Miami Skydiving Center

5-star experience all around. At the closest spot for skydiving to central Miami, I continued on my campaign to get over my fear of heights (see profile pic). While it's terrifying, I didn't wet my pants, get sick or chicken out at the last minute (LOL), thanks to the terrific staff.

A small backstory: I am indeed terrified of heights taller than a ladder to change a lightbulb. My way to try to get over this is try to find relatively safe ways to de-sensitize my fear (bungee jumping from a utility tower over a stuntman air mattress in Seattle, walking over the glass balcony at the Grand Canyon, etc.). Doc C tries to be supportive in all this (he spotted the billboard for the bungee jumping). However, he has a remarkably unbroken record of headaches, back aches and stomach aches that have mysteriously kept him from personally trying any of these things himself.

The folks with Miami Skydiving were calming right off the bat on the phone. They explain the whole thing step by step and even apply a coupon for $10 off, which always makes me mellow. The general price will be about $300, depending on extras (photo purchase, etc).

Once you get there, the on-the-ground instructor goes through all the things you need to know. The trainer will be harnessed to your back. If you panic with a death grip on the pull cord, the trainer has a second pull cord. It's like a driver's ed car with a second steering wheel and extra set of brakes.

The panic only sets in after the small plane takes you up in the air, packed with you and your fellow jumpers. It's easy to see out the large opening in the side of the plane where you'll be jumping out, and everyone is sort of sitting with knees apart, chest to back of the person in front of them. I was the first in the line-up, with no room for anyone else to get around me, so they couldn't exactly let me back out after we were in the air.

The climactic moment is when you fall forward out of the plane, starting the first few moments of free fall. Despite the terror and adrenaline rush, it's remarkably peaceful. You could see Biscayne Bay, the Everglades and even down to the Keys.

One fun extra as you're skydiving is the in-air photographer. The photog is in a sort of flying squirrel winged bodysuit, and swoops in and out, up and down, taking pictures of everyone as they fall. The camera is clever, mounted on top of the helmet with the shutter wired to a mouth activated trigger. The pics before your parachute is open will be funny but not very flattering: the rushing wind makes your face look like a basset hound crossed with Donald Trump's hair on a windy day. The later ones after the chute is open, you'll be surprised by how many laughing ones there are, despite the fact you're plummeting toward the ground 10k feet below.

By the time you glide in for landing, the adrenaline rush from the terror will have given way to a rush of endorphins. At least half the group was giggling and laughing crazily by the time we were all taking off our safety helmets, etc. My trainer saved the nervous jokes for the van ride back to the airport: "hey I noticed on the plane on the way up that the straps were really frayed but didn't want you to back out...ha! gotcha Joe"

Great experience! During the summer the jumps are at Homestead. Was a little hard to find. When you walk in there is a person there to verify your reservation, DL, and weight. They really should have more than one person doing this to speed up the process. Thankfully they send all the forms via email before your jump so that is helpful. All the instructors are super friendly and nice. They tripled explained everything and are very concerned about your safety. Ask for Juan. He was outstanding and captured amazing photos. Photos and video are extra $99 but totally worth it for your first jump.

My first time experience sky diving with the help of Miami Skydiving Center was spectacular. The instructors are very profesional, courteous and extremely knowledgeable. Very friendly and relaxing environment.
I highly recommend this business and the experience of skydiving.

Thank you, Miami Skydiving Center, and Papi!! What an experience of a lifetime! Made the tandem jump in celebration of my half-century mark. Great present to myself!

My friend and I showed up at noon and knew we would have a possible few hour wait due to inclement weather and other groups ahead of us. The time flew by as we practiced jump positions (tuck your feet under plane, arch back, head back...) and visited with other first-timers. The storm finally passed so we were cleared to go up around 3:15.

I was very excited and not scared, yet ironically, I am terrified of heights! That fear does come into play....lol. Papi was funny and kept the mood light. He actually records the entire jump (absolutely make sure you pay to have this thing recorded and get the still photos! You will definitely want to relive this. And honestly, even though when you're in the jump it feels like it's in slow motion, it is happening extremely fast and it's been nice to be able to go back and see the photos and laugh my ass off!!!)

We got up in the air, I was fine. No worries. Just gonna jump out of the plane and then float down to the earth like I'm on a marshmallow cloud. Yup.

....and then we scooted toward the door and my brain froze. In terror. I am a badass NOW post-jump, but when we scooted over to the door I kid you not: my brain shut down. I couldn't even scream because my vocal cords were frozen. As my sister stated later, in the pictures I was smiling but she could see that my eyes were filled with Terror.

When we got out of that plane at 10,000 feet (gulp!) I think I was just in shock and a little disoriented. Thank you, Papi, for taking great care of me!

Obviously the jump went well because I'm posting this review! It really is spectacular! I have extreme issues with motion sickness and probably should have taken a Dramamine because I got queasy once the chute was pulled, but all in all, this was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. And no, I did not pee on myself or throw up. I'd say that's a WIN. Papi is probably happy about that too.

The team does a great job. I signed up online and you get emails and reminders so they really stay on top of this. We were even called the day before to see if we could show up earlier because bad weather was moving in so we certainly appreciated that since we had a 2 Hour drive to Miami. Btw, we ended up being the last jump of the day! More storms moved in. We were lucky and thankful!

Go do it. To quote Mae West, " you only live once; but if you do it right, once is enough!"

