Atlanta Skydiving FAQ’s

Please do NOT call us about weather forecasts or questions. Plan on coming unless you hear from us. We will contact you if there are any changes to your reservation. Please realize that everyone comes from far away to get to us and doesn’t want to travel a long way to not jump. We are fully aware of this and would rather be jumping too. In over 30 years of business, we have developed a very good gauge of when we will or won’t be able to jump. It’s not always perfect but we have systems to designed to reduce unnecessary drives to our facility but allow for us to operate as much as possible. Remember also, just because the weather is bad where you are, doesn’t mean it’s bad where we are.

We do not jump in inclement weather, however, we do not change reservations based on weather forecasts. Please know that in Georgia, isolated showers or thundershowers occur and are forecast almost everyday. These do not stop us from jumping for more than a few minutes to an hour and are typically only in the afternoon.

Clouds and winds can also prevent us from jumping. Our highly experienced team will make determinations the afternoon/evening prior to jumping as well as the morning of jumping.

If we know for certain you will not jump, we will contact you the evening prior to your reservation. We will call and send an email if we cannot reach you. We will put your reservation on hold and you will receive an confirmation email. You be able to reschedule to another time using the link in the email or by emailing us at reservations@skydiveatlanta.com with your full name and the date and time you would like to reschedule to.

More often, we will contact you the afternoon or evening prior and either move your reservation back to a later time or may ask you to call before coming in. Often if there is bad weather, it’s only for part of the day. We have seen several times over the years where the forecast was 100% rain but the day comes and there is nothing but blue skies and calm winds.

What do I need to know about skydiving while the COVID-19 outbreak is occurring?

In addition to compliance with State guidelines wherever possible, we have instituted sanitation procedures (too numerous to list here).

SKYDIVING, PARTICULARLY TANDEM SKYDIVING, IS A CONTACT SPORT AND 6 FOOT SOCIAL DISTANCING CANNOT BE PRACTICALLY OBSERVED

BY SKYDIVING AND BEING AT SKYDIVE ATLANTA, YOU ASSUME THE RISK OF COVID-19 INFECTION

You are not be safe from coronavirus infection here. No amount of care or caution can assure your protection. We have taken reasonable precautions to protect your health, but make no guarantees or representations. You must take your own precautions. If you cannot accept that risk, don’t skydive or be at Skydive Atlanta.  As a condition of being here:

                YOU AGREE THAT YOU ARE NOT ILL and HAVE NOT BEEN KNOWINGLY EXPOSED TO COVID-19

All of the reservations are done online here at our website. Go to the “Online Reservations” tab above and click your desired type of skydive.

We sometimes accept walk-ins but cannot guarantee it. It depends on our staffing levels and scheduled customer volume for that day.

If you check your confirmation email you will find a Group ID. Give that group ID to the person or persons that want to join. They will go to our reservations page and click on “Join a Group”.

Depending on how busy we are on a certain day, we can sometimes open spots to join a group. Send an email to reservations@skydiveatlanta.com or info@skydiveatlanta.com and include the Group ID (if you have it) or group leader’s name, the date, and time for your group. We will respond and advise if we can help. If we do open up a spot, you must book it immediately to ensure someone else does not take the spot before you.

Skydive Atlanta is open year round on the following schedule:

May – September:
Saturdays 8 a.m. to Sunset
Sundays 10 a.m. to Sunset
Last appointment is at 3 p.m.

October – April:
Saturdays 9 a.m. to Sunset
Last appointment is at 2:00 p.m.

Sundays 10 a.m. to Sunset
Last appointment is at 1:00 p.m.

Occasionally open Memorial Day and Labor Day. Closed Thanksgiving weekend. Email before booking around or on holidays to ensure we are operating.

Our staff is available by phone:

Mondays and Fridays 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Tuesdays through Thursdays – email only
Saturdays and Sundays 9 a.m. to Sunset

Please visit our tandem skydiving and getting certified for solo skydiving pages. You can do either jump your first time.

Please visit our pricing page.

• Prices listed are when paying cash. 5% more when paying by credit card.
• a $2 per lb. fee applies to those over 220 lbs.
• Prices do not include video & photo packages.
• Prices are on a variable rate based on high demand days and times. The exact price you will pay is provided during the reservation process and may not match the published price on the page linked above.

Please visit our Video and Photos page for a full description and sample of each package.

