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Skydive San Francisco - CLOSED
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14 reviews for Skydive San Francisco
I brought me and my boyfriend here for his birthday (about a year ago) and it was both our first times. The word I would use to describe it is: AMAZING! truly AMAZING!
When we got there it was pretty chilly, but it was still sunny and clear. The place comprised of... a bungalow. What more can you expect? It's a skydiving place, all you need is the sky and some empty, clear space to land on. The scariest part of the experience would be the little airplane ride. THERE'S NO DOOR ON THAT THING! It's just a piece of cloth that someone sits on to keep people from flying out but that only added to the adrenaline and rush that was soon to come.
1, 2, 3!!! Out you go, strapped in front of a man, tumbling outside of the plane into the air. You literally tumble three times in the air before you find yourself looking at a breathtaking view. It feels so great just floating in the air. Before you know it the parachute is out and you found the solid floor again.
You should definitely go here! It's well worth the money and you should get the picture and video package too- for memory sake. Only down side to this is being strapped on to some dude, but you can take lessons and be a pro and have your life in your own hands!
YAY! I HEART SKYDIVING NOW!!!
I went skydiving here and didn't die. I think that deserves five stars. We got there first thing in the morning but it was really foggy so the owner asked if we wanted to wait until it cleared up. If I'm paying that much to jump out of a plane, I would like to at least be able to see the ground. I was glad that the staff felt the same way. Thank goodness because the view was breathtaking.
I was paired up with the crazy German guy like many other reviewers. The first words he said to me were "I have a wife and two children and I plan to go home to them this evening." That made me feel instantly at ease. He used my camera and took pictures while we were in the air. Best 'arms out' photos ever! Their professional photographer also took tons of pictures from the ground, put them on a disc, and gave them to us for no charge.
Regardless of which company you skydive with, if given the choice between different altitudes to jump from, go with the highest one. The chutes deploy at a set height but jumping from a higher altitude gives you more free fall. We ended up with about a minute of free fall. It doesn't sound like much but it feels like forever when you actually in the moment.
Although I loved my skydiving experience, once was enough for me. Check that off the list...
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I heart Torsten! Forget what peeps may say about Torsten, he does not want to make people puke he wants to make people have fun! With over 10,000 jumps I felt 100% comfortable with him and had no doubt in my mind that I would come hurling down from 13,000 feet safe and sound. This was my first skydiving experience and it was totes amazing. People might be intimidated by Torsten's loud, crazy ways but I think he's awesome and would totally recommend him for your jump. I thought the other guys seemed kinda boring. PLUS, Torsten takes his own digital camera up and snaps lots of pictures on the way down which you can purchase for only $30 instead of $100 to have a camera guy jump with you.
Wee! I love skydiving!
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I confess I only went because my fiance wanted to jump for his 30th birthday. I thought he was crazy as hell. But I couldn't let him go and jump out of a plane alone, so I signed up with him.
Unfortunately, our ground trainer was a crazy German who has jumped out of a plane one too many times. He pretty much acts as if he's on some combination of speed and cocaine, all the time. He completely freaked me out, and on top of that, the person who was supposed to be my flight instructor, who I was going to be tied to on my jump, totally biffed the landing on the jump before mine and this girl got dragged through the dirt on her face.
By the time I was in my flight suit I was ready to throw up. Then I saw the plane. This thing is some relic from the First World War, and I can't believe the wings stay on. We were crammed in there one by one and it was so tight with four people that my elbow was jammed into the pilot's hip. I think I made permanent indentations in my instructor's arm when we took off. That goddamn thing rattled, shook and bumped its way up to 10,000 feet and I prayed for my life.
At this point my instructor Marc started to reassure me everything was going to be ok and explained to me everything that was going to happen on the way down, which calmed me down a little bit because all I had to do was tuck my legs back and lean my head back. The crazy instructor who was attached to my fiance told me to pose for the camera. I flipped him the bird.
When they opened that door, I swear to God I momentarily left my body. Something else took over- whatever it was, it kept me from screaming hysterically and attaching myself to the nearest object. I also was actually glad to leave that death trap of a plane, even if the alternative was to hurtle at 65 miles an hour through thin air. Marc somersaulted us a few times, then stabilized us. The sound of the air rushing by us was incredibly loud. Somehow Marc knew I was neither breathing nor looking, and he poked me and yelled at me to commence doing so or I would miss the whole thing. And, still barely able to inhale due to the air whooshing up my nose, I was finally able to enjoy the absolutely georgeous view (though still minimally terrified.)