Breathtaking birthday gift! Until the last possible moment, I hoped the jump would be cancelled due to bad weather However, I'm incredibly happy I did it. I dedicated this jump to my Mom, she did more than 200 jumps at her youth! This one was my first :)

I didn't have enough words to fully describe my feelings and what I experienced while was freefalling. Note, in the past I used to be a professional freestyle skier, and jumping from trampolines was like a piece of cake for me. But skydiving is incomparable in the strength of the experienced sensations.

I want to express special gratitude to my instructor Papi! With the sense of humor, care and great professionalism, he made that day and my first skydiving experience unforgettable. Love this guy!

I came here expecting a really good time and really didn't want to deal with too much, I just wanted to just have a memorable experience and save some photos and video of this day.

I tried at least a half a dozen times trying to speak to someone at the facility but at every call, it was a calling center and although they promised to have them call me back, no one ever did.

The day I arrived, I checked in and a $10.00 coupon came up that I could use towards my video and or pictures. When I proceeded to show the person behind the counter this, he said I wasn't able to use it and said that I needed to use it when I called in to make my reservation.

I told him that it's impossible to do so since I live on the Beach and who checks in a place until they get there? Obviously he didn't want to give the measly $10.00 off an expensive day which turned out to be around $300.00.

To me...it's shady; even though my instructor was very good, this small ill-gesture by the person behind the desk left a sour taste in my mouth.

FYI...what's the point of offering a deal if you're not going to honor it...

A nice facility and my jump was amazing. My instructor, Patrick, provided excellent guidance and made the experience that more memorable.

Be ON TIME or else you'll incur a $100 fee and they'll cancel your jump. We missed our first jump but luckily were able to reschedule.

Be prepared to wait. This is a process and requires time for the instructors to return, prep the plane, return the previous jumpers, etc.

A check off my bucket list!

Only one complaint - the girl at the front desk has terrible customer service skills. She may be burnt out from repeating the same things over and over, but she needs to recognize that jumpers have questions and some are nervous. I'd get rid of her and hire someone who's better at assisting customers. I would have given 5 stars but she started off our experience on a bad note.

This review is super late, but I figure I am probably not jumping again very soon, so better late than never!

I went went skydiving for the first time ever at Miami Skydiving Center last year for my 21st birthday. My boyfriend decided to do it as a birthday surprise (hint to all the boyfriends out there, a heart attack is not the best gift to give your girlfriend). But all jokes aside, I had an amazing experience here!

We arrived in the morning an hour before our jump so we had time to fill out the forms. Between the forms and orientation, we really didn't wait very long... maybe 30 minutes total. I think it probably felt longer because of the anticipation of imminently jumping out of a plane.

I can't remember my instructor's name (maybe Kevin... or Alex... not really sure) but he was amazing! Since it was my first time, he made me feel very comfortable and tried to calm my nerves as best as possible by making some jokes and telling me to breathe. He had the GoPro on his wrist, so he got some amazing shots from our jump (this is an extra fee, but probably worth it because it's not like you have this experience every day).

So the one thing no one ever tells you about skydiving is that, although the jump itself is super euphoric and not scary at all, everything leading up to it is terrifying (mostly because you're natural instincts are saying "wtf are you doing"). When you go up in the plane, you're sitting in a row on the floor with everyone else who is tandem jumping. Once you're at the right altitude they open the little plastic door and the instructors jump out (with you attached) like 7 seconds apart. At that point there is no time for you to think, and then you're falling. And it's amazing! There's really nothing like it so you should just try it for yourself! Once our parachute opened, the instructor let me steer for a bit and do some spins, which was super cool.

When I touched the ground I was on an adrenaline high. Also, the pictures were awesome (although maybe just a little too expensive).

Thanks Miami Skydiving Center for such an amazing (and slightly terrifying) experience! I will never forget it!

Absolutely disgusting customer service, the receptionist needs a course on how to speak with people. You couldnt pay me a million dollars to step foot on their property. If I call you with a concern you do not finish by making me feel like absolute garbage and leave me crying on the phone. Disgusting human beings. Why do I deserve to be left crying when I speak to you kindly about my concerns?

So, I AM STILL ALIVE! Therefore I HAVE to give Miami Skydiving Center FIVE STARS! hahaha

This past weekend I made the decision to jump out of a perfectly good plane... It was an absolutely amazing experience! The process was extremely simple, everyone must be over 18 and no more than 250lbs. You can prepay a deposit, that allows u to select a spot and change it 24 hrs in advance if needed. Finding the place was pretty simple, check in process was easy as well (they had iPads set up for you to fill out, LITERALLY signing your life away). We waited for about 15 mins before our instructors came in and suited us up. We got a detailed instruction on what to do once in the air, suited up in gear, and we were on our way.

It took about 5 mins to get to the plane, we fly up to 10k feet (about 10-15 mins). Once the door opened, it was surreal! It was easier than i thought, you know.. "jumping" out, You sit on the ledge, and the plane literally turns sideways and you fall out, so there really is no reconsideration of your decision! Once in the air, its such a thrill, the free fall is about 10-15 seconds, parachute gliding is about 5 -7 mins. My instructor let me steer the parachute, I asked him to glide through a cloud which we did, (I've always wanted to know how a cloud "felt").

The landing was extremely easy, no pain at all simply slid on our butt, on to a grassland. This experience was amazing, I would definitely skydive again!