jamaicadropzone 0 #1 February 22, 2005 Hi folks, my name is earl and am new to the skydiving game, but had an interest for the last 20 years, after flying perfectly good aeroplanes, I have now decided to jump out of them. Am letting everybody know that am in the process of setting up a full time drop zone on or next to the beach in Negril Jamaica for experienced skydivers, I have noticed that there are not many places to skydive in the Caribbean, considering the amount of tourist that visit the Caribbean islands every year. I still have to sort out a lot of red tape and put together applications and reports for authorities in Jamaica. What I need is as much information and feedback from the 100.000 skydivers around the world as possible. Out of the skydivers in North America, Canada and Europe, where do you take your vacations (holiday) on a regular basis and does it involve some skydiving. Does your choice of vacation (holiday) influence you if a place or resort has a drop zone. And would you be interested if there were a drop zone in Jamaica. What are the top five skydiving vacation holiday spots? Place & country. Would like to know your thoughts and views. Thanks earl Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites jeiber 0 #2 February 23, 2005 Hi Earl, I've never owned a DZ, but I've seen two fail and a number of them succeed, so I'll just combine this with my business experience and you can take it for what it's worth - nothing! You'll probably have a hard time keeping the business alive if your primary market is fun jumping, especially when just starting up. Profits from fun jumping will barely pay for gas. With the tourist market there, you'd be a fool not to target the thousands upon thousands of wealthy vacationers that travel to Negril. Fill the remaining slots with fun jumpers, and run fun loads when there aren't any tandems. But trust me, you stand to make a killing off tandems! Look around at the DZ's you frequent - how many fun jumpers have the money to travel to Jamaica? Starting off, you'd have a much greater chance of success if you had your pilot's license, or tandem rating. That way you're significantly cutting overhead as far as staff is concerned. Consider a bunk house for fun jumpers. Most scuba operations have these, and they're usually filled. Build relationships with the local resorts. This will be an endless supply of fresh customers, and if you can host a boogie, you should be able to get skydiver discounts. Finally, talk to successfull and unsuccessful DZO's to find out what works, and what doesn't. Rigs probably won't be a hot selling item, but t-shirts probably will! Good luck, and I hope to jump there next trip to Negril!!! JeffShhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites jamaicadropzone 0 #3 February 23, 2005 Hi Jeff, thanks for the reply, got a Pilots licence mate. Tandem jumps are a must, and will be on the cards, your dead right about all that possible trade, already know quite a few hotel managers in the area. Already got the Idea of skydiving Rasta’s on the T-shirts, all good fun Mon!!!! But I need to build up a good rep in the skydiving world, and get you guys over to Jamaica. For these reggee skydiving festivals down on the beach. Earl. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites cheneyneel 0 #4 February 24, 2005 Man I would like to say that almost all of my trips are skydiving oriented.. Unless I am going to Europe (and even then sometimes) or snowboarding.. To be honest with you I can skydive at countless and countless places around the USA and do things that I would not be able to do anywhere else.. SO what you need to do is make it special is BEACH JUMPS... I am not gong to travel all the way to Jamaica to jump at another airport!!!!..(sorry mate I am just being honest) Granted the views might be masterful from the air but none the less I dont pay attention to the surroundings after the first jump.. I want to make such a trip and do something that is not readily available at all the boogies that I attend.. Hence the beach jumps.. there are not really any available place in the US that you can show up and jump the beach all day long....jump after jump... If you provide beach jumps with easy access to packing and take off areas so people can make 7 or 8 jumps on the beach in a day is where you are gong to get fun jumpers traveling to the Island to jump. Honestly fun jumpers, if staying for say 5 days are only going to want to jump half of the days.. These guys and girls are going to want to make full days of jumping and not just 3 jumps onto a seemingly ordinary airport for five days and come home with 15 jumps and have done nothing around the Island. These people might make this trip once but will not come back... The skydivers that are going to come and spend money on the Island are gong to want to make those 15 jumps in 2 or 2 and a half days and spend the other time on the Island doing other fun things... this is something that will make them come back... and being easily accessible from the US