Skydive Diani: Fancy falling 12,000 feet from the sky?

Alisha Popat, a musician from Nairobi, says she cannot get enough of skydiving. She is pictured here getting ready for her jump with an instructor on June 30, 2017. PHOTO| FADHILI FREDRICK

What you need to know:

  • Aischmann says they provide quality services to their clients, guaranteeing their safety as they enjoy skydiving.
  • He added that each jumper has a main parachute and an emergency one as a safety back-up.
  • As exhilarating as it might be to jump out of a plane and experience the joy of free falling and a beach landing, a Tandem jump will cost you $350.

Picture yourself falling 12,000 feet from the sky. Not a fan of heights? What if you had a parachute and an instructor with you? It could be the best (albeit scariest) 60 seconds of your life!

Skydive Diani, located on Diani Road in the vicinity of the famous Forty Thieves bar and Ali Barbour’s Cave restaurant, offers the best experience through your choice of jumps. That includes the Tandem jump, an equal opportunity for anyone to experience free falling, where a beginner is connected, by a harness, to an instructor.

The sport is ideal for those seeking the thrill but don’t want to go through the training.

Michael Aischmann who is in charge of marketing, says they also offer jump lessons where trainees go for at least four to five days training on how to skydive.

Aischmann said once learners complete the Jump school they can jump alone without an instructor.

“For any licensed skydiver that comes from all over the world, we have jump tickets and they can go on the plane and jump by themselves,” he added.

Aischmann recalls his first skydive in Diani about three years ago like it was yesterday.

"It's an exceptional feeling, I actually had a mind -block for about 15 seconds of free falling. It's very exhilarating, it's liberating falling from the sky," he said.

Skydiving can be done at any time of the year but can be restricted by weather and the tides.

"When the weather is cloudy and windy, it becomes difficult to skydive and because we have the beach as the landing zone, we are only limited to conduct skydiving during low tides," he said.

A HIGH-RISK SPORT

Many consider skydiving a high-risk sport but Aischmann disagrees, saying it is probably one of the safest sporting activities.

"If you look at skydiving statistics here in Diani, nobody has ever died as a result of skydiving compared to roads. We have an impeccable safety record here in Diani," he said.

Aischmann says they provide quality services to their clients, guaranteeing their safety as they enjoy skydiving.

He added that each jumper has a main parachute and an emergency one as a safety back-up.

As exhilarating as it might be to jump out of a plane and experience the joy of free falling and a beach landing, a Tandem jump will cost you $350.

Aischmann added that there is a video-shooting package for customers who want video of their skydiving experience.

Alisha Popat, a musician from Nairobi, says she cannot get enough of skydiving. She is pictured here getting ready for her jump with an instructor on June 30, 2017. PHOTO| FADHILI FREDRICK

"This provides unique memorable moments for skydivers so they can watch the video afterwards, which costs $75," he said.

Nation.co.ke met energetic and excited youth, one of whom was about to make his first ever jump.

Ishmael Azew, a film-maker from Nairobi and a first-time skydiver, said that although he felt nervous, he was also optimistic.

Alisha Popat, a musician from Nairobi, says she cannot get enough of skydiving as she relives her first moments when she did her first jump in Durban, South Africa.

Alisha could not hide her joy as she high-fived her instructor, saying history had been made again but of course a different experience altogether.

"It's incredible, I just skydived here in Diani. It was the best experience of my life. This is my second skydive, my first was in Durban. It was really good but this is completely different, we had a long free fall, played around in the air," she said.

She added: “These guys are incredible and if I had to tell anybody out there, do a skydive in Diani. It's the most magical thing in the world."