shorehambeach

I had a day spare in Holland while working there so I thought i'd check out Teuge. Very glad I did :-)

I pitched up the evening before to watch the landing area. Very nice vibe, everyone speaking English and Dutch.

The DZ is based on an active busy airport and has a nice large landing area with plenty of green to land out on.

The centre is the busiest training centre in Holland with static line, AFF, Round (military) and Tandems.

All the instructors - without exceptions - were happy to chat and help a new visitor. Not a Sky God in sight (see the previous Review!)

They happily gave me a full briefing and tour of the DZ.

25EUR get you 3500, 6000 or 12000 depending on the plane load and number manifested.

They run 2 x Super Caravans ....this is my first time in a Super Caravan and they are FAST! Manifest is stress free and there's a great bar/restaurant hang out.

There is camping onsite and large training and packing hangars. Theres' an onsite shop and riggers loft.

This was a great DZ and I will be back.

Here is an update 2 years on from my first visit.

I travel each summer from the Uk for France for a month ans spend many days at the DZ. This is a very busy DZ but is VERY welcoming and friendly to both newbies and groups. I've done more than 100 jumps here including Beach Jumps and its a SUPERB DZ!

They run a Porter from dawn til dusk and fly in another Porter if very busy...

This was my fist DZ to visit since I complete AFF in Deland Florida. Its on the West Coast near Royan. Run by Joinville Francis, 22000 jumps who is the french team coach.

They run 2 Pilatus aircraft that get to 14000ft in 14 minutes. One runs all day long with the second brought out when it is very busy. DZ is very nice, great landing area...lots of outs and an easy clear pattern to follow depending which way the wind blows.

Being on the cost the views of the beach (5 miles away) is superb and very scenic. 2/3 full time packers operate there.

Manifest ran really well and they helped me out as my French is ok but not great. Lots of rigs for hire. Packers wokred very well and safety briefings and checks very thorough.

I will be back !

Here we go.

I knew (and still know) nothing about Skydiving but manages a tandem and thought about AFF.

I live in the UK so thought..."well, if I'm going to jump out of a plane, I'd like to be at the best place in the world to learn"

All road lead to Deland, but more importantly, Skydive University based at Skydive Deland.

I rang around several Dropzones asking about AFF - as a complete newbie scared out of his pants, it was important to get the initial vibe from the people who answered the phone.....

By far the best initial reponse was from Rob Laidlaw and the team @ Skydive University @ Deland.

They called me - spoke through the course. Answered my silly newbie questions without laughing at me :) ....

I was given a dedicated instructor who sent me a rough outline of the course....

I booked my flights and turned up.

They were waiting for me.

Its not easy to turn up at a DZ as a newbie - I arrived on the day of Shamrock Showndown - the DZ was full of international teams - but the vibe at Deland was welcoming, positive and pretty unique.

Robert Chrome (Chromy) was my dedicated instructor with Lindsay Widdall as well.

After the initial ground school my thought went from...

Skydiving is an unsafe sport done by adrenalin junkies as they love fear...

Wow..

This is 90% about safety.

Anyway - PM me if you want to know more about choosing Deland.

All I can say is that EVERY single instructor at both Skydive U and Skydive Deland went out of their way to chat to me as I made an effort with them..

Lindsay, Frasier, Nikki, Carl Robby to name just a few ...

The food is great at the restaurant..

The shop is friendly (if slightly confused with their accounting !)

I even managed to shower there before I left

I FEEL THIS IS MY HOME DZ EVEN THOUGH I AM 5000 MILES AWAY!