AntoH

The DZ is located right beside a reservoir and on the backside of a low mountain range, this leads to a lot of turbulence in certain wind directions. The airplane climbs fast but is very old approx. 1970's and doesn't have room for many jumpers so if you want to get a fun jumper load up you need to wait for a break in the tandems. There are 3 times periods in the day where you can go to 13k and that depends on if ATC gives permission or not, other times loads are to 9k, if you do a tracking jump and exit after the tandems the plane is usually at 8k leaving very little freefall time. The landing area is very large but is also public so at times there are pickup trucks freely driving around which can make landing quite treacherous. Until you have an A license you need to wear a flotation device as if you land out there is a good chance you are landing in the reservoir measuring 3.5km x 1km depending on the time of year.

Although the DZ is mainly tandem oriented they are very welcome to fun jumpers. 15k loads with amazing scenery is a big attraction with spectacular views during freefall. Definitely recommended if you're passing through NZ.

I slept in my van at DZ for over a month and completed just over 100 skydives. What an experience, Bill and Cathy are lovely people that provide great facilities and care to the jumpers. The DZ has a great community vibe, with a large group of friendly locals who do their best to welcome fun jumpers visiting from other parts of the world. I definitely recommend jumping here. The parachute center has got a lot of bad press lately but I found they were very safety oriented. As a fun jumper you should take the initiative to talk to other jumpers what they plan to do on the load and use your experience for getting into the landing pattern.