Sorry, we do not offer a photos only package. Please see our Video & Photo Packages page for details. https://www.skydiveatlanta.com/georgia-skydiving-video-packages/

If you purchase a Video/ Photos package, as a courtesy, we will make every effort to get the other members of your group in the video during the before-jump interview, in-aircraft interview, exits, and landing. However, photographers can only freefall with one person at a time. Therefore you must purchase separate packages if you want freefall footage for everyone.

All video/photo packages are typically processed the same day and are often available within about 10 to 15 minutes of your jump. You will receive an email with a file sharing link to download them. Make sure to check your spam folder for this email. If you have  not received it within 20 minutes after your jump, please call us right away so we can correct the issue.

You can select a video package during the reservation process but if you missed it, forgot, or changed your mind – no problem! Just reply to your confirmation email or email us at reservations@skydiveatlanta.com . Please include the full name of the person adding the video package, the date and time of your reservation, and which type of package you want. Your can find more info on packages available at our Video & Photo Packages page. You can see the package prices at our Prices page.

Please note there is a $20 cancellation fee for reserved video packages.

Unfortunately, we no longer offer this option. We use a third party system that edits the video and photo packages. The system uses royalty free, mostly instrumental music.

Second only to safety, getting your jump completed as quickly as possible is our priority. Be prepared to spend the entire day, although, for tandem jumps the whole process from the time you arrive until you leave is typically between 2 and 4 hours. Several factors affect the time it takes including the number of jumpers in your group, what time of day you reserve, and how busy we are. Weather and other factors can delay your jump. The best way to ensure your timely completion is to arrive as close as possible to your scheduled reservation time.

Our staff and pilots have years of experience, special training, and access to government aviation weather websites. Our aircraft are equipped with radar, heat, and air conditioning. We use all of these resources to make decisions regarding weather. Clouds, wind, and storm conditions can affect our ability to make your jump. In almost all cases, weather decisions are made the day of your jump. If we know for absolute certain you will not be able to skydive we will reschedule you. However, 95% of the time we are able to jump at least part of the day and will ask you to arrive as scheduled. For example, during the summer in Georgia almost everyday we have afternoon showers. These typically only last for a short time then we get back on schedule. In the unlikely case you arrive as scheduled and are unable to jump, we will issue you a rain check and you can reschedule at a later date. Our operations are only adversely affected and delayed by freezing ground temperature conditions.

Unfortunately we are not able to specifically schedule customers for sunset on regular weekend business days. There are multiple reasons for this including weather and other delays, timing the jump to coincide with sunset exactly (which changes every day) which would cause us to have to stop operations and wait, but ultimately we simply we have no way to guarantee it. We set our daily schedule and appointment times based on what we believe will definitely get customers their skydive before sunset all things running normally. Making your appointment for the last available spot on your day is the best way to try and may get you a sunset jump but no guarantee.

For high net worth customers, this could be specifically arranged for a Friday certain times of the year but would likely be cost prohibitive for the average customer.

There are pros and cons to skydiving during each time of day.

Skydiving In The Morning

Summer the early morning is cooler, so more comfortable, and the process is typically faster because of lower volume. In addition, the sky is clearer and weather is more predictable. If the weather is inclement, you are still the first to go when it clears. However, you have to arrive at 8:00 a.m. In the Winter the cool mornings are not as comfortable but you typically get to go very quickly.

Skydiving During Mid Afternoon

In Summer the mid afternoon will have the best views of cloud formations but is the hottest part of the day and the busiest, meaning relatively longer wait times. Winter afternoons are warmer than morning but usually have higher winds which may cause delays.

Skydiving During Late Afternoon

In Summer late afternoon very often has isolated thunder showers, although sunsets can be among the best views we experience. However, if there is an unforeseen delay due to weather you are the last to go which can result in a rescheduled reservation. In Winter, the late afternoon can have the same sunset views, however, the days are much shorter so any delay due to winds or weather can result in a reservation reschedule.

We are located at:

2333 Delray Rd

Thomaston, GA 30286

Thomaston is about an hour south of Atlanta, an hour northeast of Columbus, and 40 minutes northwest of Macon. If you drew a line between those three cities, it would form a triangle and we sit in the middle.

You can visit our Directions & Hours page for more exact info.

We typically jump from around 14,000 feet above the ground. It can sometimes be lower depending on clouds and other conditions. But not typically below 9,000 feet.

Jumping over our facility in Thomaston we see views of the foothills called Pine Mountain to the west. To the north on a clear day you can see downtown Atlanta and the Hartsfield airport. There are numerous lakes and the Flint River nearby.