I'm not sorry I did it. It was amazing. And we had a great landing. But damned if I'm ever going to get in that plane again.
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Thorsten says: "When we get up in the air, I will ask, 'Do you marry me??' and what do you say??"
I say: "Um, I don't know... "
Thorsten says: "Ah-ha! But I have the parachute!!"
I have to bust out laughing. Thorsten is a middle-aged German blond guy who cracks jokes left and right. He will even sing Germanic drinking songs to you when you're in the air to make you forget you're nervous. He's a medical doctor in his "real-life" but enjoys taking people skydiving on the weekends. He calls his youngest daughter by the name "My Oops" with the kind of crazy affection only a super-proud, foreign, life-loving dad could get away with.
In short, Thorsten was the reason I had so much fun skydiving. I went with eight of my hiking club buddies-- one of only two females in the group and the other one wasn't jumping. I wasn't scared in the slightest. Until we got up in the plane and I watched the tandem pair in front of us bail out of the plane. And then my adrenaline got pumping.
I stuck my leg out of the plane, aiming to plant my foot firmly on the little step right outside the door. So much wind!! My leg went flying to the side. Once I actually got my foot on the step, I had the teeniest bit of doubt about whether or not it was a good idea to be hurtling myself toward solid ground with nothing but a little flap of nylon as drag.
Too late. Thorsten shoved us out the door and there we went. Holy crap! It was fantastic.
Once the chute deployed, Thorsten let me take over some of the controls. He would direct me to pull the right chord in and we would spin around in a (what felt like) horizontal way. Left chord, other direction. He snapped pictures the whole way down.
I laughed my ass off. It's my reaction to adrenaline. You know the '89 earthquake? Yeah, I laughed the whole way through that, too. Anyway, my hiking friends told me they heard me laughing the whole way down.
I had a fantastic time and I'd do it again in a second.
Thanks Thorsten!!
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"Some people don't care, if they live or they die.
Some people want to know what it feels like to fly.
They gather the courage and give it a try." - Patty Griffin
If you are one of those people - this is the place to go.
I took a group of 8 people here for my partner's birthday. The staff there were GREAT! Great sense of humor. Guess you need that to jump from a plane several times a day with a complete stranger strapped to you. The staff made us feel welcome and at ease at the thought of falling out of perfectly good plane 13,000 feet above the earth.
It was a blast! It's north of Healdsburg - WHAT A F***ING AMAZING VIEW!!!!!!!! It was so gorgeous (the view that is)! I'm totally addicted now and can't wait to do it again.
You only have about 2.5 seconds to be scared out of your skull. The ride up so so breathtakingly beautiful. Then they open the little flap of a door. You move to the opening and get your feet out and your head out. Sitting there with your feet and head out last only 2.5 seconds - then you are hurdling through the air.
There is no other feeling like it! AMAZING!
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So Skydiving is awesomely fantastic... we'll take that as read.
The place is very small and friendly, it makes you feel as if its a family event and you're visting. I had Torsten as my instructor. He's a large German man with a fantastic (although dark) sense of humor, who made the jump as simple as falling off a log (all puns intended). As has been said in the other review, hes a bit over the top in the turns coming down. But, you just voluntarily jumped out of a perfectly good aircraft, if you didnt want to pull Gs (you pull maybe 4Gs in one or two of the turns) and feel the rush of fear... then why exactly did you sign up?
There are two planes that they are using now. I jumped out of the old one that was complained about in the other review, but I didnt have a problem with it. Its classy. The Duct tape is there to keep you from cutting yourself or your suit/chute on the interior of the stripped down plane. The new plane is prettier, shiny, brand new and has a larger door for exiting. They are able to do two tandem jump teams and two camera jumpers in that plane.
I thought it was an awesome experience all around.
