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Skydive Elsinore
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17 reviews for Skydive Elsinore
I jumped off a plane last year (September 08).
This place has the nicest instructors! I got to wear a black jumpsuit and my instructor made me super comfortable.
Tandem ~$200 for your first time. They gave BF, friend, and I discount cards if we come a 2nd time and we are definitely excited to use it!
Best experience of my life.
And no, it does not even compare to the feelings you get when riding a rollercoaster.
One deduction of a star due to the long hours we waited until we got on the plane. We got there like 8am and yet we only jumped like around 11 or 12. This was in July 2008, so it's freakin' hot, thank God we didn't have to wear the jumpsuit.
FYI, those of you who want to jump in shorts, please don't, wear at least a bermudas, to make sure your whole bum and thigh are covered. My friend was bleeding when she landed cause the belt was somehow went below her shorts and so her skin got cut off a bit. It's not like she's going to emergency room, but it's just precaution for you peeps who are going to these.
I managed to gather 8 peeps to go with me to do this. Unfortunately the plane only could fit about 12-15 people, so with everyone signed up for personal video and pics, we gotta split into 2 batches. The staff were friendly and told us just to have fun. The experience is truly awesome, although there's a slight incident happened, but it's all taken care of.
Superb service, that's all I can say and very memorable for me. $199 for the jump plus $99 for the video and pics, totally worth to pay for. Gotta do it at least once in your life!
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The morning clouds on a Saturday quickly dissipated revealing a beautiful hot summer day. Perfect for jumping out of a plane! Some might wonder "who the hell would do such a thing?" In my case, it was how I wanted to celebrate my birthday and mild insanity courses through my veins. A trait inherited from my mother.
Initialling and signing the liability forms felt like I was silently being asked, "Do you know what you're doing?", "You know you're jumping out of a plane, right?", "Are you sure?" Thereafter, we waited approximately an hour before brief training where the instructor taught us how to be a "leaf falling from a tree."
Heart racing, palms sweating and a little voice in my head screaming, "What are you doing?!" as our altitude reached 12, 500 ft. but, when the cold air had filled the plane as the door was opened I felt consummate excitement. One...two...three... and we were free falling which was soon followed by awe. An instructor said, "It's the most fun you'll ever have with your clothes on." I couldn't agree more.
I had purchased their packaged deal which included video and photos for $279. My video and photos were hilarious especially since I thought I looked like a flying squirrel. My cheeks looked particularly prominent.
Thanks to the professional, friendly and reassuring people at Skydive Elsinore I will be returning in a couple of months to do it all over again.
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It's such a nice day... for jumping out of a plane! Partied out late last night and with a measly 3 hours of sleep, we drove out to Elsinore and I did my first jump today. It was amazing... The staff was wonderful helped to calm nerves. The cute Brazilian girls that helped us gear up were really nice and comforting, not to mention pleasing to the eyes. The suspense lead up to the jump. As the plane neared 12,000 feet, I was having my second thoughts, but no turning back now. Before I knew it the hatch is open and I'm in the air, free falling. A minute later the chute deploys and we're gliding through the air like birds....
This is definitely something that everyone should experience in life.
I had my first time sky diving here with the tandem skydiving.
That was AWESOME!!!! (scary before opening the parachute and joyful after opening the parachute)
I love it and I hope I can revisit there for another exciting event.
This was my first skydiving experience, and let me tell you it was ah-maz-ing. I wouldn't trade in the day for the world. The view was beautiful, the sky clear. Everything was done professionally and the staff really knew how to take any anxiety off your chest.
Me and a bunch of friends went for my friends cousins 30th birthday. We had a large group of 12 people. We were able to put down a deposit over the phone, and show up ready at a set time to train and board the jet.
I've been skydiving at another location in AZ since this experience, and let me tell you, Lake Elsinore is the place to do it. If it wasn't so expensive, I would do it every month. What a RUSH! What a great time.
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Several of my college friends came here to skydive back in the day, and so when my boyfriend and I decided it was time for us to "take the plunge" (sorry, couldn't resist), we decided to come here. The other major factor that led us here was that it's pretty much the closest drop zone to LA (Perris being about equidistant).
We scheduled our jump for 1pm on a Saturday, which I learned later was the main reason why we had to wait about 3 hours after we checked in and completed our paperwork stuff. Apparently, if you schedule an early morning or weekday jump, your wait isn't as long. But they were up front with us about the wait, which we appreciated.
