Skydiving is an individual experience and you only have your first time once. Not all skydiving experiences are equal, it makes a huge difference what company you choose. If you were going to eat 1 steak in your whole life you probably want to do it at the nicest restaurant possible and get the Filet or Prime Rib probably not at the Waffle House even though they sell loads of steak. Here at Skydive Atlanta what we offer is that once in a lifetime individual experience.
Skydive Atlanta has been in business for over 26 years! We started in Ellijay, Georgia in 1985. After moving to our Thomaston facility in 1998, we have continued to provide the highest quality skydiving experience.
It's a popular misconception that "skydiving places must be safe, because otherwise, the government or someone would shut them down, right?" This is simply not true. Skydiving is largely self-policed and not all operators care about your safety as much as your money.
At Skydive Atlanta we do not treat your skydive as a carnival ride. We do not book as many jumpers each day as possible. Here you will develop a personal relationship with your instructor and feel comfortable before you go up not just meet him right before you climb on the plane like other companies. Other facilities are willing to put students up in any wind condition regardless of safety. We are here to make a profit but committed to preserving your safety first.
We are the training home of the U.S. Army/ Ft Benning Command Exhibition Parachute Team, The Silver Wings. For this reason, we are certified with the DoD Intrastate Paratroop Carry Certification, one of only a handful of operators in the entire country. Skydive Atlanta is subjected to complete inspections by the Department of Defense every 2 years and is under the scrutiny of an inspector almost weekly. No other facility meets such exacting standards.
While some companies settle for second hand equipment, Skydive Atlanta uses only the latest equipment purchased new from the manufacturer. Each year, we spend tens of thousands of dollars updating our equipment as well as re-certification of harnesses and parachutes including the latest safety modifications. All of Skydive Atlanta parachute rigs are equipped with "Airtec Cypres 2" onboard computer Automatic Activation Devices. These devices are designed to activate your parachute automatically in a worst case scenario and are the top of the line available.
Skydiving aircraft are generally not required to meet many of the manufacturer maintenance requirements. Because there is little oversight in this area, many companies choose to defer maintenance items, ignore problems, or have unqualified personnel repair them. Our aircraft is widely regarded as one of the nicest jump planes in all of skydiving, meets all manufacturer maintenance standards, and always has maintenance completed by FAA certified mechanics. It is maintained to the highest industry standards and is equipped with onboard weather radar, Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS), heat and air conditioning.
At Skydive Atlanta all of our jumps are from our largest turbine powered aircraft and are from 14,000 feet, the highest you can legally go in America without oxygen. This gives you around 1 minute of freefall. Beware of companies that claim 90 seconds freefall or 16,000 foot skydives. If they are going that high (not the industry standard) it is highly unlikely they are using oxygen which can be extremely dangerous and illegal.
Our prices are all inclusive, meaning no bogus hdden fees for different altitudes, equipment rental, weather insurance, or larger aircraft. With other companies, you may pay for a jump then have your credit card billed additional, undisclosed fees by the company. Often you show up to redeem your jump only to find it was from a lower altitude or from a smaller aircraft. Then you are "upsold" to the "higher altitude" and "larger aircraft".
Lately there has been a large influx of companies that sell gift certificates or ultra discounts for skydiving. Most of these companies are not affiliated with any skydiving facility. Often these companies advertise under several different names, deceiving the customer into believing that they were shopping around. The marketing company then takes no responsibility for what happens after the sale is made. With Skydive Atlanta you are dealing directly with the company that provides the jump.
Also beware of "half-off" type daily deal companies. There may be serious restrictions to the use of your jump. Skydiving is very expensive to produce. Also, if a company is willing to lose money on these deals (and believe us, they lose a lot to offering half off), where are they cutting costs to afford it? The equipment? The aircraft maintenance? You deserve a high quality experience even if it costs a little more.
