After a late night with friends, I finally managed to get up at 9:30 in the morning. Chat and Nat were pretty excited and I had to answer a lot of queries regarding Tandem Skydiving….:) After much explanation when I went to change clothes, I heard Nat asking Chat, “Is she going to come back?” Huh…..so much so for moral support !!!!!! I yelled from the other room….”Yes I am going to be back”….and off we set to Dubai Marina for my ultimate skydiving experience !!!!
We were a bit late (come on it’s a Friday!) and hence I was no. 25 in the queue….Phew !!!! I was on the 8th shift…..and each took 20 to 25 minutes, after a quick estimation we headed off to JBR for a quick bite….and we hit back in an hour….after several fights between Chat and Nat, having tea’s, several restroom visits with Nat…about an hour or so my name was called up and GULP ! I was like NOW….Just NOW….so finally had to face the fact that I was actually going to do skydiving….:)
After giving me a quick brief about how to bend knees and lift hands, in no time was I in a harness being tied up, my adrenaline was staring to pump…my instructor Ellis asked me whether I am scared….I answered with a straight face “I am Cool”….Esssshhh Had there been a lie detector I would have surely failed….haaaa….haaaa
I then got introduced to my photographer Jason who was going to dive with us to record and click, cool huh….I was thinking…..what next ?…a makeup artist maybe….heeee….:)
Ready to Jump
Well in no time I and my instructor were sitting in the plane with 12 other people. Fear, Anxiety, Nervousness, tension…….I could actually see them on all the Tandem jumpers including me…..What am I doing here in the first place???? How did I even let Maddy talk me into this???? After a million such questions, I decided to shut my mind off and enjoy the view; after all there was nothing I could do about it right now!
The BIG Jump
I put on my eye gear, tied my hair tightly and let Ellis attach me to his harness. We were waiting for our pilot to sign us when we would reach the 12,000 ft mark and as he waived a Thumps up….Oh F***, we have to jump now….NOWWWW!!!!!!….we crawled our way to the entrance of the plane, I could see the Palm Jumeira view and he said Jump….I bent my knees, jus couldn’t think anything and I jumped….we both jumped together, the freefall was amazing, the cool air dashing my face. Was I flying?? Have I reached heaven???? Is this really happening??? Am I a bird???? Wait wait wait….I was so shocked by the whole experience, so stunned by the beautiful views of Atlantis and Palm Jumeira and the lovely infinite blue and green ocean…..its just like a different world….Mind blowing !!!!!
V for Victory - I jumped
Palm Jumeira in the backdrop
After about 1 minute of freefall, my instructor opened the parachute and we were actually hanging in the middle of nowhere, neither the plane….nor the land….he loosened my harness….phew finally I could breathe and was actually enjoying myself….:).He even let me hold onto the parachute and did teach me Twirling, what an experience….felt like a Bird….huge one though….haaaa. My heartbeat was back to normal and the Wind was our navigator, with my instructor at my back I was feeling more comfortable and getting the hang of it.
You get pulled up by the parachute very forcefully
Highrise of Dubai
Finally after about 5 minutes of playing around with the wind, we started moving towards our destination. I could now feel the difference in temperatures and my ears started popping…..:) I initially bent my knees and did straighten them up when we actually landed, a bit nervous about it though, coz I had seen many people tumble and topple from inside…..heeee…..but excellent 2 pairs of legs….what more should I say…. we had a perfect landing !!!!!
Landed Safely
With my proud instructor
Harness was removed and as I walked towards Mandy, Chat and Nat I realized how much I loved them and that this was one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life! Well I was back afterall !!!!
P.S : I don’t think I would have done it without u Mandy !
@ Mayura ,
Wonderful pics and narration.
I must admit that that you are quite brave .I can feel the anxiety and excitement by reading only. It must be a unique experience for you.
Sahil
Thanks Sahil, it was indeed an unforgettable experience….:)
Wow !!!!
Thanks for taking us all on a thrilling skydive in tandem with you.
It is one thing to experience something like this; to convey the fear, the thrill and the euphoria in words is a tough ask.
Looking forward eagerly to your next post.
Thanks Narayan, the anxiety which I have penned down is probably 10 % of what I actually felt. Tried my best though, its a mind blowing experience to jump from so high….:)
Dear Mayura
First of all congratulations , Very few people get chance to do this.And if they get they should be courageous enough to do it………………………………..
Very nice pics and narration……………………………
Quite brave and bold …………………………….
keep it up
Keep travelling and posting……………
Thanks Vishal, It was actually a birthday present from hubby dear….he tried his best to get rid of me….But I came back….:)….but jokes apart….thanks to him that I took this plunge, otherwise which sane person goes 12000 ft up in the sky and takes a jump off…..ha ha ha ha
thrillingggggggggggg…………………I am not finding words to comment on such a quivering sensation…….And yes Vishal Rathod ji i agree with u and wish that we also be blessed with such a delight……all the best.
Thanks Ved Prakash
Thrilling it was, you have to do such things in life before its too late….they are Once in a lifetime experiences !
Wow! I don’t think anything can ever make me jump from a plane. You are brave Mayura. It is nice that they have a photographer click pictures of you through your dive. After all, it is such a memorable experience.
Vibha
Instructors are well experienced…my instructor had done 700 jumps….GULP !!!….Photographers are awesome too, Imagine how he took the first pic, he was hanging on the railing of the plane, I was so scared for him….he must have clicked at least a 100 pics, they edit and make a CD of the same and hand it over the next day. Each tandem diver is accompanied by one instructor and one photographer…how cool is that….they also gave me a video copy of the same….:)
Bravo , Keep it up . Doing Daring deeds and penning them n inspiring others.
Thank you Aai….:)
CONGRTS FOR EXPERIENCING THE ONE OF THE DESIRABLE ADVENTURE.
CAN YOU PLEASE GIVE ME DETAILS OF THE EVENT ORGANIZER AND RATES.
Whao! Its Awesome! You reminded me of ZNMD! :)
just read ur post & saw d pics its simply amazing. u must had gr8 experience. recently i’v been to Dubai bt didnt try next time m sure gonna try :)
Lovely narration also, thanks!!
Thank you everyone for the lovely comments. :)
Wow, Mayura, this is fantastic! Congratulations on going through this experience. Another congrats for your write-up being featured in this month (June 12)’s newsletter! I am curious to know a) the charges etc. for this particular activity b) Do you need a medical check-up c) Is there any age limit for participants and d) how you mentally prepared yourself to go through this activity.
P.S. I would also like to know who Chat and Nat are … I presume they are your children, and Mandy your hubby, so if I am right, that’s okay.
Thank you for sharing your lovely experience with us.
Taher
Thanks Taher,
you can check out their website and all ur doubts will be cleared.
http://skydivedubai.ae/index.php
They are very professional people. I presume a courageous heart is all you need…lol. Kidding !!!
Yes Chat and Nat are my kids aged 9 yrs and 5 yrs respectively.
Glad you enjoyed reading it, believe me its not even 10 % of what I actually felt when I jumped out of the aircraft….:)
Good Day !
Mayura
Bravo…!!!
Thrilling high adrenaline experience Mayura …
life time experience indeed…you can feel the moment by just recalling it.Nice clicks..
:) Yes Jogi, even after 3 years its still so fresh in my mind