cdcollura

Jumped there a few times in Spring of 2017. The facility is very nice with full service and constantly turning at least 2 planes on a busy day. Staff was very accommodating and professional.

The location is a bit far and at the end of a bumpy dirt road (about 60 miles NE of Dallas / Fort Worth). When busy, I waited almost 4 hours to get on a load a couple times (I'm a licensed skydiver with almost 700 jumps at the time).

Jump altitude was never above 11,000 feet. At 10,500' I was confused on why everyone was exiting (I thought a group was exiting lower) and literally "yelled" at to "get the F*** out of the plane". Not sure why no one got "standard" 13,500' on any load.

Other than that, the place was overall a good experience with large landing areas and friendly to up-jumpers and students / tandems.

I jumped here a couple of times while visiting N/C California on vacation and never had a bad experience. I'm an experienced up-jumper.

What I was quite impressed by was the way the staff and folks there handled an out-of-towner like me along with the tandems and other up-jumpers alike.

Just recently, I went to do a jump there, but unfortunately it was too windy to jump / not enough to make a load. The staff there tried as hard as they could to get me in the air.

Even renting gear (my rig was having its reserve repacked at the time) from their pro shop was very helpful. They even "waived" their lower wind limit just for me (I have over 500 jumps)!

Ultimately, and totally out of the hands of the drop zone, strong winds grounded everyone. Knowing I was from out of town, they still gave me a full refund on everything - Even though they said no refunds.

The DZO was a great guy and again I was very impressed on their attitude and striving to get a visitor like me up. I will definitely be back on a calmer day!

As for jumping there, the expert landing area is a bit small - Watch out for that canopy eating hawk in the tree! Plenty of out-landing and you have the student field as well.

Great planes (Grand Caravan and Cessna). Awesome view of the central valley, and they have events throughout the year, even 30k HALO.

I wrote a review on this place in the good old days (around 2007 to 2009), when you can show up and they tried their best to get you in the air ... With 18k to 19k jump altitudes and a King Air rocket ship that got you up to that FL in 6 mins!

Now it's the dark days of 2014 ... I went there twice and was told there was no rental gear available for out of town (unless you are AFF or tandem), and was simply turned away on a busy Saturday under flawless blue skies.

In 2014 I made the smart decision of calling this time ahead and was told NO GEAR RENTALS to any visiting jumpers, regardless of experience. So if you are experienced, BRING your OWN gear!! I was told this was a "policy" they did since 2011.

What a way to ruin something that was so good and a must everytime I visited N California.

I would have to say that I really enjoy jumping at this drop zone. Weekends are best, and yes, they cater to tandems as that is their largest source of income, as it is a business after all. With that said, their aircraft is a very quick ride to altitude (King Air). Often they do 18 K, but if they don't your gonna get 15-16 K anyway! I have not had any bad experiences here with attitude, or maybe that's just me.

This place is a fantastic place, whether you are a student or experienced jumper. Great aircraft, lots of events during their busy season (winter), and great people. The only down side I got with them was that I rent gear and was told I could not do so anymore there for "specialty jumps", particularly their hi alt loads they do there several times a year. For gear, bot the gear shop and DZ were very un-cooperative with that. I used to do those hi alt loads frequently, until they yanked the "gear rental" for them. For specialty jumps ... Bring your OWN gear - Period!

If you are a first-time jumper or experienced fun-jumper, this place is for you. Constant flux of aircraft, such as a new and fast super-otter (winter 2008) with a great staff and crowd each weekend.

Events, especially the everglades boogie (Jan 2008) were awesome. New Flight Briefing Office and skydiving center with internet access. Low prices. Go fast, be safe, and have fun!

This place is great for your first jump, especially tandem, and that's what it essentially is, a "tandem factory". As an experienced fun jumper I make the extra trip to Air Adventures (Clewiston).

SD Miami is rather expensive and the staff can be rude at times. Loads are often backed-up with long waits to get on. The attitude and click-iness can be attributed to the location (near Miami).

For first-time jumpers / tourists, you WILL be treated like a king. Fun jumpers and experienced groups should go elsewhere.