All participants should wear closed toe shoes (tennis shoes, light boots), no sandals please. In the Summertime you can wear shorts and a t-shirt. Winter wear jeans and layers on top, long sleeves and sweatshirt. We will provide a jumpsuit to protect your clothes, although in the Summer it is optional. We also provide helmet, goggles and gloves in winter.

Your reservation time is the time you arrive at our facility. We schedule our customers in such a way to minimize your wait time. To prevent scheduling issues and long waits, you should arrive as close to your scheduled reservation time as possible.

Tandem passengers must be 254 lbs. or less. AFF jumpers must be 260 lbs. or less. We weigh every passenger. We are sorry if our scale says something different from yours at home or your doctor, but we have to use ours as the standard for our decisions.

Tandem passengers please note: Weight limits may change based on certain instructor availability. We reserve the right to deny a tandem jump to anyone based on safety concerns or the limits of the equipment. There may be additional charges for passengers exceeding 220 lbs. In addition, some passengers can be within the weight limit but if they are shorter or not height/weight proportionate, we may not be able to safely fit you in the harness and attach you properly to the equipment. Therefore would not be able to skydive.

Height limits are based on a few factors. Availability of our taller instructors, the tandem passenger’s weight, and the tandem passengers height to weight proportion. For example, we may be able to take a passenger who is 6’7″ but weighs 190 lbs. But that same passenger at 230 would be unable. This is because the taller instructors also typically weigh more, therefore exceed the equipment’s max weight limits.

Our weight limits are not a reflection of lack of expertise or equipment quality as some companies would have you believe. They reflect the safe operational limits of the equipment. Any company exceeding these limits may be putting your life and safety at risk.

Ultimately, our primary concern is always the safety of our passengers.

Unfortunately we cannot absolutely guarantee anyone can skydive with us sight unseen. However, we almost never have to turn people down if they are under the weight limit. There are too many factors and body shapes to definitively say yes 100% in every case. It totally depends your body and it may have nothing to do with whether your weight is body fat or muscle. It could just be the body shape exceeds the harness limits. We cannot know until we are able to fit the harness to you and the instructor determines that it is safe. In addition, we sometimes have limitations based on the height or weight of our staff.

Our plane holds 14 jumpers. We typically put between 2 and 4 tandem jumpers on a plane load.

Sort of. Tandem jumpers go out of the plane one after the other. The number of tandem jumpers we put on the plane varies depending on several factors. First, we want to get your group and all of the other groups that day up as quickly as possible while still remaining safe. The exact number in your group, the number of video/photo packages, the number of instructors/photographers available that day, and number of other tandem jumpers booked all may affect how we send you up. In some cases it may work out better for everyone involved to send a group of 10 up in a series of 4, 4, and 2 rather than 5 and 5. That being said, no one has ever come up to us afterward and felt like they didn’t share the experience with members of their group because they went on separate loads.

The minimum age is 18 years old, no exceptions, no parental consent. This applies to co-pilot rides in the aircraft as well. There is no maximum age for tandem skydiving. We’ve taken folks 87 years young!

Participants must be under the age of 65 for Accelerated Freefall (AFF) skydiving.

A government issued Photo I.D., Driver’s License, or a Passport will be required at the time of check in.

If you have a concern over a medical condition and how it could limit your ability to skydive, you should always consult your doctor first. Your doctor is the only one qualified to tell you what activities are suitable with your particular condition. Most medications will likely not limit your ability to skydive but due to effects of high altitude, only a doctor can tell you for certain. While we do not recommend skydiving while pregnant, many people have done it without issue in the first trimester. We discourage it beyond that point. Skydiving in a cast is not recommended. All tandem passengers should be able to do moderate exercise such as walking and be fully mobile, able to be in a fully squatted position and able to lift your legs past 45 degrees for at least 10 seconds while seated. We often say, if you can walk, jump off a chair, and swim you can probably skydive. AFF skydivers however should be in good physical and cognitive health.

Not at all just breathe normally.

At this time we do not. However, if you have a prosthetic it may be possible to jump on a case by case basis.

Yes, we have an observation area just in front of the landing zone. There is no strict policy on the number of people, however, we prefer it be something reasonable. 6 might be a reasonable number of friends or family that are not skydiving.

We love furry friends as much as anyone but please leave them at home.

Congrats! And yes!

The best way to do this we have found is as follows:

You bring a trusted family member or friend who is just there “to watch.” You give them the ring to hold. We will advise your instructors about the proposal before your jump. The proposer will exit first and open the parachute at normal altitude. The instructor of the partner being proposed to will open the parachute significantly higher. This will allow time for you to get to the ground and prepare. One of our staff members will escort the ring bearing friend out to the landing area to give you the ring. Your partner’s instructor will land as close to you as possible.

