Good DZs in the States

[joew]

hi folks, I am thinking of travelling to the States to do the AFF course (I live in England). The cost of the course in the UK is about as much as the flight and the course costs in the States, so I am gonna travel and hopefully jump at a nicer drop zone and with great weather ;-)

Can anyone recommend a good DZ? I heard that Skydive Sebastian in Florida is good. A mate also suggested the Pretoria SKydiving facility in Johannesburg, South Africa - any advice much appreciated.

[joew]

anyone? http://www.socnetcentral.com/ubboard/smile.gif

[Frog]

Perris vally, CA is the Mecca according to USPA (but won't admit it). WX is great almost year round - followed by AZ.
Lodi, CA is run by the guy who has the most skydives in history to date: Bill Daus.
Z-Hills, near Tampa is a great place in FL for year-round fun.
WX depending, just about any DZ in America has what you want -Blue skys, fast planes, hot women and cold beer.
Welcome to America!

[joew]

cheers Frog, checking out the websites now ...

[Andy0331]

joew,

Check out Skydive Deland here in Florida, it is one of the best training DZ's around. A few months back they hosted 20+ Royal Marines to do learn freefall via the AFF course. They all graduated quickly & most got to do additional jumps & training while they were there.

If you have any other questions about it let me know, It's my home DZ.

Andy

[DCH]

It's been almost one year since I've jumped, but Jim Wallace Skydiving School in Lake Elsinore, CA is decently priced as far as AFF. I payed $300. for classroom, rented equip., and solo jump.

Their safety record and standards are outstanding! No matter how much I b!tched, they wouldn't let me jump on a saturday due to the poor weather/visibility cond., but got the green light the next day.

-DCH

[joew]

Well I ended up at Skydive Sebastian, what a great experience! Did the full AFF course and an extra 20 or so jumps ... (did 30 in total). There is a DZ near me here in England, but I'm told most people do one jump then say it's too cold to go back up (in winter at least!). Now, I've just got to raise the cash to buy my own rig - eek! ;)

[HmtPD]

I live about 20 minutes from Perris Valley Airport in So. Cal. It is a huge SKYDIVING site. The US Air Force Academy team practices there every year as well. They also hold a lot of competitions there. The only bad thing is that the surrounding area SUCKS! I am a police officer in the same area. Lots of gangs, not much to do when your not skydiving, no decent hotels unless you want to drive for an hour.

[joew]

I might be off to Los Angeles for a week in February (work related). Is that DZ anywhere near? Could well be worth a visit if it is ...