The Jumping Place

Showed up to jump once or twice with 4 friends who had tandems. The day was busy but we got all of us up and I got to jump out and fly around with one of my friends who did a tandem. Dan, the tandem master, was really professional and good at working with first timers. Cathy, the DZO and pilot, worked her butt off but at the same time had enough energy to talk to me at the plane while fueling, give me a tour the entire looooong 182 flight and gave me some funny history about the area. Cathy's pretty much awesome and I couldn't have asked for a better plane ride. One of my favorites out of hundreds. To top it all off she gave me the jump for free. Wish I could have stayed and made more jumps.

I absolutely love this place. My boyfriend and I did our AFF here with experienced instructors who made us extremely comfortable. The owner, Cathy, is both a master rigger and a pilot and is knowledgeable about every possible question you could have about this sport. There are almost always coaches and instructors available for anything you want to learn and jumpers of all experience levels make this their home DZ.

The drop zone itself has a pretty wide landing area, bisected by a runway, and it is kept clean and mowed. The packing tent is large enough for several rigs to be packed at once and there is a nice restroom facility complete with shower. The office/manifest area has souvenirs and equipment for sale and plenty of gear to rent (free for AFF students). It is located in the middle of town, less than a couple miles from restaurants and very near to the interstate. It is also next door to the fire station, so you know emergency services could be close at hand if need be!

The staff is ALWAYS friendly and accommodating; I have never once seen an angry customer (except over maybe the weather). They edit the videos right there and they can be done in as little as an hour or less. It is a very family-friendly place and the staff usually brings their kids to hang around. They just bought a second aircraft; both are Cessna 182s (a bit small).

All-in-all I would say that though small, this drop-zone is definitely worth a visit. You can't miss that awesome view!

Stopped here on my way back to NY and found the nicest DZ around. It may seem small, but the people there clearly love life and treated me like I had been jumping there since day one. Thanks for the good time and I will definitely be back.

Great family atmosphere and not just because Cathy has a huge family.

This was a realy cool place to hang out at, everyone was friendly and eager to help, the ride to altitude has some great views of the ocean, its also in a great little city with restaurants only a minute away, the landing was easy to land, they sell standard acessories and had have used gear to sell also, the family staff is awesome, good place to chill

We came upon this dropzone based upon an invitation from the dzo's daughter. This family had an excellent crew of packers and riggers at the Puerto Rico Freefall Festival this last year. We drove from Minnesota to Z-hills on our 3 week trip and decided that we'd go out of our way to see what this smaller dz was like before heading home. Within the month we've also stopped at Chicagoland, Atlanta Skydiving Center, Skydive The Farm, and Skydive Atlanta.

I'm so glad we decided to make this last trip, only a short distance from the beaches of Jacksonville. Today is a Tuesday..I woke up in Titusville to find out that fun-jumpers are not welcomed at Skydive Space Center Mon-Fri., I called Skydive Jacksonville to see if they'd take up fun jumpers and he told me to call Palatka. So instead I called up Packing Cathy at the Jumping Place to see if she was open to fun jumpers. I was pleasantly suprised to hear excitement on the other end of the phone and was told to hurry on over.
As I pulled up Cathy stood at her doorway and welcomed us with a wave. Inside her instructor was going over the jump plan with a student. As soon as I was done with my paperwork I was shown the aerial photo and brought outside to be given a complete debriefing of the dropzone. With absolutely no waiting we were up in the air for 2 hop'n pops.

This dropzone sits on a municipal airport free of large hangars and traffic....one huge grassy area with a paved runway. The airport had a dozen planes, at most.
The aerial view here is unmatched....ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE! Other than jumping in Puerto Rico for beach jumps this has got to be my favorite view thus far.
I've never met a dzo so excited about doing what she does.....you can tell how passionate she is about this place. After the afternoon of jumping we went out for dinner with her family and were given a tour of the cutest town of St. Marys.
If you want to take a vacation from the large dropzones full of turbines and lots of people then this is a great atmosphere for a change of pace. The town is full of B&B's and worth visiting despite the fact that it has a great dropzone.
My hat goes off to Cathy and her family for making this great new dropzone!

I travel quite a bit and I look for a place to jump in every state I visit. Although this is a small dropzone, the people there make it a great place to jump and spend a day with the family. This is definelty a place I want to come back to. Unlike many jumpers, I spend most of my time at dropzones being the "new guy" and the staff and jumpers at The Jumping Place, made me and my family feel welcome from the time we arrived.

Blue Skies

The Real Family

Contrary to what is posted about this DZ, you are required to jump with an AAD, no exceptions. AADs are for sale at very reasonable cost, we all need one some time and rentals are available. E.M.S. and F.D. are right next door. Best 182 I have seen. Did I mention the great people?

Skydiving at The Jumping Place is always loads of fun. You will not find anyone anymore safety minded than Larry Urlich and Cathy Kloess. They run the dropzone, fly the plane, and do lots of rigging and instruction. Our other instructors include:

Tim Caudill--Tandem instructor (also a U.S. Marine Halo jumper)
Jim Graham- Former president of Skydive University.
Glen Bangs- USPA President (he also jumped twice with President George Bush).

There are various other guest instructors and coaches available for all disciplines.

It is amazing the amount of first jumpers that come out and jump with us, and I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to come and experience the fun and friendship at The Jumping Place in St. Mary's Ga.

Blue Skies!
Mike Sanes

The Jumping Place is a really cool DZ. Packing Cathy goes out of her way for the jumpers, and makes sure everyone gets to jump and have a good time. All the jumpers are very friendly and go out of their way to have good jumps with everyone who comes out for a day of jumping. Every weekend there are FJC students, lots of coaching available, and visiting jumpers who stop in to check the place out. I learn something (sometimes many somethings) every time I am out there and enjoy getting to jump with many different jumpers.