I kinda want to do it again... someday.
do you ever want to know what it feels like? here's a short summary of MY EXPERIENCE:
apprehension: signing release forms, suiting up and watching the safety videos and the plane ride UP...
the actual jump: standing on the ledge of the door, made me feel like a cat stuck in a tree... afraid to jump... the free-fall and the cool air rushing through me made me feel like that scene in the movie VANILLA SKY, where tom cruise made the decision to jump into the unknown for truth... when the shoot released, and it was time to float about, i learned what an eagle saw through its eyes, soaring over the valley.
the landing: "oh, shit... those damned safety videos..." - apprehension again... "do it right, do it right, you'll break your legs if you dont get over it..." - then i land... a little akwardly, but the pain subsides as a natural high washes over me... something ive never felt before without the aid of synthetic aid... i get up - unhurt, and i begin to laugh maniacally and proclaim, "hahaha! YOU DIDN'T KILL ME!!!" - guess who i was talking to?... heh. i then proceeded with "wooooooo!" - yeah, it felt good.
ahhh, yes - SKYDIVING. everyone says they'd be up to do it, and when it comes down to it - only ONE or TWO of those people discussing that subject matter while at a party drunk will actually go off to do it... in this case, that other person and myself decided to do it together and leave those pussies behind to prove to them how ballsy we were... and that it wasnt just HYPED up drunk talk.
it was an adventure i shared with an ex of mine for my 19th birthday... and it was a day to remember. i was the last to jump and it rained directly afterwards... in may. torsten was awesome like everyone says, but its super to rewatch your video and show others - while they watch in awe, and you are bombarded with questions as to what it was like... i dont mind though. its kinda cool having bragging rights to something like this... ok, maybe i was being humble about that...
IT WAS - AND STILL IS - [thanks to that dvd] - AWESOME!
i personally love adventure, thrill and all that jazz... so this was right up my alley for a birthday gift. and the dvd makes it worth watching - over and over again... IVE UPLOADED a picture of the landing to let ya'll in on my experience a lil more under the yelp site pics. [that is not the ideal way to land, by the way...]
it was a random date from someone that ended up becoming my boyfriend... [ive noticed the pattern of the outgoing individuals that persue me go far and above expectations when really wanting to capture a female, and i think its sorta awesome these cheezy schemes actually work...]
BUT FOR YOU THRILL SEEKERS - ask torsten to take you to the "DARKSIDE"... you'll be doing corkscrews in the air and whatnot with your shoot. its fun! and he said i scared him slightly with "wanting more"... hahaha... DO NOT FEAR IT THOUGH: torsten WILL tell you if you jump tandem that you are attatched to him throughout the entire thing, and YOUR LIFE is HIS LIFE, and he proudly proclaims he has a wife and children he intends on going home to afterwards for your comfort. =)
and by the way, my ex and i are still on friendly speaking terms even after his very outgoing attempt in persuing me. memories like this make for an easier outlet in being friends after a break up... and i was with the guy for two years. so HA! for those of you guys trying to persue a lady and thinking of going above and beyond, i applaud you.
if skydiving is a lil too crazy for you, but you still want the altitude, view and crazy BRAGADOCIOUS rights to doing something awesome in the air, try hot air ballooning:
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
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Did a tandem jump out of 13,000 feet for my birthday with a couple of friends. Torsten (the owner/instructor) is a funny guy, and the dive over Lake Sonoma, Clearlake and wine country was breathtaking. For first time jumpers, I recommend you get the package with hi-res photos on CD and a video of your jump on DVD. The photographer does a great job (see my other photo).
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4/9/08 update:
Although the article below looks scary, wait til all the facts are in. It may have a lot less to do with any real safety issues than it does with an ex employee on a vendetta. The people who pack tandems need not be FAA riggers, but they should be supervised by such experts. Supervision is used loosely and can just mean that a rigger is on site.
As a practical matter people who pack tandem main chutes all the time know what they are doing and errors are very rare. The reserve chutes WERE packed by FAA licensed riggers and that is the chute that matters the most. I am not a friend of the owner, but I don't want to see his business killed by an ex employee on a mission. The safety record is actually good. A few landing injuries are normal if you do thousands of tandem jumps. Sometimes it just happens. They have had no tandem fatalities or anything even close.
Skydiving company suspended after safety complaints
BY Bob Norberg
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
April 08, 2008
Cloverdale has suspended the lease of a skydiving company at the city airport following an injury to one of its instructors and safety complaints from an ex-employee.
"We are asking for certifications that they are in compliance, that they have parachute packers certified by the Federal Aviation Administration and instructors who meet U.S. Parachute Association standards," said Nina Regor, Cloverdale's city manager.
