Pity about SoBe

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

All I know is, I jumped at SoBe in mid March, went away for my brother's wedding, heard some ultra-vague rumors on dropzone.com while I was up at my sister's place in NY (it was still too cold and dreary to jump at SDLI but I brought my gear just in case), and now that I'm back in Florida I understand that there's just nothing at all going on over there. I was told that they were trying to hook up with another Otter, but so far nada.

Someone please let me know if there's a chance that skydiving will be going on at SoBe any time soon...

Things had seemed to be going so cool out there... I was loving the place and the people... It was a home-away-from-home...

-

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[MarkM 0]

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Someone please let me know if there's a chance that skydiving will be going on at SoBe any time soon...

I've heard zilch, which makes me worry about whether or not they'll be back up at all.

[rsein 0]

What happened at SoBe???

HISPA #5

[Ncrowe 0]

I've heard so much its hard to know whats true and whats B.S. but from what I've heard lately it will probably be at least a couple months before theres any jumping out there which in my humble opinion totally SUCKS.

"Don't Mess Around With the Guy in Shades- Oh No!!! "

[cdcollura 4]

Good day everyone, I was rather upset a few weeks ago arriving at Skydive South Beach (SoBE) in Pahokee, FL under Blue Skies, light Saturday winds, burning sun, and cool breezes only to find the DZ closed up!! Bummer!!

I asked the FBO there and they "blew me off" knowing nothing (skydivers always pissed those guys off anyway). A walk around the hangar greeted me with an upset skydiver stopping by to pick up his gear (reserve re-pack) and the place being locked-down!

I was also told by several that "Skydive SoBe" was going to build a world-class facility (a super-rumor I guess). This was a few months of being blessed with 15 jumps on fridays, great people, good altitude, great boogies, you name it! So sad man, sooo sad!

The only thing I heard was that they were trying to hookup with an otter (can't skydive w/o a plane), but I kind of find that hard to believe. I guess the middle east, 9-11-2001, gas prices, and inflation took it's toll! Welcome to America!

I also tried emailing [email protected] and got nothing back (that is what it says on www.skydivesouthbeach.com). I am wondering what will become of this DZ???

Fly High ... Don't "Get High"!

[medusa 0]

what zup body’s! I used to jump in SoBe to but Shit happened and they closed "that’s the way business goes".
any way we are all jumping at Clewiston so far I have seen Olav z, jean Carlo, Ackosh, Cynthia, fast will, René, Steve & he’s wife and more people that I don’t remember now. And all my friends from Clewiston. They have cool facilities, cool people, huge landing zone, come over!, and have a see it your self.
Every body is welcome!

Medusa

Get Killed or Die Trying!
Patent pending ATFK15456

[SkydiveNFlorida 0]

I miss SoBe, too The people were awesome, the management was cool, and there were many jumps to be had even if you got there late! I don't know what is going on with the plans for this place. I really miss this dz! Clewiston is just not the same for me:( I always arrive late, and they don't seem to have enough people later in the day to get the plane up. At SoBe we would jump 'til sunset, the way it should be!. I have a hard time getting up the will to make the (longer) drive out to Clewiston knowing there will be no sunset load, and it is altogether a slower place. I got like 3 jumps in last time I was there. I used to do 6-8 in a day at SoBe, even after showing up at 12-1pm. Not to mention that 20$ a lift is harsh

But, nothing else near me, so that is where I end up once a week... definitely can't find the will to make it both days like I did at SoBe. I think I got 30+ jumps in last month and maybe 10-15 this month. Pity, indeed.

I would love to see Clewiston pick up a bit so that they could get loads up late in the day.

Angela.

[MarkM 0]

Never jumped at Clewiston, though I drove out there once to drop off some stuff for SA when it was up. Skydive Miami is about the same distance from Fort Lauderdale as SOBE was though. You just take the turnpike down to around exit 6 or so(you want the exit for SW 288, it will be marked as such), head west to US 1, south one block on that to SW 296 then follow the dirs as per their website.

The only downside is you pay $4 in tolls each way(less if you have a sun pass), unless you skip part of the toll road and take 95 down to 836 and cut across to the toll road on that, then you pay $2. Jumps are still $20 though.

Hrm, it's sad that I know all my Florida driving stuff just from the DZs I've visited.

[SkydiveNFlorida 0]

Never jumped at Miami, but my boyfriend didn't like it there, and many other skydivers I know don't like it, either. So, I have no real desire to visit. Besides, I hate Miami traffic.