Aside from the wait, everything else went absolutely smoothly. From the moment we stepped into the office to check in, until our jump was completed and it was time to leave (but not without the photo discs of our jumps), everyone was not only super friendly, but totally excited for us since it was our first jump. We were already pretty excited about jumping out of a plane and all, but they definitely pumped us up even more.
I wholeheartedly recommend this to all skyjumpers, especially the first-timers like me. And also for the first-timers, getting the DVD/photo package is a must! The photos are great, and although the video is a little on the cheesy side, it totally made us laugh when we saw the expressions we were making as we were free falling. It's pretty cool being able to re-live it.
All in all, great exprerience!
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I think in the end, any skydiving dropzone that you can walk away from deserves 4 or 5 stars. I mean I guess there are other things that go into your experience besides just surviving... 1. price 2. quickness/wait time http://3.friendliness... but then you think 1. i get what i pay for 2. i'll wait as long as it takes for you to make sure all my hooks are working and my harness is tight enough and 3. you can be an asshole all you want because you just got me down from 13000 ft high ALIVE, mr pro jumper.
That said, I had a great experience doing my first tandem skydive at Skydive Elsinore. I went with a group of 10 on a Saturday morning at 11, and by about 12:15 we were suited, 12:30 we were on our way up, and by 1 I was reunited with my phone to mass text everyone i knew to let them know I was alive. My tandem guy was Rick and while I was hoping for a cute young guy preferably with an accent I was more that happy to hear that Rick learned to skydive in the military special ops and that was the 'lightest thing' he'd ever 'carried down.' Very reassuring. And he did end up being fantastic. And, obviously, I'm alive. The rest of the staff were all very helpful and the set up of the whole place is cool, with a bbq grill/picnic kinda area and tents where some die hards I guess squat.
Back to the jump... I had some (a lot of) trouble breathing during the free fall. Apparently if you scream it helps you catch your breath, but I was trying not to scream and to remain calm and I ended up with a totally unenjoyable minute until the chute opened. Guess I'll just have to try it again :) Also, I'd recommend having some water before you go up, because I was a little dehydrated and as soon as I jumped my mouth got really dry.
I also went for the video/photo package which has its pros and cons: I ended up with about about 60 mortifying pics and 10 that I could show off. I haven't received the video yet but I have a feeling I'm going to be humiliated all over again when it comes. But then, I'm not really a home movies/photos kinda gal. And it's kinda neat to see someone floating there in front of you, but also a little distracting. But all in all I'd say it's worth it to splurge for the videographer and have at least a COUPLE neat pics where you can see yourself FUCKING FLOATING in the sky!
Skydiving is something everyone should try at least once. And one last bit of advice... even if you're getting a video, eyeliner and clouds don't mix.
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For my 200th review I had to dig deep into my past, as my life's excitement has dwindled significantly.
So, here it is. The day I almost crapped my pants as an adult without drinking prune juice first.
I've only been skydiving once, so I can't really compare it to other places. But I've seen my friend's pictures from when he did it in Hawaii and that is a hell of a lot more scenic than this location.
The staff is very friendly. The guy who jumped with me was nice despite the fact that I decided somewhere between free-fall and the ground that he was going to detach me from himself without a parachute.
"Even if I WANTED to do that, I couldn't," he had reassured me.
"So you're admitting that you want to?" I had shrieked back.
Somehow we made it to the ground. He tried to make it fun for me despite the fact that I was really not enjoying myself.
When we went it cost about $250 with the video and pictures. I highly recommend getting the pictures, they are hilarious. I also recommend not wearing a shirt that will have you wondering if more than just your cleavage will be revealed in the next picture.
They didn't have a wide selection for music for the videos they make you. (I believe there were 6 songs to choose from and you had to chose 2). BUT I know someone who went there after me and just took her own music.
This was not a fun experience for me, but I'm glad I did it. I'm still afraid of mountain driving, heights, skydiving, and of course rapists- but that's unrelated.
That being said, I would probably do it again. Being scared is one of my favorite feelings.
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My BF and I came here to celebrate V-Day and it was a memorable experience! It's about $200 for a tandem jump and another $109 if you want the DVD + digital pictures. I definitely recommend getting the DVD and pics because this is a once in a lifetime experience and it's soo cool to see yourself afterwards because the whole experience goes by so fast.
We accidentally booked it on the wrong date and came a week before we were scheduled, but they were still able to fit us into their busy schedule. We had to wait almost two hours before getting our turn in but that's typical even if you do make reservations. My trainer was soo awesome! I couldn't be happier with my trainer John. He just knew so much and had been skydiving for 13 years so I felt more than safe in his hands. In the air, he even let me pull on the parachute and navigate the parachute for a bit, telling me a little about the surroundings we were in.