In addition, for a $20 fee, we have a larger banner that reads, “Marry Me?” we can rent you.

Please understand, this is a good method when everything works perfectly. We have done this exact thing 20 time over the years.  however, we cannot guarantee that your partner will land in exactly the right spot or that things will go as intended. There are a lot of factors not within our control.

Congrats to you both! Unfortunately, there is no good, safe way for us to do it. We have been asked about confetti, smoke, streamers and other methods. Both you and your instructor will need to be focused on practicing and executing proper landing technique, especially once close to the ground where everyone would see the reveal. Any distraction for you or your instructor could compromise your safety.

We have drink machines and light snacks (chips, cookies, candy bars) available for sale. There are several local restaurants that deliver to our facility.

You may bring phones/cameras with you onto the plane. We cannot be held responsible for any damage to them. We do not allow you to take them into freefall as it may endanger those on the ground. This policy also applies to other items such as signs, drink bottles, etc. Any pictures or video you see of anyone skydiving here that has an item in hand, a special design to secure the item and other precautions were taken to ensure safety. These skydives were made under special circumstances for the purpose of taking the picture.

Sorry we do not allow this either. First, the Go Pro could damage our harness. Second, and most important, we want you and your instructor focused on you and the safety of your jump, not distracted by your Go Pro.

The landings are not like the old military style under round parachutes. The parachutes land just like gliders and can be tip-toe soft with the right wind conditions. Often, we perform slide in landings on our behinds.

Since what’s rough or painful for one person is not for another, this is difficult to answer. We make our best attempt to have the parachute open as softly as possible within safe parameters but make no guarantees. That being said, we get very few complaints about rough or hard parachute openings.

While we take every precaution to mitigate the inherent risks associated with skydiving, it is important to understand that skydiving is inherently dangerous. Our equipment is maintained by a certificated FAA Master Rigger. We continually purchase new equipment updating our fleet of parachute systems and components. We use state of the art systems and top of the line components. Most of our instructors have thousands of skydives, many of them have thousands of tandem skydives. The vast majority of all skydiving accidents happen to expert skydivers pushing the envelope. Statistically, about 1 in every 3,000 main parachutes fail to open properly requiring main parachute release and reserve parachute activation. We do not book the maximum amount of people we could take every day to allow instructors the time to check everything properly as well as not fatigue them. We take every precaution to ensure safety, however, skydiving is not safe and you can be injured or killed.

That said, our safety record is excellent. With the large volume of jumps we do, we do have occasional incidents most of which would not be considered severe.

Please see our Getting Certified for solo skydiving section for more information.

AFF certification states that you can jump solo, safely. A USPA “A License” states that you have achieved certain level of proficiency or expertise. To receive an A License you have to have made 25 skydives, review certain items with an instructor, and demonstrate certain skills. While many skydiving companies will allow you to jump after completing AFF certification at a different company, some will make you jump with an instructor to demonstrate your skill level first. However, an A License will allow you to jump pretty much anywhere in the world. An A License also allows you to go 60 days between jumps instead of 30 days.

Please read the question above regarding the difference between solo certification and A license certification before proceeding.

All military jumps count toward USPA license certifications. Some instructor ratings require them to be freefall skydives rather than static line to count.

Not all military jumps count toward solo certification. Military Freefall or MFF skydives can count toward solo certification. If you have completed MFF training and have a signed log to show completion we can transition you to a civilian A license. Our package for transition is paid up front and is as follows:

You must complete a transition AFF skydive which includes additional training and performance objectives. You must complete a minimum of 5 jumps during which you must complete all items in “Exit and Freefall Skills” on the A license card. These include a “clear and pull” skydive from 3,500 feet AGL, two skydives with a USPA coach, and a check dive with an AFF instructor. In addition, you must complete all remaining items on the A license card. With proper planning, many of these items can be completed during your coach jumps. Additional jumps may be required if you have not logged 5 landings, signed by an instructor, within 20 meters of a preselected target.

There is no direct answer for this because there are so many variables. Weather, instructor availability, our student volume, your stamina and commitment are among the factors. AFF certification can theoretically take just a few days. However, typically it takes a few weekends with all the factors above in play. An A License takes an additional 18 jumps after AFF certification. This is mostly up to you, how many jumps you want to make per day, and how diligent you are with completing the A License proficiency card. Typically, 3 to 4 jumps per day is what most new, unconditioned jumpers can handle safely.

We are only open on weekends which effects the length of time as well. Most people take a month or two to complete the A license with us if jumping every weekend.

