Best places in the world to go skydiving

Falling through the clouds before floating back down to earth is an experience like no other. A skydive gives you an eye-popping chance to see some of the world’s most magnificent landscapes from above, taking in the changing panorama as you drift towards the ground. Skydiving is far more rewarding than it is terrifying, so if you can muster up the nerve to give it a try, you won’t regret it for a minute. Suit up, steel up and go for it!
Jumping out of a plane is completely beyond the realms of the everyday, defying both logic and instinct. So, if you’re understandably a little twitchy about the idea of skydiving, you’ll be relieved to learn that during free-fall, skydivers rarely experience a cheek-wobbling, stomach-dropping "falling" sensation. This is because the resistance of the air to the body at speeds above about 80 km/h (50 mph) provides a comforting feeling of weight and direction.
There’s a generous sprinkling of jump zones across the planet, so when it comes to skydiving, the world is there for the taking. Tumble towards the bright orange dunes of the vast Namib Desert, get a bird’s eye view of Sugarloaf Mountain, catch a coast-to-coast vista of Hawaii or float down towards the snowy peaks of the Alps - whatever floats your proverbial boat. If you’re looking for the extreme supreme, you can even skydive over Everest, landing in the world’s highest drop zone.
Our hardy consultants have tried skydiving in all manner of destinations, and here’s our pick of the bunch:

1. New Zealand, Fox Glacier

Image courtesy of: www.yha.co.nz
Second only to Everest in terms of skydiving scenery, Fox Glacier in New Zealand really does have it all. Floating peacefully with your canopy back down towards the ground, you’ll see rainforest, lakes, mountains and the wild Tasman Sea, not to mention the awe-inspiring Fox and Franz Joseph Glaciers. The sheer variety of the landscape puts this firmly at the top of our list. From miles above, the Fox Glacier does actually look like a glacier mint!

• Height: The most popular jump takes place at 12,000ft with a whopping 65 second free-fall
• Cost: The 12,000ft dive costs $299 NZD or £150
• www.skydivingnz.co.nz/

2. Namib Desert, Namibia

Image courtesy of: www.namibiatourguide.com
With an epically empty landscape like part of a sci-fi set, the Namib Desert is a great place for a truly surreal skydive. With burnt orange dunes swept by the wind into all kinds of bizarre formations set against an impossibly blue sky, there’s nowhere like it in the world. Think no cities, no wildlife, no greenery - just a silent world of orange and blue.

• Height: 10,000ft
• Cost: $270 USD/ £135.
• www.skydiveswakop.com.na/

Our consultants say:

Stacey: You might think that a desert isn't the most scenic of locations for a skydive, but at 10,000 feet I can promise you that it's absolutely spectacular! Swakopmund is located right on the coast so there's miles of desert stretching out in one direction and the ocean as far as you can see in the other and because view is completely uninterrupted it seems to takes ages to reach the ground! I was told that Namibia is actually the only place in the world that the air gets cooler the closer you get to land, and it seemed to be true, although I can't say I was the most reliable source - I was trying to take it all in! Skydiving here still remains one of my highlights and I'd recommend it to anyone - if you can do it just in time for sunset, you'll get an even more magical experience!
Chris: You get an amazing adrenalin rush as you jump from a perfectly good aeroplane 13000 feet in the air. Not only do you experience the fear and excitement of a skydive but you do it in one of the most picturesque places on earth. The blue waters of the Atlantic ocean contrast with the orange sunlit glow of the desert and huge rolling dunes. An incredible highlight of a stunning country.

3. Hawaii

Image courtesy of: www.skydivehawaii.com
Skydiving, tropical style! Taking the jump over Hawaii will give you a panoramic vista across almost the entire island, including Pearl Harbor, Diamond Point and Keana Point. It’s a brilliant way to get a bird’s eye view of paradise and even better, it’s energy efficient! When you dive here, you’ll reduce your skydiving footprint by almost 40%, as the local companies use energy efficient planes. Student discounts are also available, making it even harder to resist!

• Height: 12,000ft
• Cost: A tandem 12,000ft skydive costs USD $225, but if you’re a student it’s much cheaper at $125 USD. That’s £138 for a tandem and only £76 for students.
• www.skydivehawaii.com/

4. Wollongong, Sydney, Australia

Image courtesy of: www.visitnsw.com
Falling through the sky towards an exotic beach, where dolphins play in the surf and pods of whales splash in the water, is an experience of a lifetime. Plunging from a plane over Wollongong will give you a breathtaking view of the Australian coastline for up to 7 minutes as you swoop leisurely towards the ground under your parachute. It’s also Australia’s highest altitude skydive, which is bound to buy you bragging rights.

• Height: 14,000ft
• Cost: During the week, a tandem skydive will set you back $289 AUD (£160) and on weekends this rises to $339 AUD (£190).
• www.skydivethebeach.com.au/

5. Mount Everest

Image courtesy of: www.dropzone.com
This is the big daddy of skydiving - the extremest of the extreme. Skydiving over Everest is exclusive, expensive and totally exhilarating. With only four diving trips per year, the highest drop zone in the world and a deposit that stacks up to a total of USD 15,000 (!!!), this isn’t for the light of pocket or the faint of heart. However, if you’ve got a mountain of cash and a penchant for the Nepalese mountains, there’s nothing to compare.

Our consultant says:

Obviously, I can’t afford it!

• Height: You’ll jump from a (quite literally) breathtaking 29,500ft. Eek!
• Cost: You may need to sit down around now. One tandem skydive and an Observation Visit to Ama Dablam Base Camp costs USD $35,000, the equivalent of £21,320. Gulp. Or you put down a deposit on a house!
• www.everest-skydive.com/price/

6. Interlaken, Switzerland

Usually, we would stop at our Top 5, but as Everest is prohibitively pricey we’ve added a bonus spot to the list. If, like 99.9% of people on the planet, an Everest skydive is out of your price universe, this is another way to plummet towards snowy peaks. Sandwiched between two Alpine lakes, jumping from a helicopter over Interlaken in the Swiss Alps is spectacular. Float over lakes, waterfalls, glaciers, valleys and villages, taking in the picturesque scenery of Alpine Europe. In winter, it’s like hurtling down towards a huge Christmas cake!