What To Know Before You Go Skydiving

The most important things to think about when you are considering skydiving lessons.

Make sure you take this basic skydiving information with you if you decide take skydiving lessons. It will make a big difference in how much enjoyment you will get out of the sport.

The most important thing to do is to take skydiving lessons from the best school for you. This will involve doing a bit of research about the quality of the school, the location, how they conduct their classes, their class schedules, etc.

Next, be aware of your own personal health concerns. There are some conditions that make it at best uncomfortable, and at worst, dangerous to skydive. Make sure you are honest with yourself and your skydive center about your health issues. Some centers will actually have requirements that you have to meet, but others will not and will rely upon you to be honest on the health form that you have to sign for them.

For the ones that require a physical before you can skydive with them, you have to take into consideration the cost of the physical. If your health is good, passing it should be easy, but if you have certain conditions, you may need the doctor to sign off that you are fit to skydive. Be honest with the skydiving school or center; you don't want to have any surprises if a medication you are taking does not function well when you are up in the air. If you were recently a blood donor, or if you have been scuba diving, make sure you tell your instructor. It may make a difference in whether or not you should skydive right now.

Many countries and states have requirements regarding the minimum age to tandem skydiving and extreme sports, so make sure you know what that is before you waste your time and money. For example, in the United States, you must be at least 16 in order to skydive, but you can get a waiver if a parent or guardian consents to it. In this case, the parent or guardian will have to observe the instructions for the skydive. Most schools, however, regardless of more lenient federal requirements, will require that a client be at least 18 in order to skydive.

There may also be certain tests, including oral and written tests to demonstrate knowledge and a practical test to show you are capable of the skydive. Typically, these tests are administered after detailed ground training, so as long as you have been paying attention in the on the ground skydiving lesson, you should have no problem. Just passing the test is not the important thing, understanding everything you need to know in order to make a safe dive is much more important.