Florida skydiving and AFF to PFF back in Canada.

[gingergal 0]

I have a few questions and please forgive me if they are beginner ones.

I will be in Naples, Florida at the beginning of January for a week. I have no concrete plans, so I was hoping to visit at drozone while I am there.

I started PFF in Canada in the fall. The DZ does a tandem progression (I think its called advanced freefall progression). I have done 3 tandems (instructional), but no ground school or anything more. I am hoping to do AFF at a dropzone in Florida. I will be there about a week. Is this realistic? I would be fine with doing as many levels as possible and not completing the whole program. Can you pay per jump/level versus the whole program? If I do complete AFF in the US, will I need to redo all of the PFF in Canada in the Spring or just a few levels (I will not be current so I assume a certain amount of levels) ?

My next question is I have searched all the dropzones near Naples in the reviews section here. I came up with Skydive Southwest Florida and Skydive Spaceland Clewiston as being in a reasonable drive from where I will be staying. Any suggestions? In googling, I also found somewhere called Skydive Naples, but it was not on the reviews page. Does anyone have any opinions on it? ETA: I regoogled skydiving Naples and it is "skydiving.com" location in Naples...

I will call the DZ in advance to speak with them about this, but I just want to get some info first! I realize that I will likely be redoing and spending extra money in doing this, but I would love to get jumping!

[tred 0]

i did my aff at a bigger Florida dz and am a student now jumping at SD southwest Florida.. they are great and they offer aff jumps. they are a smaller dz so you will have the same coaches on all your jumps and they will remember between each jump how you did instead of relying on your logbook I highly recommend but I am sure you will get good training wherever you decide to go

only downside for you is sd southwest florida only open Thursday through sunday I believe

[gingergal 0]

Thanks for the response. I am leaning towards a smaller DZ, so its nice to know that about skydive southwest florida! I will keep the Thursday-sunday schedule in mind.

[Alexg3265 0]

I live in Naples at the moment. Skydive SW Florida is about an hour and is a small cessna dz. don't expect more than 2-3 jumps if your lucky. Almost all tandems. Skydive spaceland Clewiston is about an hour and a half away and is where my wife and I call home. Twin otter and lots of up jumpers. We're moving to Deland because we need to be closer to out addiction. Naples is just far from jumping. Plan on it being an all day thing.

Edit. They used to jump out of immokalee, but that stopped years ago. Nothing in Naples. I'm sitting at work looking at planes taking off at the Naples airport and damn I wish they jumped there! I live right around the corner and work at cherry hill tattoo. Come stop in and say hi!

I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

[OzzieDave 1]

Something you might want to look into/discuss with your local Canadian DZ is what they will do with you one you come back. There is a whole range of attitudes in Canada for people with USPA ratings or AFF levels so the easiest way to sort it out would be to talk to the DZ in Canada you jump at, discuss your plans, and see what they have to say.

Good luck.

USPA AFF-I, CSPA Pff-I

[gingergal 0]

Thanks OzzieDave, I wondered what the equivalency was like between the Canadian and American systems, but it certainly makes the most sense to go to the source and ask the DZ I will be returning to.

Alexg I appreciate the your info! It is a shame there is not anything closer to Naples; I might have to come by and check out the shop!

[Scrumpot 1]

Several of your staff up there at Burnaby are "sunchasers", and themselves winter all season-long, somewhere down in FL too. Scott B is one of them, who I know regularly off-season's somewhere much sunnier and warmer than the winter Icebox of Burnaby, in fact. If he is still there, and you know who I am referring to - ask him!

In fact - If you do know Scott, and how to contact him right now - can you let him know that I have been looking for him just recently as well? Another Burnaby jumper has been chasing me to purchase a canopy I have for sale - but it is an eliptical, and I am not about to sell it (despite his own "insistance") without reference(s). So you'd be killing multiple birds there, with the proverbial single stone - and I would be in your debt!

coitus non circum - Moab Stone

[riggerrob 558]

In a perfect world, you would be able to do enough jumps to graduate AFF .. or even better ... complete your USPA "A" License while in Florida.

Completing a block of instruction will make it waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay easier for your CSPA Instructors to fit you in when you return home to Ontario.

Sure, the first few jumps will go slowly while you review the first jump course, learn how to exit a new type of airplane and learn your way around a new airfield ... but by the end of the week you will be doing four or five jumps per day and telling your coaches to "hurry up!"

[gingergal 0]

Thanks for the feedback guys! I am pretty enthusiastic about this now and really hoping I can complete AFF (or more), while in Naples! And here I thought my time in Florida would be boring other than getting away from this awful weather!

The year end party was just a week or two ago, so I imagine most everyone is still up this way somewhere. I know who Scott is, but alas, have no contact for him Scrumpot! I could probably contact Tara at the DZ and ask some questions -- I think they are in St.Kitts over the winter.

[tkhayes 125]

Skydive City in Z-Hills is a long way from Naples, but I am a CSPA and USPA instructor and can send you home with both USPA and CSPA stuff completed.

either way migrating from several or all the USPA AFF jumps to CSPA equivalents should not be a big deal for most CSPA dropzones and if they give you grief about it, go find a place more receptive - the programs are not that different.

At Z-Hills you could easily solo and more in a week, maybe even a a license, but again, not really a commute from Naples.