The experience of skydiving itself isn't as thrilling as Bungee Jumping, but maybe I need to experience it elsewhere. Like my friend said... I need to make a trip out to Hawaii! One day I will... one day I will....
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I'm so torn!
Part of me wants to give Skydive Lake Elsinore 10 stars because skydiving is THAT AWESOME.
Sure, I took the easy way out with a tandem jump for my first time - long story - but to tell you the truth, in that moment when the first guy jumped out of the plane (I was the second), I had some serious doubts that I could've done it on my own without the big push I got from Chad, the guy who was strapped to my back (insert whatever joke you want here).
That moment - looking down and seeing a checkerboard landscape, a freeway that looked like a thin ribbon of ants, and a lake that looked like a child's drawing, all the while feeling the guy on your back rocking you out the door, which is just a big square cut out of the back of the plane, with a one...two...and suddenly, you're flipping in space weightless, the only sense of motion being the air rushing past your face at 120 miles per hour, the blue sky rotating in front of you, becoming a dirty brown horizon, becoming that checkerboard that you just saw earlier from the plane, except now, it fills your whole vision as you do a sort of modified spread-eagle - arms at ninety degrees in a sort of gesture of surrender, back arched, legs bent back slightly - sounds sexual, don't it? But believe me, sex is really the farthest thing from your mind at that point, though the experience is all-consuming and every nerve-ending in your entire body is merrily firing away, and your ganglia is lit up like a switchboard at an Obama fundraiser. To add to the surreal-ness of the experience, if you have paid the extra $109 to have it videotaped (my sister and I agreed that we needed video documentation of this experience, and we're glad we did), you have a guy falling a few feet away from you with a helmet, a video-camera and a still camera firing away, directing you, gesturing to you to signal to the folks who will be seeing this in the future that you're having a good time. And you ARE! The video evidence (posted on my blog, btw) looks a little forced, but I blame it on the rush of wind contorting my face into what looks like a rictus of terror. I was having fun, I swear to God!
You freefall like that for 45 to 60 seconds, and then your instructor shows you your altimeter when it reads 6000 feet, which should tell you that it's time to pull the ripcord. Again, it's a good thing that I opted for the tandem jump, because I had no idea what the gesture meant, I was too busy clowning for the camera and looking at how the checkerboards were getting bigger and bigger and starting look like landscape. My guy grabbed my hand and put it on the ripcord (actually, it's a ball, but I just didn't want to say that), and basically pulled it for me as I was still thinking "whoooooooooooooaaaaaa", and suddenly, you hear a flap...flap...flapflapflap...and you're jerked up as if you've hit the world's most bouncy trampoline and you've been catapulted a hundred feet into the air. The chute opens and it's suddenly so quiet, you can hear your instructor tell you, "Look up." And you do. And you have a beautiful canopy, spread out and keeping you aloft as surely as if it were an angel-less wing.
Your instructor lets you grab hold of the loops that hold the chute and you can steer it and send yourself into a spin that sets the wind whistling again. You straighten out your arms and poof - you're floating again. After a thousand feet or so, he takes over, adjusts your harness so that you're more in a sitting position, and reminds you to lift your legs up 90 degrees when he tells you because basically, you're going to skid on your ass for the smoothest landing possible. He took us way over the freeway, out over Lake Elsinore, and above some kind of industrial park, all in what seemed like the last thousand feet or so, and we came in towards the ground fast enough to burn my ass completely off, but at the last minute, he pulled up slightly, and we glided in, smoother than a slip-n-slide.
On the video, you can see me babbling about how I want to do it again as soon as possible. It's kind of expensive, so it'll probably be a while, but it was a singular experience, and my camera guy Cody, and my instructor Chad were both excellent.
So why the one star off? It was super busy, and the kids behind the desks were pretty haphazard and disorganized, which is a little disconcerting when you're putting your life in their hands. We waited over four hours before we finally jumped and saw people who signed up long after us go up, come down, get their DVD and leave, and when I pointed that out to the girl who was calling out the names, she rolled her eyes (multiple times, because I asked multiple times - hey, what's the deal?) and just kept saying, "You'll be going up soon." They also forgot to transfer my video onto my DVD, so that added another hour to our wait. Small potatoes compared to the gestalt of the experience but...I WAS pretty steamed. One star off!