they will if motivated by the right forces Man you have to make it SPECIAL.. You have to have something like BEACH jumps all the time and make it so that it is not a hassle for you or the jumpers... Also taking note of what some of the New Zeland (spelling?) crowd is doing is offering complette packages through the DZ.. ALmost acting as travel agents and events organizers.. Example: If 4 people want to come make jumps for a couple fo days, stay at a 4 room bungalow, scuba dive, and rent a boat for a day it wouold be really attracting and easy for jumpers to be able to call the DZ and list what they would like to do and have a visitors event organizer for them that can book outside events for them... that is something that will make them come back again... Empuriabrava in Spain (or Catalognia....spelling?) has a office like that on the DZ and man it helps the visiting jumpers an awful lot... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites jamaicadropzone 0 #5 February 26, 2005 Thanks for the replies, but need some more views, experiences and ideas. Hopefully we will be having a looping drop zones at different parts of the 7-mile negril beach in front of the hotels. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites jamaicadropzone 0 #6 March 5, 2005 Come on guys need everyones views and opinions..only three replys. need alot more to put on file.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites maxxx 0 #7 March 14, 2005 Go for it! The Tandem market will be a lots of $$$. You don't need the regular jumpers to make $$$. They only have money to skydive, not to travel. With Tandem-instructor you don't have to check all the time. They are pro. and they can land anywhere. I have a DZ in Canada...Do you want to survive or make $$$. Do it and you will have a great success. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Gralala 0 #8 March 18, 2005 Very good points.. My hubby and I are planning trip to Jamaica in the next few months and would love to be able to jump while I'm there... But we would be doing other things as well, since we both scuba dive... Plan about half of my travel/vacations on skydiving trips, usually close enough to other skydiving friends to not have to worry about added expense of hotels!! "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." -- Helen Keller Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Gralala 0 #9 March 18, 2005 You need female tandem instructors??? I'd almost go back and get my certification current to do tandems in Jamaica... :>) "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." -- Helen Keller Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites riggerrob 562 #10 March 26, 2005 Dude, Great idea for Rasta Skydiving Resort! You are probably going to need two, maybe four boring professional, mulit-rated instructors. By boring, I mean calm, cool professionals who fade into the background to make students the stars of their tandem videos. PM me if you feel like listening to my 19 years experience doing tandems, 21 years rigging, three seasons flying jumpers, etc. Also call me when you start hiring staff as I am looking for a winter gig in some warm climate. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites bobsled92 0 #11 April 10, 2005 Negril: Sandals & Hedo! That's where we go. It would be awesome to jump while there._______________________________ If I could be a Super Hero, I chose to be: "GRANT-A-CLAUS". and work 365 days a Year. http://www.hangout.no/speednews/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites dan_iv 0 #12 September 28, 2005 hey, i'm bumping this up to see if there as any other news about ANY dropzones in Jamaica as my wife and I are going to take a vacation there shortly..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites namgrunt 0 #13 September 29, 2005 BEFORE you comit on jamaca take a trip to the dominican rep. area of punta cana. no crime,no bad attitude,many more french ,german and canadian folks. cheep fuel,plenty of aircraft,MUCH less costely its as beauitful as jamaca without the crime,drugs and ripoff artists become a tandum dz as that is where the $$ are at. ..59 YEARS,OVERWEIGHT,BALDIND,X-GRUNT LAST MIL. JUMP VIET-NAM(QUAN-TRI) www.dzmemories.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites kamalasound 0 #14 September 30, 2005 My dream vacation would be to have landings, packing area and manifest all at the beach and this is because not all of our wifes skydive and they want to spend the vacation with us!! Therefore such a place would give us the chance to sunbathe with the family, have someone pack for us and get a 20 minute time off up in the sky. I'd be there every single vacation. It is important for it to be in a safe place.........no dangerous beach. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites psw097 0 #15 September 30, 2005 I was at Sandals Negril a couple months ago. The airport traffic went right over the hotel. It would be a very visible location from several of the hotels - built-in marketing. The beach right around there is very narrow and crowded. I'd hate to plow into a ganja peddler at 60MPH. I guess you have a good spot picked out, I just didn't see much. I would have jumped while I was there - at least until cocktail time at 10AM. Sounds cool have fun. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites beavdog 0 #16 October 11, 2005 Ive stayed on the beach there several times, where are you planning on putting the DZ? Beach landings there would be nearly impossible everywhere I was. As psw097 said, it is all very narrow and usually crowded. Here's to the Breezes that blows through the Trezzez..... 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jeiber 0 #2 February 23, 2005 Hi Earl, I've never owned a DZ, but I've seen two fail and a number of them succeed, so I'll just combine this with my business experience and you can take it for what it's worth - nothing! You'll probably have a hard time keeping the business alive if your primary market is fun jumping, especially when just starting up. Profits from fun jumping will barely pay for gas. With the tourist market there, you'd be a fool not to target the thousands upon thousands of wealthy vacationers that travel to Negril. Fill the remaining slots with fun jumpers, and run fun loads when there aren't any tandems. But trust me, you stand to make a killing off tandems! Look around at the DZ's you frequent - how many fun jumpers have the money to travel to Jamaica? Starting off, you'd have a much greater chance of success if you had your pilot's license, or tandem rating. That way you're significantly cutting overhead as far as staff is concerned. Consider a bunk house for fun jumpers. Most scuba operations have these, and they're usually filled. Build relationships with the local resorts. This will be an endless supply of fresh customers, and if you can host a boogie, you should be able to get skydiver discounts. Finally, talk to successfull and unsuccessful DZO's to find out what works, and what doesn't. Rigs probably won't be a hot selling item, but t-shirts probably will! Good luck, and I hope to jump there next trip to Negril!!! JeffShhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jamaicadropzone 0 #3 February 23, 2005 Hi Jeff, thanks for the reply, got a Pilots licence mate. Tandem jumps are a must, and will be on the cards, your dead right about all that possible trade, already know quite a few hotel managers in the area. Already got the Idea of skydiving Rasta’s on the T-shirts, all good fun Mon!!!! But I need to build up a good rep in the skydiving world, and get you guys over to Jamaica. For these reggee skydiving festivals down on the beach. Earl. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cheneyneel 0 #4 February 24, 2005 Man I would like to say that almost all of my trips are skydiving oriented.. Unless I am going to Europe (and even then sometimes) or snowboarding.. To be honest with you I can skydive at countless and countless places around the USA and do things that I would not be able to do anywhere else.. SO what you need to do is make it special is BEACH JUMPS... I am not gong to travel all the way to Jamaica to jump at another airport!!!!..(sorry mate I am just being honest) Granted the views might be masterful from the air but none the less I dont pay attention to the surroundings after the first jump.. I want to make such a trip and do something that is not readily available at all the boogies that I attend.. Hence the beach jumps.. there are not really any available place in the US that you can show up and jump the beach all day long....jump after jump... If you provide beach jumps with easy access to packing and take off areas so people can make 7 or 8 jumps on the beach in a day is where you are gong to get fun jumpers traveling to the Island to jump. Honestly fun jumpers, if staying for say 5 days are only going to want to jump half of the days.. These guys and girls are going to want to make full days of jumping and not just 3 jumps onto a seemingly ordinary airport for five days and come home with 15 jumps and have done nothing around the Island. These people might make this trip once but will not come back... The skydivers that are going to come and spend money on the Island are gong to want to make those 15 jumps in 2 or 2 and a half days and spend the other time on the Island doing other fun things... this is something that will make them come back... and being easily accessible from the US they will if motivated by the right forces Man you have to make it SPECIAL.. You have to have something like BEACH jumps all the time and make it so that it is not a hassle for you or the jumpers... Also taking note of what some of the New Zeland (spelling?) crowd is doing is offering complette packages through the DZ.. ALmost acting as travel agents and events organizers.. Example: If 4 people want to come make jumps for a couple fo days, stay at a 4 room bungalow, scuba dive, and rent a boat for a day it wouold be really attracting and easy for jumpers to be able to call the DZ and list what they would like to do and have a visitors event organizer for them that can book outside events for them... that is something that will make them come back again... Empuriabrava in Spain (or Catalognia....spelling?) has a office like that on the DZ and man it helps the visiting jumpers an awful lot... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jamaicadropzone 0 #5 February 26, 2005 Thanks for the replies, but need some more views, experiences and ideas. Hopefully we will be having a looping drop zones at different parts of the 7-mile negril beach in front of the hotels. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jamaicadropzone 0 #6 March 5, 2005 Come on guys need everyones views and opinions..only three replys. need alot more to put on file.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
maxxx 0 #7 March 14, 2005 Go for it! The Tandem market will be a lots of $$$. You don't need the regular jumpers to make $$$. They only have money to skydive, not to travel. With Tandem-instructor you don't have to check all the time. They are pro. and they can land anywhere. I have a DZ in Canada...Do you want to survive or make $$$. Do it and you will have a great success. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gralala 0 #8 March 18, 2005 Very good points.. My hubby and I are planning trip to Jamaica in the next few months and would love to be able to jump while I'm there... But we would be doing other things as well, since we both scuba dive... Plan about half of my travel/vacations on skydiving trips, usually close enough to other skydiving friends to not have to worry about added expense of hotels!! "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." -- Helen Keller Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gralala 0 #9 March 18, 2005 You need female tandem instructors??? I'd almost go back and get my certification current to do tandems in Jamaica... :>) "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." -- Helen Keller Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 562 #10 March 26, 2005 Dude, Great idea for Rasta Skydiving Resort! You are probably going to need two, maybe four boring professional, mulit-rated instructors. By boring, I mean calm, cool professionals who fade into the background to make students the stars of their tandem videos. PM me if you feel like listening to my 19 years experience doing tandems, 21 years rigging, three seasons flying jumpers, etc. Also call me when you start hiring staff as I am looking for a winter gig in some warm climate. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bobsled92 0 #11 April 10, 2005 Negril: Sandals & Hedo! That's where we go. It would be awesome to jump while there._______________________________ If I could be a Super Hero, I chose to be: "GRANT-A-CLAUS". and work 365 days a Year. http://www.hangout.no/speednews/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dan_iv 0 #12 September 28, 2005 hey, i'm bumping this up to see if there as any other news about ANY dropzones in Jamaica as my wife and I are going to take a vacation there shortly..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
namgrunt 0 #13 September 29, 2005 BEFORE you comit on jamaca take a trip to the dominican rep. area of punta cana. no crime,no bad attitude,many more french ,german and canadian folks. cheep fuel,plenty of aircraft,MUCH less costely its as beauitful as jamaca without the crime,drugs and ripoff artists become a tandum dz as that is where the $$ are at. ..59 YEARS,OVERWEIGHT,BALDIND,X-GRUNT LAST MIL. JUMP VIET-NAM(QUAN-TRI) www.dzmemories.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kamalasound 0 #14 September 30, 2005 My dream vacation would be to have landings, packing area and manifest all at the beach and this is because not all of our wifes skydive and they want to spend the vacation with us!! Therefore such a place would give us the chance to sunbathe with the family, have someone pack for us and get a 20 minute time off up in the sky. I'd be there every single vacation. It is important for it to be in a safe place.........no dangerous beach. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
psw097 0 #15 September 30, 2005 I was at Sandals Negril a couple months ago. The airport traffic went right over the hotel. It would be a very visible location from several of the hotels - built-in marketing. The beach right around there is very narrow and crowded. I'd hate to plow into a ganja peddler at 60MPH. I guess you have a good spot picked out, I just didn't see much. I would have jumped while I was there - at least until cocktail time at 10AM. Sounds cool have fun. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
beavdog 0 #16 October 11, 2005 Ive stayed on the beach there several times, where are you planning on putting the DZ? Beach landings there would be nearly impossible everywhere I was. As psw097 said, it is all very narrow and usually crowded. Here's to the Breezes that blows through the Trezzez..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