The company, Skydive San Francisco, also is being investigated by the FAA, which is acting on a complaint from an employee who was fired.
A co-owner and manager of the company, Dee Jones, did not return calls for comment.
The other co-owner, Colin Medalie said he could not comment, citing a court order barring him from interfering while control of the company is decided in a divorce.
The company has been operating at Cloverdale Municipal Airport for 12 years, offering tandem jumps for $199.
In the past year, there have been three injuries, two to the same skydiving instructor and one to a customer, according to a current worker and the ex-employee who complained to the city and FAA.
Saturday, Cloverdale ordered the company to suspend operations until it provided proof that it met the requirements of the lease, Regor said.
The lease requires that main and emergency parachutes be packed by FAA certified riggers, the company be a member of the U.S. Parachute Association and the company meet association safety requirements.
In the notice to Jones and Medalie, the city asks the company to address allegations from the ex-employee that parachutes are being packed by someone without proper certification, instructors don't have association ratings, alcohol was consumed during parachuting operations and airplanes were not insured.
FAA spokesman Ian Gregor confirmed the agency is investigating, but said he could not talk about the complaint.
The ex-employee, David Mikesell, said he worked for Skydive San Francisco from July 2007 until last month. He said he was fired for complaining that parachutes were not being packed by certified riggers.
Mikesell said he complained to both the city and the FAA out of concern for safety.
You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or bob.norberg@pressdemoc...
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This is a fine place to jump but calling it Skydive SF is a bit misleading. It is actually in Cloverdale right next to Hwy 101. Check it out on Google maps before you think its just a few minutes north of the GG Bridge. Still, the views are really good, the place has a great tandem safety record and it is on the way to nice places like Mendocino, Anderson Valley, Booneville, etc. There are a LOT of wineries nearby. When I went there they were using a piston engine Cessna jumpship, which means a slower climb to jump altitude compared to the big turboprop twins used at other DZs, but actually that isn't such a bad thing when you have such nice scenery to look at. A leisurely climb can actually calm you down. You will be very happy making a jump here, just be aware of the location when making your choice. There are plenty of businesses nearby so if you need food, supplies, gas or Starbucks, you dont have to go very far.
I went to Skydive SF yesterday with a group of friends to celebrate a birthday - holy crap it was great. I'm generally not one for extreme sports, but the staff made us feel safe and welcome (my instructor Marc kept telling me that I was "precious cargo" and would be fine. This made me feel special). While it's definitely pricey, I don't think skydiving is an area in which you want to be bargain hunting. I was happy to pay the fee if it meant landing on the ground safely (it did). We had seven people jumping and everyone was happy with their experience. The airport is in the middle of wine country, so you also couldn't ask for a better view as you're plummeting towards earth! I highly recommend them if you're looking for a once in a lifetime experience.
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saying this is in san francisco is a falacy, although they do have an sf number you can call. really, though, your dive will take place up in sonoma. and it will be AMAZING.
i am afraid of heights, and i'm not gonna lie about it. but after a bit of research i decided that my risk of dying was zero to very low and so i went for it.
it was remarkably cheap (compared to what i expected), scary (scarier than i expected) and awesome!
the instructors are knowledgable and reassuring while being a tad bit crazy at the same time (would you expect anything less from someone who jumps out of a plane many many times a day?). the plane you go up in is literally held together with duct tape! and if you have the right instructor/dude strapped to your back, maybe the pilot will do some free fall and barrel rolling while you are on the way up. and MAYBE this is a good thing!
please eat first, though. just trust me on this one.
Today was my first, and last, jump. It's just not for me. It was a beautiful day and breathtaking view, but I got a smarmy, all too casual instructor who wouldn't shut up about his wife and fishing, and the jerks he used to work with at Lodi, and an incredibly uncomfortable harness that wrecked the last two minutes of descent. One of the other employees was nice enough to take a bunch of pictures for us, the 3 stars are because of her. No one else treated me like "precious cargo" - I guess I didn't flirt as much as another reviewer. If you have $180 that's burning a hole in your pocket and you need to get rid of it in less than 15 minutes, this is an excellent option. I guess some people were born to jump, and thankfully I'm not one of them! Must be over 18 to sign the dotted line.
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There are those who jump and those who don't. A few jumps out of an aircraft will put everything in your busy life into clear perspective. Group discounts are available. This company offers static line jumps as well as freefall and tandem jumps.
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