Angela.

[plowdirt 0]

Yea I heard about all the delemas over at sobe, suks! i would say that you should gather up some of your friends from sobe bring um out to clewiston and have at it. I know that Caleb, and Lisa would put up more loads late in the day if there were more people flying. I jump there regularly and it sucks at the end of the day when everyone leaves and you want to keep jumping. So common bring all your friends and freaks too, Clewiston has been up and running forever, and I never heard they ever shut down. see ya soon. Ed!

[kaerock 1]

Clewiston and Miami are not Fun-Jumper-Friendly DZs, they're tandem factories. SoBe on the other hand was the opposite. Much to my dismay, last weekend at Clewiston, everyone left went and played paintball instead of jumping with 3-4 hours of sunlight left. So it's 1.5 hours to Clewiston, two to Miami where we might get in 5 jumps at the most, or two hours to Sebastian with the potential for more jumps. SoBe fit my needs perfectly, I hope they can get something together ASAP. :/

-R

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Never jumped at Clewiston, though I drove out there once to drop off some stuff for SA when it was up. Skydive Miami is about the same distance from Fort Lauderdale as SOBE was though. You just take the turnpike down to around exit 6 or so(you want the exit for SW 288, it will be marked as such), head west to US 1, south one block on that to SW 296 then follow the dirs as per their website.

The only downside is you pay $4 in tolls each way(less if you have a sun pass), unless you skip part of the toll road and take 95 down to 836 and cut across to the toll road on that, then you pay $2. Jumps are still $20 though.

Hrm, it's sad that I know all my Florida driving stuff just from the DZs I've visited.

You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

[MarkM 0]

"Much to my dismay, last weekend at Clewiston, everyone left went and played paintball instead of jumping with 3-4 hours of sunlight left."

Yeah, Pahokee was always awesome. I can't help but think someone will get something up and running there though eventually, unless for some wierd reason it's just amazingly unprofitable to run a DZ there.

[bbarnhouse 0]

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Yeah, Pahokee was always awesome

I did my first two tandems at Pahokee when Olav was there. It was a fun, friendly place. I am sad to see it gone.

[jumpergirl 0]

I'm sorry to hear such bad words about Skydive Miami. It's one of the VERY best drop zones I have ever been to. If it were only a little bit closer it would be my home dz. I agree they are a tandem factory, but they are very good to the fun jumpers as well. I absolutely love that place and I can't wait to get back in the air and get back down there to jump with them.

[Maxx 1]

I was in Pahokee 2 years ago to jump my ass off and to receive some coaching from Olav. It was the nicest DZ I've been so far. Great people, great facilites and a very nice fast Twin Otter (though I hated the painting ).

Does anyone know where Olav, and therefore his freefly school, is now? He used to have a house right next to the DZ, but I assume he left his place when the DZ closed.. Any infos would be appreciated...

Feet up!
Max

[skymama 35]

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Does anyone know where Olav, and therefore his freefly school, is now?

I don't know where Olav's school is, but he was jumping in Deland this weekend. He seemed to be very nice. When I walked up to the boarding area, he was shaking hands and asking people their names. I haven't seen very many other people of his caliber do that.

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

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I was in Pahokee 2 years ago to jump my ass off and to receive some coaching from Olav. It was the nicest DZ I've been so far. Great people, great facilites and a very nice fast Twin Otter (though I hated the painting ).
Max

Aww, come on, that red, white and blue Otter looked badass cool! It had character, that's for sure!

In 2002 I was taking flying lessons, and I flew out to Pahokee a few times for practice. Once, I got there to find skydiving operations taking place, so I hitched a ride on the bus back to the Skydive America hangar and talked with Larry about learning to skydive. He was friendly, and offered me a free right-seat ride on the next load! (It was a blast, with Chad the cowboy flying!)

When I finally got ready to learn to skydive, Skydive America was already defunct, and (this was August 2003) Skydive Palm Beach was running: more of a club of close-knit skydiver friends hanging on by their fingernails with a hired Caravan & pilot coming up on weekends from Opa Locka, just barely keeping people jumping! Load calls were by word of mouth, not loudspeaker. We packed and hung out in a rented T-hangar with no plumbing, just a small couch, a picnic table, a ratty couch, and some folding chairs. It was all I had ever known, and I loved it for what it was -- a chance to skydive! I made good friends there and I still have them!
When SoBe opened up, I watched it totter on spindly legs for a few weeks, and then blossom into the big hangar and everything seemed to get slapped with a fresh coat of "We're gonna be BIG!" I absolutely LOVED seeing that place thrumming with activity, even if it meant having trouble finding carpet space to pack on.