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If you DO decide you want to go skydiving in So. Cal, I can't recommend this place enough. Yes, it's expensive. Yes, they do make you sign a waiver and warn you several times about how dangerous it is. I personally didn't think it was that bad, but I had a ton of crazy thoughts prior to getting there.
The price Cee quoted is solely for the jump itself. I would recommend going for the whole shabang and pay for the DVD and digipics (extra $150). I really think it's worth it...you get proof of how crazy you are and you can choose what songs you want for the movie they make for you (bring your own CD, or you have to pick from their generic list).
Now here's the inside scoop: you get a discount when you go with a group - up to $15 a head. If you go really early (get to the office and start filling out the forms at 7-7:30am), they give you another discount. They have bunkhouses (think dormhouse), so save yourself the early morning drive. Sleep on bunkbeds for $7/night...if you go with enough people, you will likely get a room to yourselves.
I had an amazing jump. My tandem partner was a bit serious compared to the other instructors, but it's okay because he made me feel safe. Thank you Ed Harris...I mean, Smitty. (see pics!)
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we just went this past weekend and it was so amazing!! the staff was so nice. my friend jumped with chad and i jumped with john. the video guys were hilarious!! they made our trip so memorable!!
thank you so much!!
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If you want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane Skydive Elsinore is the place to do it.
I made my first five jumps at this dropzone under their Accelerated Free Fall (AFF) program and give it two enthusiastic thumbs up. The staff and instructors are friendly, patient and knowledgeable.
My first jump was not tandem but well worth the extra time training and money. I trained for about six hours and then got to make my jump out of their Otter (it's an airplace) at about 13,000 feet wearing my own parachute accompanied by two instructor who jumped out holding on to my flight suit. I got to practice moving through the sky, pulled my own ripcord and landed my own canopy (with radio assistance from my instructor on the ground) to land back at the dropzone.
After my fifth jump much to my mother's delight I decided to take the rest of my meager savings and transfer to the local state college to get my 4-year degree rather than continue my skydiving. Upon my graduation I reminded my mother that I could have had my skydiving license... she didn't like the comment. Now with degree in hand I need to get back out to Lake Elsinore to get back to this awesome sport.
Regardless if it's your first jump or 100th jump this is the place.
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Awesome! I can't say enough great things about Skydive Elsinore. I bought my husband a tandem jump for his 30th birthday this month. I called a number of drop zones in the area and read reviews online and I am so glad I picked SE. The were really friendly and just a ton of fun. His tandem partner was Chad who made it a great experience and his photographer/dvd jumper was Pat who just cracked us up. They didn't make you feel bad at all that you were a first time jumper...they just wanted you to enjoy it as much as they do every day. It totally convinced me that I want to go. We will definitely be back!
That's funny that so many people had their tandem jump with Chad and their photographer was Pat, cuz, gosh, that was my experience too! I just don't understand why they have to charge so much. I realize that even at the exorbitant price they charge, people are still lining up to do it, so maybe that's why. But, I would have felt a lot better about doing it if it hadn't cost me my whole paycheck (well, I'm exaggerating, but still.). When you think about it, it really costs soooooooo much more as compared to like, quite a nice vacation (like a cruise). I am not THAT afraid of heights, so maybe that's why this was a bit anticlimactic. When they told me "IT'S BETTER THAN SEX", I asked them, "IS IT BETTER THAN CHOCOLATE?!" cuz well, y'know. Maybe I expected too much. Maybe I thought it would be life changing. It wasn't. I would do it again if someone else paid for it. I TOTALLY AGREE with the other Yelper who suggested wearing appropriate clothing. I wore a tank top and didn't even realize how stupid that was until I looked at my DVD later and all I can think is, DAMN, one of my boobs is soooooo much bigger than my other one. And, if you are one of those people (like me) who kinda has a whole "personal space" issue, you might squirm. I feel veeeeeeeery uncomfortable being strapped to someone unless . . . . well . . . . never mind
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I had such a GREAT experience here when I decided to go skydiving to celebrate my 30th birthday. If you want to go skydiving, I would highly recommend this place. The atmosphere and attitude of everyone here is awesome. Of course they make you sign your life away....you're jumping out of a plane! Everyone here was super friendly, warm, and welcoming. No attitude towards us "first time divers" from staff or other experienced divers. And as a personal bonus, my instructor was super hot. I mean really, if I'm gonna be strapped to someone's back and free falling towards the Californian desert, it might as well be while I'm strapped to some hot Australian guy, right?!
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