hjbuhrkall

First of all, the "Desert Campus" is a far more enjoyable DZ than "The Palm"... the vibe is way better here, and the staff is actually there for the normal skydivers, and not just Tandems. prices of jump tickets are fair, but it is difficult to do many jumps a day, since the DZ closes at 3 in the afternoon... premanifistation is not allowed unless doing coaching, and you can easily get 1 hour calls between loads (so don' expect more than 5-7 jumps pr. day). The staff is super friendly, and all who i've encountered there where always willing to help with load-organizing, coaching, or just chatting. with a view on the lading area, the small cafe offers food and drinks all day, to reasonable prices. A gear shop is also located on the DZ, but IMO the prices are too high ( i was downsizing to a 135" when i was there, and wanted to try one out for 10 jumps, and ended up paying 270$ for it!!) all in all, Tte SD2 is a nice place to be... nice atmosphere and solid staff. (finally just a quick note: Alcohol is normally not permitted in the UEA, so to get beer, you have to find one of the hotels that are licensed to serve beer... i can recommend "Premier Inn", on highway 66 towards Dubai)

Don't get me wrong, because i do like Skydive Dubai, "The Palm"... but to be honest it doesn't feel like a place you should go, if your intentions are to jump a lot (say, team-practice). At any given time there is a TON of tandem tourists waiting for their tandem master, and i got the feeling that the staff working at the DZ primarily where there to service the passengers. The packing area for licensed skydivers is really small (6-7 persons max.), compared to the significantly larger Pro-packing area... and "normal" skydivers where constantly pushed to the back of the line to make it easier for the Tandems. in general "The Palm" felt more like a tandem-factory, than a real DZ (but the view is still pretty hard to compete with :D)

The atmosphere is relaxed and "down-to-earth", and because of the small plane you will expect some waiting between loads. When the weather permits, jumping activity is every second weekend, and every tuesday. the landing area is rather large(1km long and between 1-200m wide), but there is a 5min walk from the gate back to the club-house. When there is enough activity to keep the plane running, manifest and packing area moves out on the landing area... There is no "real" restaurant at the DZ but the bar is pretty well equipped, and it is possible to buy toast, snacks, etc... Most often somebody is arranging food in the evenings. There is a lot of focus on helping students, and in general the people at the DZ are really nice and helpfull.

I went to Skydive Spain for the christmas-boogie 2013. All three Dorniers where flying, and during the entire boogie the only limit to how many loads you get, was how fast a packer you are. we had some days of bad weather, but I still managed 32 jumps in 4 days. (manifest is working pretty well). There were many people at the dropzone, and the staff (though friendly enough) was under constant pressure. I saw more of the load-organizers doing back-to-back, without any realistic time to do briefing/de-briefing... all in all: the DZ is a really nice place if you are going to make a lot of jumps, but the atmosphere can be a bit too hectic for my taste.

I went to skydive Sardegna for the spring Boogie 2014. Initially we had some bad weather for the first couple of days, so there were far between loads. But even grounded, the dropzone is really nice, with beanbags in the hangar, a swimming pool just outside, and the bar/restaurant just 30m away. when the weather cleared, they were operating a Pilatus Porter, so we could go 10 jumpers pr. load. The coaches and riggers(and everybody else) at the dropzone are super friendly and always helpful, and in the evenings they arranged BBQ's for those who wanted. Overall: a really nice dropzone, where you can jump, or relax as it suits you.