Skydiving Near Abel Tasman

Skydiving has been on my bucket list since before I had kids. But, when I became responsible for raising those little humans, jumping out of a perfectly good airplane no longer sounded like a good idea. Well... now my kids are grown and I have no more excuses. Especially when one of them wants to jump out of a plane with me! This was Sierra's second time skydiving and she looked like a pro flying through the air like Superwoman. I wasn't nearly as graceful, especially with my goggles cinched tightly to keep my glasses from flying off. But, I also wasn't nearly as frightened as I looked! I thought it was absolutely AMAZING. I loved the freefall more than anything. And, even though I can now cross skydiving off my bucket list, I can't wait for another special opportunity to do it again! So much fun!!!

Skydiving videos

Sierra jumped first and before I had time to think about my baby jumping out of an airplane, I was sitting on the edge then freefalling toward the ground. The first two of these videos show the 30 seconds of each of our freefall. The other two videos summarize the whole experience from our pre to our post interviews.

Preparing to skydive

When we arrived at Skydive Abel Tasman, we checked in and weighed in. They squeeze a lot of people in that little airplane so I can see why accurate weight is important... not to mention the whole parachute thing!

They gave each of us a diving suit, hat and goggles. My goggles were "special" to accomodate my glasses so that I could actually see the jump. I had been perfectly relaxed though this process until the orientation when I learned more details about the process. Apparently I will be attached to the front of my instructor while he sits on the edge of a flying airplane with me dangling outside the door. I'm supposed to lean my head back on his chest and bend my legs under the moving airplane to make my body into a banana shape. Wait! What!?!?!?

As we waited for our turn to board the airplane, I did my best to forget about the dangling banana part of the process. It worked and I was surprisingly relaxed as we boarded the airplane and began our ascent.

Ascending to 10,000 feet

In addition to the pilot, there were nine skydivers crammed on our little airplane as we ascended to 10,000 feet. Sierra and I plus two young ladies from Germany were strapped to each of our tandem skydiving instructors. Another young lady was jumping solo. She jumped first followed by the rest of us spaced apart by only 10 seconds or so.

Sierra skydiving

From inside the airplane, I watched my baby girl dangling out the door and then disappear along with her instructor.

Heidi jumping out of a perfectly good airplane

I didn't have time to worry about by baby girl as my instructor spun me around and into the open doorway. He slid me over the edge and told me to tuck my legs under the plane as he pulled my head back. For those few seconds before we (and by we, I mean "he") jumped, I fully appreciated that I was looking up at the airplane's wing instead of down at the ground 10,000 feet below. I held onto my shoulder straps as instructed until he tapped my shoulder indicating I could let go and fly like superman. I might look terrified under the dorky goggles, but I was squealing with joy all the way down.

We got about 30 seconds of freefall before my instructor opened the parachute. As we glided gently toward the ground, he showed me how to control the parachute, gliding left and right. Then he asked if I wanted to spin. When I enthsiastically answered "Yes!", he took control and spun us in a circle. That's when I remembered I don't do well with spinning amusement park rides. No more spinning... It was just as well because we were nearing the ground. He reminded me to pull my legs up into a sitting position. With both our legs straight out and me sitting on his lap, we slid in for a perfect landing right next to Sierra.

The only recurring dream I've had since childhood was that I could fly... and now I did!

Surviving the jump

As soon as I landed next to Sierra, one of the German girls that landed first asked if I was ok. Apparently they heard me screaming all the way down. Sierra tried to assure them that those are happy squeals but I guess they had to hear it from me. It wasn't until Sierra and I got in the Bongo to drive away that I realized how much my cheeks hurt from smiling... and maybe from the cinched goggles. So much fun!

You can view the Wheels Up for New Zealand 2026 trip page to see all my blog posts, photos, and Wanderlog info.