WHAT IF MY PARACHUTE DOESN'T OPEN OR WORK?
Parachutes almost always open, however they do sometimes fail to open properly. This is also fairly rare but does occasionally happen. This is why we jump with 2 parachutes, if the main parachute fails we go to the reserve parachute. You can rest assured that the reserve parachute was packed and inspected by a FAA licensed Parachute Rigger who took meticulous care in packing it. All of our equipment is maintained to the standards required by the FAA.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO DO MY SKYDIVE?
We generally try to service each customer within the time frame of an hour. However, the fact that skydiving is a weather dependent activity, and safety is of higher priority means that keeping to a schedule often takes a back seat to servicing everyone in a safe manner. We ask that you plan for your skydive to take between 1 to 3 hours.
WHAT SHOULD I WEAR?
We recommend wearing comfortable athletic wear. Preferably nothing too "baggy" or loose fitting. We also ask you to wear something you don't mind getting dirty in, as well as comfortable running shoes. No high heels, skirts (unless grass skirts because you know we can't ban those in Hawaii), or high platform shoes.
HOW SAFE IS SKYDIVING?
Tandem Skydiving is very safe. The USPA (United States Parachuting Association) estimates that you have a %0.003 chance of an accident occurring during a skydive and Tandem Skydiving is even more safe. That said accidents can still occur and we like to acknowledged this for the sake of full disclosure.
HOW FAST WILL WE GO? AND HOW HIGH DO WE JUMP FROM?
This varies from person to person but 120 MPH is the generally accepted answer to this question. We will have about 35 seconds of free fall when jumping from 10,000 feet. The free fall time is directly related to how high we jump. We like to jump from 10,000 feet but sometimes this may change due to weather or air traffic. Regardless you are guaranteed to jump from at least over 8,000 feet.
CAN I BREATHE DURING FREEFALL?
Yes, you can breathe during freefall regardless of speed. You will hear of tandem passengers experience difficulty breathing during freefall, this is usually associated with the anxiety that can occur while skydiving. When put in a situation where they feel frightened, panicked and nervous, some people have a habit to stop breathing, and unfortunately forget to breathe until they start to run out of breath. For them, a tandem parachute jump is an experience they literally find breathtaking. The secret is just to breathe normally on board the aircraft and throughout the jump, the same as you do here, on solid ground. Your tandem instructor will help you remember to breathe while flying in the airplane.
HOW OLD DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO SKYDIVE?
18 years of age no younger no exceptions.
WHAT HAPPENS IF THE WEATHER IS POOR OR UNFAVORABLE?
Every day we make a weather call roughly 3 hrs ahead of time before the first skydive. the call can go one of 4 ways, they are:
You will not incur any financial loss if the weather did not permit you to skydive. However that determination is not made by you it's made by the Maui Skydiving staff.
WEIGHT LIMIT?
Anyone over 230 lbs. will require Instructor approval before jumping. Instructors carefully monitor multiple conditions and make decisions based on safety as a top priority.
CAN YOU BRING YOUR OWN CAMERA ON THE SKYDIVE?
Unfortunately, it is not only against company policy but also against USPA (United States Parachute Association) regulation to allow student skydivers to bring a camera on a jump. This has been put in for good reason, as the advent of the “GoPro revolution” where the use of cameras exploded. They have been proven to be fairly hazardous. They are snag hazards and a major distraction for the student's attention. They can snag on the aircraft, in equipment, or on parachute lines. They also take the attention away from the student in an environment where students are already mentally overwhelmed. The idea that “it’s just a camera” has lead to many accidents which lead to standards be set for who can bring one on a skydive.
Parachutes almost always open, however they do sometimes fail to open properly. This is also fairly rare but does occasionally happen. This is why we jump with 2 parachutes, if the main parachute fails we go to the reserve parachute. You can rest assured that the reserve parachute was packed and inspected by a FAA licensed Parachute Rigger who took meticulous care in packing it. All of our equipment is maintained to the standards required by the FAA.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO DO MY SKYDIVE?
