Sky Dive over the Abel Tasman

Jumping into the experiance

During my stay at The Barn, I decided to book my first ever skydive with Skydive Abel Tasman and finally tick it off my bucket list. Waking up, the weather was beautifully clear with next to no breeze, signaling that the skydive was all go. Shaking off my nerves, I jumped in the Skydive Abel Tasman courtesy van which transported us to the airport in Motueka, AKA ‘The Drop Zone’.

The team swiftly checked us in and got us to watch a quick safety video of what to expect for our jump. With the excitement building and adrenaline kicking in, I wanted to add-on a video recording of my jump to fully savor the experience and to take it home to share with family and friends.

Next, we were in ‘The Hanger’. This is where we suited up into our fashionable and super trendy jumpsuits and were introduced to our Jump Masters. The Masters were thousands and thousands of jumps into their career and knew exactly what to do in every different situation, which reassured a few of the more nervous people in the group. I had a 1 on 1 chat with Tandem Master Dave to get to know him and prepare for the free-fall experience.

A perfectly good Airplane?

Walking up to the plane it started to hit me that this was actually happening, I was about to jump out of a perfectly good airplane! We loaded in and began the ascend. There are 3 jump height options we could choose from… 9000ft, 13000ft and 16500ft. Cruising up to the 9000ft drop point, the first few people, in the blink of an eye, made their leap of faith. Then again, at 13,000ft… Next stop, 16,500 ft!

The view is absolutely stunning from this height. Overlooking the gorgeous coastline, golden beaches, forests, islands, Abel Tasman National Park, Kahurangi National Park and, in the distance, Mount Taranaki and the North Island. Getting high above the clouds, we took a moment to soak it all in.

The air ripped through the cabin with a ‘whoosh’ as the side door opened once again. It was my turn. Tandem Master Dave was fully attached to my back and inching us closer to the door. We sat on the ledge of the plane, wind blowing quickly past us at full speed. On the signal, I lent my head back, and a split second later, Dave propelled us out the side door and we began our freefall!

The feeling is like nothing I had ever experienced! The wind was roaring past my face as we plummeted to the ground and we sped up to over 200kmph. After approximately 65 seconds of mind-blowing freefall and adrenaline, Tandem Master Dave pulled our ripcord, releasing the chute which quickly and gently, slowed us down and brought us into a seated position. For the next 5-10min we floated back down the Drop Zone, taking in the sheer beauty of the surrounding area, which gave me time to get my head around what just happened. As we touched back down on solid ground, we slid in on our bums and release a huge WOOHOO!

Still buzzing and feeling like I could conquer anything, we debriefed, before our ride back to The Barn. Skydive Abel Tasman is a definite must-do while in the area. I loved my experience jumping out of a perfectly good airplane so much, I even have the video to take home and re-live it, again and again and again.

Sky Dive

Enjoy New Zealand’s most scenic skydive experience! Located in central Motueka and boasting the country’s most epic scenery, we’re the only drop zone in NZ that can show you the mind-blowing views of both islands. Freefall from the best piece of sky this beautiful country has to offer! There is free transport to and from The Barn to the drop zone, so taking the plunge, can’t be any easier!

$329 – $749

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