Maxx, you are definitely thinking of Skydive America, of course, not SoBe. But SoBe had big plans, and I have to imagine that the people who jumped there are still somewhere nearby to be found, and would be out there in a heartbeat if someone else with the knowhow and drive could get the place running.

This is a plea to anyone fitting that description. PLEASE open SoBe up for skydiving again -- SOON!!!

-

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[plowdirt 0]

I've seen Olav at clewiston the past couple of weeks.
He was training a jumper from Poland, come on over your more than welcome. Ed!

[MarkM 0]

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I'm sorry to hear such bad words about Skydive Miami. It's one of the VERY best drop zones I have ever been to. If it were only a little bit closer it would be my home dz. I agree they are a tandem factory, but they are very good to the fun jumpers as well. I absolutely love that place and I can't wait to get back in the air and get back down there to jump with them.

I don't really get the "tandem factory" comments about Skydive Miami. For sure they do a lot of tandems. They're right next to Miami, they get all the tourism from there. But when I hear "tandem factory" I think of a place that only cares about tandems because that's where the money is. It's like a bad slur as a way of saying that the DZ doesn't want or care about fun jumpers.

And as a fun jumper I've always felt warm welcomes when I've showed up at the dropzone down in Miami.

[PhreeZone 15]

>Aww, come on, that red, white and blue Otter looked badass cool! It had character, that's for sure!

It was also probally the jumpship in the worst condition in skydiving today. The plane was abuse, neglected and generally unairworthy. To fly it out of the airport they had to get a pilot that would fly an unairworthy airplane to the repair facility.

Palm Beach is going to be a really hard place to operate a DZ after how bad SDA treated the airport from all accounts.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[carbonezone 0]

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Palm Beach is going to be a really hard place to operate a DZ after how bad SDA treated the airport from all accounts

And you get your information (or was that an opinion) from where????
<>
Tami

[PhreeZone 15]

I had heard from all the way back when SDA went under about the unpaid bills, existing on "movie permits" and all the other bad things that happened when SDA folded. Airport relations were definitely not the best in the world.

SoBe had a really good run going on, pity they closed.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[carbonezone 0]

[Ncrowe 0]

Hey mark if you get a chance shoot up too Deland for a weekend.. I finished up my AFF there this weekend and got my first solo plus 3 coached jumps from my first instructor at Sobe. Its a kicka$$ dropzone with great staff and some nice planes. I made my level 7 jump out of the porter which was a sweet way to finish up. Hopefully someone will get something out at pahokee going soon, that hour drive was pretty sweet.

"Don't Mess Around With the Guy in Shades- Oh No!!! "

[SkydiveNFlorida 0]

Deland is definitely a cool dz. Bob Hallet (sp?) is a major cool cat. Good restaurant, nice planes. I had a lot of fun there when I didn't even have a license yet. I don't recall jumping with any locals, but I got jumps in with a few visitors. All around a very fun time for me as a low-#-jumper.

Other fun dzs i've been to :

Titusville, Sebastian, Lake Wales, Z-hills... and i'm at Clewiston now,

Clewiston: it's got a really nice crowd and staff! My only gripe is the fact that i've never done a sunset load there. It closes too early due to lack of jumpers to put the plane up. I sure wish more jumpers would come out wanting to jump the WHOLE day!

Z-hills: I went to z-hills as a student, too, and I got my A-license finished up in one day with Laurie Clark:) Plus, the locals were happy to jump with me, very cool place! Not to mention that the place is always fun at night. People don't just jump and leave, they hang out afterward! And, lots of times i've been there they have prepared meals at the end of the day for a small price. Bar is cool, too.

Titusville: Didn't hit it as a student, but had fun when I went later down the road. Very laid back place. I would say that it is maybe more laid back than Clewiston, but you get to finish up the day. Nice view, too!

Sebastian: I did my AFF there. I had a great time as a student. It really felt like home. I just watched my AFF1 video the other day, hehe. Cool crowd, nice view:)

Lake Wales : I didn't jump with any of the locals cuz I was there for canopy training with Brian Germain (awesome btw!). It is really a big, busy place! Everyone seemed nice. They have excellent facilities, nice restaurant, too. People seemed to hang out pretty late there, too:)

Pahokee : What can I say? My favorite dz thusfar. I am so sad

Angela.