We generally try to service each customer within the time frame of an hour. However, the fact that skydiving is a weather dependent activity, and safety is of higher priority means that keeping to a schedule often takes a back seat to servicing everyone in a safe manner. We ask that you plan for your skydive to take between 1 to 3 hours.
WHAT SHOULD I WEAR?
We recommend wearing comfortable athletic wear. Preferably nothing too "baggy" or loose fitting. We also ask you to wear something you don't mind getting dirty in, as well as comfortable running shoes. No high heels, skirts (unless grass skirts because you know we can't ban those in Hawaii), or high platform shoes.
HOW SAFE IS SKYDIVING?
Tandem Skydiving is very safe. The USPA (United States Parachuting Association) estimates that you have a %0.003 chance of an accident occurring during a skydive and Tandem Skydiving is even more safe. That said accidents can still occur and we like to acknowledged this for the sake of full disclosure.
HOW FAST WILL WE GO? AND HOW HIGH DO WE JUMP FROM?
This varies from person to person but 120 MPH is the generally accepted answer to this question. We will have about 35 seconds of free fall when jumping from 10,000 feet. The free fall time is directly related to how high we jump. We like to jump from 10,000 feet but sometimes this may change due to weather or air traffic. Regardless you are guaranteed to jump from at least over 8,000 feet.
CAN I BREATHE DURING FREEFALL?
Yes, you can breathe during freefall regardless of speed. You will hear of tandem passengers experience difficulty breathing during freefall, this is usually associated with the anxiety that can occur while skydiving. When put in a situation where they feel frightened, panicked and nervous, some people have a habit to stop breathing, and unfortunately forget to breathe until they start to run out of breath. For them, a tandem parachute jump is an experience they literally find breathtaking. The secret is just to breathe normally on board the aircraft and throughout the jump, the same as you do here, on solid ground. Your tandem instructor will help you remember to breathe while flying in the airplane.
HOW OLD DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO SKYDIVE?
18 years of age no younger no exceptions.
WHAT HAPPENS IF THE WEATHER IS POOR OR UNFAVORABLE?
Every day we make a weather call roughly 3 hrs ahead of time before the first skydive. the call can go one of 4 ways, they are:
- "code green" (no word is good word) where the weather is expected to be good and you are expected to be at your appointment.
- "Code yellow" the weather isn't great but it also isn't horrible, we will give you our best opinion on the weather being safe enough for skydiving at your scheduled jump time and will let you make the decision if you want to drive out to Hana or not.
- "code red" we are cancelling the day due to weather
- "on call" this is a voluntary option, you can choose to go on call if the weather is too poor to jump but there seems to be a chance of it getting better later on in the day. with this option we constantly monitor the weather situation and if it becomes good enough to skydive we will call you and give you 2-3 hours to come to the airport to skydive.
You will not incur any financial loss if the weather did not permit you to skydive. However that determination is not made by you it's made by the Maui Skydiving staff.
WEIGHT LIMIT?
Anyone over 230 lbs. will require Instructor approval before jumping. Instructors carefully monitor multiple conditions and make decisions based on safety as a top priority.
CAN YOU BRING YOUR OWN CAMERA ON THE SKYDIVE?
Unfortunately, it is not only against company policy but also against USPA (United States Parachute Association) regulation to allow student skydivers to bring a camera on a jump. This has been put in for good reason, as the advent of the “GoPro revolution” where the use of cameras exploded. They have been proven to be fairly hazardous. They are snag hazards and a major distraction for the student's attention. They can snag on the aircraft, in equipment, or on parachute lines. They also take the attention away from the student in an environment where students are already mentally overwhelmed. The idea that “it’s just a camera” has lead to many accidents which lead to standards be set for who can bring one on a skydive.