We’ve been asked a few times before…

Who is USPA and are you rated through them?
The United States Parachute Association or USPA is the regulatory or governing agency serving skydivers. They are the only such agency in the United States and have set forth standards in skydiving safety and training. Skydiving centers that have pledged to abide by these safety standards are called “Group Members.” The Ocean City Skydiving Center is a USPA Group Member and all of our Instructors are Individual Members adhering to the Basic Safety Requirements as dictated by the USPA.

How’s your safety record?
While skydiving is definitely an extreme sport carrying an obvious risk of serious injury or death on every jump, we are proud to say that with over twelve thousand skydives experience, we have not had a single student injury at the Ocean City Skydiving Center. Statistics have proven that skydiving injuries typically occur during a poorly executed landing. The tandem skydiving method employed by the Ocean City Skydiving Center greatly minimizes this risk by the direct supervision of our highly experienced rated tandem instructors. This adds an unparalleled safety margin as the instructor with thousands of skydives’ experience will possess a certain expertise with the parachute during landing.

Can you breathe in freefall?
The freefall and parachute environments do not cause any difficulty in breathing however some student have commented that it was awkward to breathe during the first few seconds. This is caused not by lack of oxygen but by the surge of adrenaline and excitement of first jumping out of the aircraft.

How fast will we be falling?
Typical freefall speeds are approximately 120 MPH although this can increase or decrease slightly with body size and position.

What height do we jump from?
Our typical jump altitude is approximately twelve thousand feet providing a typical 45-50 second freefall. We are however forbidden by the FAA to jump through clouds. If there is a cloud layer which prevents us from climbing to peak jump altitude, we offer skydivers the option of a slightly lower skydive under the clouds or to reschedule their skydive to another day.

Will I see my friend in freefall?
You can certainly try to see your friend in freefall. However with the fast paced environment of freefall, spotting your friend several hundred feet away is unlikely. After one tandem skydiving pair leaves the airplane, it will take several seconds for the next pair to leave. During this slight delay, the plane has traveled several hundred or even thousands of feet away horizontally from the first pair.

What’s the landing like?
Several factors come into play when we land a parachute. Most tandem parachute landings are very soft, often times standing up nicely. However this soft stand up style landing cannot be guaranteed and students must be physically fit enough to perform a harder falling down or sliding style landing. Generally, a person is fit to tandem skydive if they can perform some other rigorous sport such as tennis, basketball or racquetball and not injure themselves. Please consult your physician if you have doubts about your physical condition or strength.

What if I’m afraid of heights?
Many people are hesitant to skydive due to their personal fear or discomfort of heights. A skydiving experience does not equate to being say at the top of a ladder, bridge, or building. You are simply too high up to have any height induced vertigo or dizziness. We are literally over two miles up when we skydive. An individual would no more encounter a fear of heights during skydiving than when flying in a jet liner.

Do we actually land on the beach or in the water?
Although the water and beach are only several hundred feet away from our target landing area at the Ocean City Airport, we are prohibited from landing on the beach unless special event permission is granted.

Can we share a video?
Two people can appear in one video on the ground preparing and possibly for landing but in freefall, one student can only be filmed per camera.

If I am under 18 can I still jump if my parents sign for me?
Unfortunately, no. The age requirement of 18 is set forth due to the hold harmless waivers every skydiver must agree to and sign. These waivers are only binding if the person signing is at the age or consent, 18, or older. Parental or guardian permission holds no validity when signing legal documents directly related to release of liability regarding recreational sports.

What if I am over the weight limit?
If you are over the recommended weight of 225 pounds, it is still possible to make a tandem skydive. The tandem weight limitation is based on a combined student / instructor/ parachute pack loading and cannot exceed 500 pounds. Persons larger than 225 pounds must be proportional to their weight and in good physical shape. The work placed on the instructor becomes much greater with heavier people so it is necessary that students weighing in excess of 225 must pay an additional amount to the instructor for their efforts. This is typically calculated by adding $2 per pound over 225 pounds.

How hard does the parachute open?
Most students would say the parachute opening was not nearly as hard as they anticipated it to be. On occasion, the parachute will open harder than normally expected. Although possible, it is unlikely you would sustain any injuries from an opening. Please consult your physician if you feel you may have a condition where you should refrain from skydiving.

How far are you from Ocean City?
We are actually located in West Ocean City. It’s about a 5 minute drive from the boardwalk and 1st Street on Coastal Highway. As the skydiver flies, the airport is approximately 1 mile south of the Ocean City boardwalk, along Assawoman Bay. How far in advance should I make my reservation? We recommend a few days notice during the week and about a week’s notice for a weekend appointment. Also, you’ll have a better chance at getting a prime time slot the earlier you make your reservation. Often during July and August, the only appointment times available are between 6:30 – 8:30 am and 6 – 7 pm. Larger groups should also give consideration to the fact there may not be a large enough time block available for your group on the day you are requesting.

Who packs the parachutes?
At the Ocean City Skydiving Center, all main parachutes are either packed by our instructors, our staff FAA certificated parachute rigger, or by our parachute technician who has been with us since 2000. Auxiliary or reserve parachutes are inspected and repacked every 120 days, per FAA regulations, by our staff FAA certificated parachute rigger.

Is skydive spelled skydive or sky dive?
Many, if not most, people think skydive is spelled with two words but in fact it is one: SKYDIVE. You will see the spelling throughout this website changing back and forth between the two. This is simply a technique to raise our key word hits in many of the search engines and not because we’re confused about skydiving in Ocean City, Maryland or sky diving in Ocean City, Maryland. Sorry!