Skydive Hawaii

I jumped here for the first time, and I've been back two more times since. Aslo planning on going again in a couple of weeks. Staff is super nice, scenery is great. Total rush of a lifetime. Had a great TM who got me interested enough to start working on a license. Great place for beginners, and definately great place for a first jump. (And second, and third, and fourth...)

I loved jumping here, .. I got to visit this dropzone when I was in Hawaii for a couple Navy schools. The vibe here is amazing, and I think that it is much better than some of these reviews have made it out to be. Tandems do take priority, but it really wasnt a big deal. When I was there they do Experienced Only Sunset Loads 1 or 2 nights per week, no tandems to be seen! After the jumping, there is plenty of people to hang out with for a bit and have a beer or three. There isnt a lot of packing room, but it was not too bad. The plane is a bit slow getting to altitude (compared to what I'm used to, or the king air down the street), but on your way to altitude you sometimes get to hang out with the coolest female jump pilot ever :) When I showed up at this DZ, it seemed that everyone went out of their way to make me feel welcome, my first time jumping there they didnt even make me pay anything until I was done jumping for the day, seems kinda stupid to mention it, but these people didnt even know who I was.. Truely awsome, they treated me as though I had been jumping there many times before the first time they met me. I will be back someday ! If I choose between Skydive Hawaii and Pacific Skydiving Center, I choose Skydive Hawaii, but I definately recommend checking them both out since they are so close to eachother.

I grew up and made all of my jumps at SDHI, it is a wonderful place. Even though they do many tandems every day it is still easy to get on a load, and usually the wait is 15-30 minutes, unless they are extremely busy trying to do 100 tandems in a day.

The caravan they operate is comfortable even when full, and the benches allow you to see out the window's so you wont miss anything (neighbor islands, waikiki, whales, turtles, etc.) on a clear day.

The facility has about anything you would need. The only aspect that they really lack is food, they do have a snack bar and some vending machines, but for good food hale'iwa is just a 10 minute drive away.

The landing area is easy to find, and comfortably large enough to land in and they're are lots of alternate landing spots, just in case.

Overall it is a unique experience. the whole time you are surrounded by beauty. A lot of people who have jumped in the mainland are astounded by the view in freefall and under canopy. Yeah SDHI is pretty cool, since its right in between the mountain and the ocean.

I hope to see you out here!
-Blue Skies

I had quite a different experience from the other reviewers. Blossom was very friendly and helpful. They are a bit of a Tandem factory, but they aren't really hiding that, either. However, they did send up a less than full Caravan for fun jumpers (me included!) and I didn't feel any bad vibes at all. I was only visiting and rented their gear. They could have totally blown me off, but they didn't. I look forward to jumping with them again next summer. Thanks!

In short, I went there as a tandem a couple of times, and once with my A license after I finally got it. It seemed I was treated quite different. Not bad, just much better when I was a tandem. Felt a little unwelcome by a few people. Most people are fine, its just a couple of individuals.

I'm glad I made my first jump here. Except for the cashier, everyone was really friendly. Mary was very patient giving me directions to go to the place and very accomodating once I got there. My Tandem Master, Ed, was the best. He made me feel comfortable and safe jumping wih him. Stefan, the crazy camera guy, was fun. All in all, it's a nice place to jump.

friendly people,great atmosphere,great tandem masters, and best of all best price. they go out of thier way to make you feel like one of the family.

This center lives on tandems. There aren't very many solo jumpers.
The manifest service is friendly, but the rest of the staff is not. Few are.
You don't feel very welcome.
Hard to make contact with them, because they have their own community.

The dropzone next to this one, Pacific Skydive center, is a lot friendlier. They are better organized, give you better briefings (and that's a must, because the dropzone is very close to the ocean and there are few alternative places for landing if you don't make it to the dropzone).
I felt more welcome over there and they cared more for my saftey.

So if you have to choose: go to Pacific Skydivecenter.

I liked this dropzone. Nothing like seeing Diamond Head and the open Pacific before exiting the plane.

Loads are crowded. Alot of tandems for the tourists. It took about an hour and a half to get on my first load.

I had my first cutaway here. I got alot of support.

The staff really helped me out with the jumps I made. I was invited to join a 4-way.

Overall, a good, solid dropzone!

I went to skydive Hawaii while I was on my holiday vacation. It was a nice experience and a great three jumps. The views were awesome and the weather was perfect. To me it doesn't matter which dropzone you go to (Skydive Hawaii or Pacific Skydive)as long as you get to jump this amazing view.

After waiting in line for manifesting, I've been asked to wait until they finished with the rest of the tandems in line behind me. I brought two friends for tandem jumps and was not only told I couldn't be on the same load with them, I was told I couldn't jump at all because they were only taking tandems up. I asked if I was going to be able to jump at all that day and was told no. 15 minutes later a slot 'magically' appeared for a local regular. I have yet to be on a load that was organized. I've been given rental gear without a riggers seal on the reserve, I've been given gear and told they didn't know what size or kind of chute was in it (but don't worry, it's at least a 190). One ride I coached a tandem passenger to start breathing again, I shouldn't have to say who should have been doing that. There is more that I won't write here.

On the good side, the scenery and views are spectacular! The LZ is easy to find and wide open. The DZ is easy to find and the drive there is beautiful. Come on the weekends to jump high, during the week the 182 and 206 usually only fly to about 7000-8000AGL/MSL. Morning jumps are better, winds tend to pick up in the afternoon. The only other traffic at the airport is another DZ and gliders. My first jump here (currency jump) was with a seasonal instructor who was very friendly, knowledgeable, and gave excellent feedback!

Come jump for the scenery and the thrill of freefall, not for the Aloha spirit and service.

-Blue Skies!!

great/friendly/welcoming staff, my gf and I did several fun jumps there recently, can't beat the views (surf, pipeline, etc.). only had the 182 running that day, but it didn't matter, we were on it when we were ready to jump. oh, and Diver Dunn's the man out there! Thx to all! blues, M

I was recently introduced to the sport of skydiving by Mr. Frank Hinshaw and Mr. Clarence T. Lopez Jr. (a.k.a. YODA) at Skydive Hawaii. I completed my AFF training and 22 events in 14 days.
After leaving Hawaii`s North shore, I was reflecting on how incredibly lucky I was to be in the care of these magnificent professionals. Skydive Hawaii is (in my opinion) one of the planet`s pre-eminent sites for troposphere piloting. Everyone involved in (or wishing to experience) skydiving should make time to visit the sacred ground at Dillingham Airfield. Special thanks to my instructors, Mike Meehan, Paul Ashmore, Ed White and Bo Babovic. Aloha gentlemen! See you next December. Derek Stephen Tweedy