Skydive DeLand

I use TripAdvisor.com for ideas when I'm planning what we should do and see once we arrive in a new area.
"The Perfect Spot"is listed as a top ranked must do in DeLand, not necessarily for their food, but for the unique
experience, and what an experience it is! It's located at the airport adjacent to Skydive DeLand. Watching
skydivers rain downright over you is quite exhilarating and frankly makes you want to make that leap for yourself! 

Even Asher was asking to do it. Not surprisingly, four years old is too young. The minimum
age is 18. I told him for his 18th birthday we can come back and I'll do it with him to celebrate!

When we first arrived, we threw the kids in the back of the truck to watch as a dozen 

skydivers were already falling from the sky. (The six specks of color in this photo are skydivers.)

We walked thru the restaurant to their outdoor patio area, which is separated from the landing zone by  bench seating and a sign warning "skydivers only past this point". We watched skydivers land right in front of us, just yards away. It was incredible. 

These were advanced skydivers, some landed very gently and gracefully, while others came in screaming, (not the person, rather the sound the parachute makes when they come in fast and hard). Some wore full skydiving suits with every inch of them covered while others wore shorts and bare feet. They all wore helmets. I imagine the feeling of flying thru the sky while barefoot would feel pretty amazing.

Not only could we watch them come down, but we could watch them load up into the plane....

....watch the plane takeoff....

....watch them land.....and do it all over again. 

I'd say we watched about five rounds of skydivers go up in groups of 12- 20 people at at time. When 

I watched super, super close, I could actually see them exit the plane as a
tiny speck of color. They were so tiny that if you looked away and back you couldn't find them again until they pulled their parachute. 

There's even a playground for the kids to entertain themselves between flights.

We found out that skydivers from around the world come to this place to dive. It takes about $1200 and 7 solo jumps to become licensed, but after that, it's only $24 per jump. People tent camp right there on the edge of the landing strip for days or weeks at a time, jumping until the money runs out. They go home, save up and do it all over again. Sounds pretty cool to me!

Watching the last few skydivers as we walked back to the truck at sunset.