, with outs all over the dz, so the option is yours if you want to either A) dump low, spiral down, and land amongst that or B) dump at a reasonable altitude, hold in brakes, land farther out and give yourself the time to analize whats going on. You just have to be heads up and decide whats on your level to handle.
the parties were fun, this coming from somebody who didnt even drink a sip of alchohol the ENTIRE time there. The bonfire was going every night, good for those of us who had to camp out in the cold.
They managed to get in 3 loads for NY EVE night jumps, all 3 of the loads were full.
TK was around a lot and easy to find. It's definitally a plus when you see the DZO on a daily basis and you dont wonder what they look like.
I asked manifest a question about landing patterns. Within minutes i had several instructors finding me to answer my questions. (they have no set landing direction on no wind days. I definitally thought that was good awareness on the busy manifestors part.
The food there is cheap! And Janine absolutely kicks butt.
All together i had a really great time out there. It's only the 3rd dz i've had a chance to jump at. Lots of freefliers, and load organizing for the belly fliers every day. The camping area is close by, the bathrooms are convienently located, the deck is huge, enough chairs to go around, big rig racks right near the landing area, plenty of ashtrays so there isnt much worry about a cigarette burning your gear.
Oh yeah, i only got bit by 2 red ants the entire time there. For florida, thats good.

My girlfriend and I were just finished with AFF and had a couple of solo jumps when we came to Z-Hills. We were required to do a check dive with a coach to clear us for jumping solo--no problem, just like AFF 7. Anyway, the DZ requires 5 more coach jumps to prepare for an A license; what a waste of my time and money, or so I thought! Their coaches taught us so much in those dives that I was turning points on 4-ways before I had 30 jumps! We advanced ten fold in a couple of weekends--I would highly recommend coach sessions to anyone who wants to truly better their skills beyond the AFF material. Enough about the staff; the place itself is great: huge landing area, showers, packing area, swoop pond, Total Body Pilot Freefly School, bonfires, snack bar, rigging loft and the DZ bar opens after the sunset load takes off—although they do take the beer rules seriously!!! Blue skies.