While the current plane is small, it is actually quite quick and many times loads turn ensuring lots of jumps for all. The DZ has a couple of Huge landing areas and the proximity to the beach makes for nice views on the ride to altitude. Also, with fewer jumpers in the air at one time, there are fewer people to worry about at landing time.

Overall this is a great DZ, if you are in the area, come on out and jump.

I did my tandem jump with Tim in March. I was hooked. I started my AFF training with Jim, Cathy and Drew in April. It has been the most awesome experience of my life! Jim is an expert and his training is quality.Cathy and Drew's enthusiasm is contagious. I have researched other drop zones and instructors, and The Jumping Place is where I decided to go. The fun jumpers are great and a lot of fun. This is the place to be!

Packing Cathy is just a wonderful person. She has a great safety record and has a passion to do everthying in her power to make her fun jumpers happy. She also makes is a great experience for people doing their first tandem jump. They currently have a C-182 but will bring a larger plane in due time. Location wise is just great. You get to jump over the Georgia / Florida border and see from Amelia Island right across the Atlantic Ocean. They have two landing zones which have plenty of room for all types of experienced jumpers. The larger field just north of the hanger is for the beginers and the field closest to the hanger just to the south has plenty of room for more experienced people and the swoopers. They also have packers that can get your sport rig packed in about 5-10 minutes and do it safely. As fast as the packers are, I've never had a MAL from them yet. Over all I am dedicated to help Cathy grow and I hope this review encourages others to come visit and become regulars.

I did my first tandem with Glen Bangs (the continuing USPA President)and was sky hooked from then on.
Cathy and her crew are the best! they made me feel like one of the guys. With the top notch Instructors like Glen Bangs, Jim Graham, Tim koudill, and of course Cathy Kloess herself you couldn't ask for better training and first hand knowledge.
It is always safety first--fun in the sun second. From training on the ground through AFF training this DZ is the best! Cathy runs a top notch DZ and her energy and enthusiasm was contagious.
There was a time when I thought that this sport wasn't for me, but Jim and Cathy helped me through it and now I have no regrets. Thanks Cathy, Glen, Jim, Tim, and everyone at DZ St. Mary's.(Thanks for the hug Jared)

Blue Skies and Blessings,
Eddie M.

Yes,It's true. Cathy Kloess aka Packing Cathy owner operator of The Packing Place is now a drop zone operator as well.
The Jumping Place http://www.JumpJax.com
is located in St Mary's GA just north of Jacksonville FL.
Anyone who has met Cathy knows her energy and enthusiasim are infectious and she spreads that energy and enthusiasim around her DZ.
Cathy is well connected in the sport and she has surrounded herself with a top notch staff. Like USPA director and former president George H W Bush's instructor Glen Bangs for example.
If you are a student looking for top notch instruction and a lot of attention you will find it here.
Air support is just cessna for now but their are rumors of a turbine coming soon.
It's easy to find just north of the Florida state line. From I 75 take route 40 about 7 mile east to St Mary's airport.

I just started skydiving! I called a couple of DZs and then I called Cathy...and I knew that I wanted to start my @ the Jumping Place.

From Ground school through the AFF levels, the vibe was awsume! All the staff are very professinal and welcomed beginers to thier ranks. I learned so much more and got tons of one-on-one time with the instructors than I ever expected.

Safety is their #1 concern but after that is jumping out of planes and introducing students to the sport.

Thanks Cathy, Tim, Larry, Allen, and all the rest of the staff! I look forward to jumping with them many more times!

I just returned from Iraq and I needed to get requalified. My local dropzone had just closed and my back up dropzone was booked with tandums. I turned to dropzone.com and found the Jumping Place and boy did I luck out!!!

Cathy runs the place and boy does she love skydiving! From running the place to flying the plane, to jumping and packing, she does it all. Her number one goal is to make sure that everyone is in the air and having a good time.

The AFF instructor who got me going, was very intrested in my safety. He made sure I was completely familiar with the dropzone and the surrounding areas before I went up. After my ground training I was grilled like it was the Spanish Inquisition to make sure I was going to be safe in the air.

The view of the area is great. They are right next to the atlantic ocean. The landing area is big and open. You would actually have to try to miss it.

After I was re-certified, I had no problems finding someone to jump with. The fun jumpers were looking for new people and always up for something.

The only fault with the dropzone (other than I have to drive 3 1/2 hours to get to it) is the aircraft. Right now they only have a C-182. They want to get a turbine aircraft, but they need to get more jumpers to support a larger plain. Once the word gets out on what a great place this is, I'm sure it will happen.

They are all about taking care of the people who come there to jump.

Blue Skys, Jim

I took my first jump on September 9th, 2006 at 35 years of age. You are never too old to try something new!

Cathy runs the show and was responsible for video taping. Her energy and enthusiasm was contagious. She made you feel like you were with family.

Tim was my tandem jump master. I was very nervous, and he made me feel confident from beginning to end - especially when I found out how much experience he had jumping. He was a lot of fun and I can't imagine having a different tandem partner than him. I will be jumping with him again in the near future...

Brittany was the rigger. She introduced herself to us right away and made us feel right at home. She even remembered our names when we stopped by a few weeks later.

The video was great! I watched it 3 times in a row so that I could re-live the experience over and over again.
I will be back to jump again soon. I can't give enough positive feedback for the crew of "The Jumping Place" for making my "first" so memorable. I will be back!

Thanks again,
Cheryl Van Dyke (AKA No Longer A Skydiving Virgin)