Think twice before going the “cheap route” when skydiving!

You will NOT find a Skydive Orange Groupon: Here’s why.

We believe in challenging the norm. We believe in putting smiles on faces, and changing lives. We offer you the door to the most unique experience in the world that will fundamentally change your outlook on life. We believe in rising above. We fulfill our mission through a simple commitment. You will never find Skydive Orange Groupons, Living Social deals, or any other discount sites. Sorry, we’re not sorry.

We care too much about your well-being to discount jumps so greatly that it would negatively affect your skydiving experience. There are many factors that go into determining a tandem skydive price and thereby, your experience. Again, our mission is not to just provide a skydive. Anybody with an airport, an airplane, and a parachute can do that. We believe in challenging the norm. We believe in rising above. We believe in changing your life. This is what sets us apart. We just happen to have the best tools to make that happen.

Gear Skydiving equipment includes the main parachute, back-up parachute, lines on the parachute, automatic activation device (AAD), container that holds everything together, harness that keeps the tandem jumper connected to his or her instructor, and many more in’s and out’s that we have to inspect and maintain to ensure proper operation, since safety is our number one priority. To make sure lines are not getting worn, gear isn’t getting old and the canopies don’t have holes or any wear and tear, we cycle through and buy new gear religiously. Our state-of-the-art tandem rigs (the “backpack” on the instructor’s back that holds everything) typically get sold after 300+ jumps and we purchase a new one to know everything is in tip-top shape. One way other jump operator’s lower costs is to purchase used student gear, and then continue to use it right up until it is no longer airworthy. Business owners motivated to defer costs can find themselves with a conflict over whether to incur an immediate and large expense to replace aging equipment nearing the very end of its useful life, or to kick the can down the road for a few more jumps… after all, “it probably will be ok.” Since we never have any old gear in service, we are never confronted with this type of decision. Think about this possibility for a moment. Would you want one of your friends or yourself to be the last person to make a jump on a student rig before it goes in the trash?

Higher Altitude When we jump, we want to go as high as possible—the more free-fall, the better! In order to deliver those higher jumps (the higher you go, the longer you get to enjoy the thrill of free fall), we have an airplane that is capable of reaching those distances and enough fuel to reach 13,500 feet or even higher for HALO jumps. If you drive a car, you already know how costly gas can be; imagine fueling up a big airplane with jet fuel! Unlike much of our competition we issue you an altimeter for your jump, both for you to use as a learning student, and so you can see for yourself what altitude was attained on your jump. Some operations save fuel on student loads by putting them out at lower altitudes, when they do not have to because of weather conditions, and since you do not have an altimeter, you will never really know, until you finally get to experience a full altitude jump and can see just how profound a difference the extra free fall time makes.

Aircraft A drop zone’s aircraft matters; always ask about a drop zone’s aircraft before booking. We consistently use a turbine powered aircraft. Currently we are jumping a Super Caravan, which is basically a Caravan with a Texas Turbine Conversion, making the aircraft faster, more fuel efficient for us environmentally friendly folks, and heated for winter skydives! It also has the capacity for lifting larger groups of jumpers which means less wait time to jump on busy days!  The ability to take three or four members of your group on the same load adds to your experience so you can see your friends faces as they leave the door and fall away at 120 mph. Operations that use non-turbine aircraft do not climb as fast or as high, and can only carry a few jumpers at a time. This can translate to more waiting, for a longer cramped ride in a smaller plane. A dramatically less desirable experience.

Facilities When booking a skydive, ask how long the whole process will take. Most drop zones will tell you to allow 2-6 hours to account for student volume and potential weather delays. When waiting, comfort is key. To accommodate our guests we offer on site food, couches, TV’s, picnic tables, and clean large indoor restrooms in our modern spacious hangar.Instructors At Skydive Orange, we believe in treating our instructors right. We only hire inspired and highly experienced instructors, and we pay them well. Our philosophy is that having a team of inspired, happy, and experienced instructors allow our commitment to you to be possible. Skydive Orange instructors and staff are the most professional and experienced in the industry—many of them have been at Skydive Orange for years—true professionals!

Video Quality At Skydive Orange if you choose to have video capturing your experience, a real videographer jumps alongside you to capture your skydive from an outside perspective in high quality HD. Many drop zones use GoPros attached to the instructor’s wrist, which really only captures the side of your face.Video from an outside perspective from a dedicated videographer captures the whole experience from boarding the airplane until you are back on the ground! While there are many skilled instructors that use wrist cameras, the video produced this way is undeniably inferior. To ensure that we maintain a high standard of video quality, our freefall videographers demonstrate exceptional flying, recording, and editing skills before they can be considered for our team. We want you to watch your video 10 years from now and experience the same flood of adrenaline and excitement that you felt the moment you left the door of the airplane.These standards will always remain high at Skydive Orange to ensure that we accomplish our mission of providing an experience that will change your life. However, if the only consideration that really matters to you is cost, then we truly do wish you the best of luck. It’s not every day you go skydiving, so when you do just remember, if it seems “too cheap” on Groupon or Living Social, they have to be cutting corners somewhere.

Not all drop zones are created equal. Skydive Orange rises above the rest as the Premier Drop Zone in Virginia,  DC/Maryland if not the entire Mid-Atlantic Region! Skydiving definitely comes with risks, but Skydive Orange puts safety as our first priority. From our equipment, airplanes, experience, and professionalism of the instructors and staff—safety is our first priority. Whether you’re looking for a once in a lifetime experience to check off your bucket list, or you want to join the elite community of card carrying licensed skydivers, we can promise one thing—we will change your life.