Thinking of Skydiving What You Should Know

Here at Skydive Newport, we have a long standing tradition of customer service and an impeccable safety record which is second to none. Naturally, these are the most important things to consider when choosing where to jump! In addition to that, our view of the coastline is absolutely unparalleled by other parachute centers, and our instructors are the highest qualified and most experienced in the industry. You truly get a better value with us. These facts alone, however, are not all you should consider when deciding where to make your first (or second, or third) skydive.

Recently, there has been a big influx in the skydiving industry of pop-up “fly-by-night” skydiving operators in the New England area. What are these? Basically, they are small groups of people who run tattered “scotch tape and chewing gum” type operations, offering to take the public on skydives. They have no history in the location, a general lack of experience jumping into that location, and the instructors are often under trained and occasionally even unlicensed. The owners are generally not on site, and they typically use alternative methods of procuring customers (such as booking agencies, discount sites, etc) since they cannot run on a track record of success. Your safety May be at risk at these places. For all intents and purposes, they can be considered akin to the small traveling carnivals, which can set up or be taken down in a day. (We are all familiar with these.) A huge problem with these types of places (besides the lack of safety) is that while they offer deep discounts on jumps, they will nickel and dime you with hidden fees when it comes time to make the jump. They charge you for goggle rental, gear rental, jumpsuit rental, etc.. or may even require to purchase the jump in advance, then fail to be able to find an opening in the schedule before the pre-purchased jump “expires”. Some charge you extra for fuel for the aircraft, or will even offer to take a person beyond the safe weight limit for “$1 per pound over XXXlbs”. WHY would they charge you MORE money to put your safety at RISK?! This is insane. Some will also inflate the rate of there jump by up to 75% only to offer a groupon rate that sounds like a deal….don’t be fooled. What you get is a jump at there regular rate with an expectation on the service.

Here at Skydive Newport, we have more than 18 years jumping in our particular location alone. Between our highly experienced staff members, we have a combined experience of more than 87 years jumping and more than 90,000 jumps between us, which is more than any other parachute center in New England can claim. We are family owned and operated, and are here 7 days a week (weather permitting, by appointment). The gear and aircraft are maintained meticulously, and our safety record trumps anyone’s in the industry. We don’t have hidden fees, period. Everything is included in the price of your jump (goggles, jumpsuits and gloves when it is colder, etc). Our video and photo packages are a much better value than others in the industry, and all of our instructors are multi-rated skydiving professionals who are licensed and rated by the United States Parachute Association. This is what we do, and we do it well. We are excited to share our passion and love of the sport with you and your loved ones. We are straight forward with you from beginning to end and ultra clear on all of our services.

If you choose to make your jump with us, we would be excited to jump with you! If, for some reason, you choose to make your jump with a different parachute center, we ask you to please do your homework ahead of time. This is your life, and your safety is the #1 concern. Be sure to ask about hidden fees, additional costs, and read reviews on sites like yelp, google, facebook, etc. Don’t fall into the trap of the location or web sight who is out to take your money and not provide the service and safety you deserve. We want your skydiving experience to be the best and safest it can be, and are committed to that in everything we do.