Parachuting or Skydiving?

Posted: 11th September 2015

“What’s the difference between a parachute jump and a tandem skydive?” is one of the most commonly asked questions we get asked here at Go Skydive. To clarify, every jump from our planes is a parachute jump - a tandem skydive decent ends via parachute - you definitely wouldn’t want to be without one (unless you’re daredevil Luke Aikins).

The skydiving part of it is all about the what you do before your experienced instructor pulls the parachute cord - the incredible freefall experience!

Beginners sometimes get confused by the different types of jumps which require different amounts of training and experience. Here’s a brief description of three ways to leap out of a plane:

Tandem Skydiving:

Training: 15 mins session including simulated freefall.

Experience: Leap and experience exhilarating free-fall from 15,000ft with an experienced instructor who will be in control of the technical parts of your descent including parachute deployment and landing using a dual harness system.

Pros/Cons: Inexpensive, safety with instructor, no technical worries & you're ground-to-sky in minutes!

Static Line Jump:

Training: 6 hours of ground training

Experience: Jump at 3,500ft, parachute deploys as soon as you leave the aircraft, steer down into landing area

Pros/Cons: More expensive, no freefall, lowest jump height, but you get to jump alone.

Accelerated Freefall:

Training: Intensive course requiring a full day’s training before jumping

Experience: Jump assisted by two instructors holding on to you from 12,000ft

Pros/Cons: The most expensive option, but is part of the AFF qualification course

For first time jumpers we believe that tandem skydiving combines the best of freefall with value for money; you get to take the leap from 15,000ft with quick no-hassle training and jump with a highly experienced professional trained to the highest safety standards, with no worries about the technicalities of skydiving - that’s why we’re the UK’s leading tandem specialist skydiving center!

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Absolutely superb!

Reveiwed 02 December 2021

Absolutely superb! I was bought the full epic package for 60th birthday. Instructor Alex and camera flyer Craig were brilliant. As well the thrill of the jump itself, it was amazing just seeing the... Read full review

Amazing experience, supportive team

Reveiwed 23 November 2021

Wow! Skydiving from 15000 feet was incredible. I was super nervous, particularly as I really don't like heights, but my instructor, Chris, was very patient and reassuring, as were my cameraman and... Read full review

Waste of time and money when you can't get what you booked. They don't even care

Reveiwed 22 November 2021

Our experience was a lot of waiting around due to favouritism and que jumping as we understand. To top it off we ha0ve missed tons of opportunities to jump off from 10000 feet and had to jump from... Read full review

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