The path to becoming an instructor or professional skydiver might be considered similar to vocational training, taking several months, or even years depending on the rating. First, there is solo certification. This is AFF training and requires a minimum 7 jumps. The certification allows you to jump without the supervision of an instructor. Second, there are 4 levels of licensing- the A (25 jumps), B (100 jumps), C (200 jumps), and D (500 jumps). Each has its own set of additional requirements. At 100 jumps and a B license you can take a course to achieve a USPA Coach rating. At 200 jumps you are eligible to be an aerial photographer. At 6 hours of freefall (approximately 350 to 400 jumps) you are eligible to take the Accelerated Freefall Instructor rating course. At 500 jumps, a D license, and 3 years since your first jump, you are eligible to take the Tandem Instructor Certification Course.
The majority of the time spend during this process is self-directed. There are no formal courses for the entire process.

We accept Cash, Money Order, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and debit cards. There is a 5% charge for credit cards. Debit cards are treated as credit cards, not cash.

Deposits are made by credit card when you make your online reservation. The card used along with the cardholder must be present during check in to use your deposit.

The balance of your skydive may be paid by any of the methods listed above and we can split the payment of the balance between cash, credit cards, multiple debit/credit cards, even from different persons. Be advised, this may increase your check in time. Fastest check in occurs when each person pays for their own balance using one method.

All of our reservations are completed online and require a $75 deposit per person. Everyone pays their balance using credit card, cash, gift certificate, or rain check on the day they arrive during check in. Please note, the credit card used for the reservation and the cardholder must be present at check in for you to use the deposit toward your jump.

If you still have the card go ahead and bring it with you even if it was replaced by a different one so we can verify you are the cardholder. If you no longer have the card we cannot verify you are the cardholder. In that case, please be prepared to pay the entire fee for your services including the deposit amount plus a $10 fee to cover our credit card processing costs on the original card. Once we have received payment  in full, we will refund the deposit to your original card. It can take up to 7 days to show as a credit on your account.

Super easy, but you will need to make two separate reservations. You will make a reservation for yourself here at our website- your gift certificate number will allow you to bypass the credit card section as if you entered a card number. Once you receive your confirmation email, note the “Group ID” on the email. Then go back to the reservation page, click on “Join a Group”, enter the group ID, and proceed with the second reservation. The person without a gift certificate will need to provide a credit card to finalize their reservation. Remember to use their name and their valid email address, not yours!

When you input your Gift Certificate number during the reservation process, the system will allow you to bypass the credit card info page without a card number.

You can do it either way. When you make your reservation, just add all of the people and their email addresses during the reservation process and you pay the amount shown at the end for everyone’s deposit.

Alternately, you can make your reservation for yourself or however many you want to pay for. Then when you receive your confirmation email containing your Group ID, you give that to the people that want to go as well. They can click the button that says “Join a Group” on the reservation page and complete the deposit on their own.

• Skydive Reservations:
  • All deposits and payments are non-refundable.
  • Cancellation by the customer at any time, for any reason or “no show” will result in a forfeiture of your deposit.
  • Skydive Atlanta at its sole discretion may reschedule the customer for inclement weather. (See weather policy below)
  • Customers may not reschedule appointments without forfeiture of deposit. Cancellation by a customer that has prepaid in full, at any time, for any reason or “no show” will result in a forfeiture of the amount equal to the deposit. The balance of the payment will remain on the customer’s account for future use.
  • Customers with legitimate medical issues/emergencies that temporarily prohibit skydiving on their scheduled appointment, deposit forfeiture may be waived with a doctor’s note. In that case, the funds will remain on the customer’s account for future use.
• Video & Photo packages:
  • There is a $20 fee for cancellation of advanced reservation video & photo packages.

Skydive Atlanta solely (not the customer) will determine if the weather is or will be acceptable for skydiving on any given day. This is almost always decided the day of your reservation so we ask customers not to call with questions about the weather. If prior to your arrival, Skydive Atlanta reschedules your reservation due to weather, there is no forfeiture of deposit. If after you arrive the weather does not allow for you to jump, we will issue you a rain check voucher for later use.

Sorry, we do not offer any transportation services. Please note, we do not recommend using ride sharing such as Uber and Lyft to get here. They do not operate around our location and you may be stuck. We recommend renting a car for the day as the best alternative.

Yes. Please see the link below for details on an AFF skydiving.

https://www.skydiveatlanta.com/atlanta-georgia-solo-skydiving-certification/

We carry no liability insurance for skydiving. There is no such insurance available.