Skydiving in Dubai: My First Skydive

(Note: I did not choose the music for this video. Skydive Dubai did.)

We started at 10 p.m. on Yas Island and drove all over Abu Dhabi throughout the night, jumping from bar to bar and club to club. It was around 4 am when everyone finally called it quits, and I convinced some taxi drivers to race each other back to campus (for extra tips, of course).

As everyone stumbled back to their rooms, I turned to a completely dazed and drunk Rahul, the Indian friend I had met on my first day in the UAE. “Shit. Almost forgot. We have to be in Dubai by 7 am,” I said.

“Ohhh….fuuuuuuuuck!” Rahul whispered—loudly. “Duuuude! I totally forgot….wait…what did I forget?”

“We scheduled a skydive today! It’s 5 am! We gotta pack and go!”

“Ohhh. Right…fuuuuuuuuck!”

At 5:30 am, we found a taxi and were on our way to Dubai.

Arriving at Skydive Dubai

To our dismay, we found out the processing didn’t start until 8 am. Still exhausted, I found a nearby golf cart and passed out.

About an hour later, Rahul’s yelling woke me up. “Ohhh….fuuuuuuuuck!”

“What?!” I said, rolling off the golf cart.

Rahul facepalmed. “I don’t remember paying for the skydive! Am I scheduled?!”
“Dude! I paid for both of us! Remember? You agreed to pay me back later.”

“Ohhh. Okaaay….Let’s go then!”

We entered the Skydive Dubai building and began filling out paperwork. Once the processing finished, we both passed out while waiting for our turn.

About half an hour later, there was a gentle tap on my shoulder. “Sir, your tandem jump will begin soon.”

“15 more minutes,” I murmured.

“Sir, I’m afraid we can’t do that.”

“Are you sure though? I mean…I need about 10 to 15 more minutes to, you know, collect my thoughts and calm my nerves—with my eyes closed,” I said.

“Sir, please.”

“Alright, alright.” I groggily shook Rahul and we got into position for our harness fitting.

Preparations

After Rahul and I split up, each of us going to our respective tandem jumper, a man began photographing and interviewing me. I managed a fresh-faced smile here and there to give the illusion that I was awake.

When they asked who wanted to jump first, I raised my hand—a wise decision in retrospect since waiting would have made me more nervous.

Although I was still sleepy up until the moment the plane took off, immediately, as the plane climbed, I tensed up and all signs of exhaustion faded.

As the plane climbed higher and higher, the tension increased steadily, reaching a crescendo that coincided with the plane door blowing wide open. “Alright, everyone! Get ready!” the pilot yelled.

We had reached an altitude of 13,000 feet (3960 meters).

I could feel my heart pounding in my ears as the jumper dragged me towards the door. Oh shit, I thought. Be cool. Be cool….be….Ohhh Sheeeeyut …that’s high…

Leap of Faith

As my legs were mere inches from the edge of the plane, the photographer waved to me. “Anything you want to say before we jump? Anything on your mind?”

“Hell, it’s about time,” I said.

“What a stud,” he declared, turning on his GoPro and getting into position.

Truthfully, there were three things that I really wanted to say: 1) Shit 2) SHIT 3) SHIT!

“You gotta act cool for the camera,” I said to myself. “You can scream like a little bitch offscreen.”

As the signal light moved from red to yellow, I called the photographer. “On second thought, maybe we should—”

Green. The jumper launched himself (and me) off the plane. The photographer followed suit.

The gravity of the situation completely overwhelmed me.

Falling Out of Plane, Skydive Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Clearly overwhelmed.

I felt as if I was plummeting to my death as the turbulent airflow swallowed me. All moisture on my face and mouth completely evaporated, and I couldn’t move. Strangely, I didn’t scream much. I mostly just froze.

Moments after, I could hear the photographer yelling in the distance, continuously telling me to smile and look in his direction.

Although struggling heavily at first, I eventually regained focus and awareness. I managed to find the photographer, and I even had the nerve to yawn.

Flying High

The first 10 or so seconds was by far the hardest part. After that, I just felt the rush of adrenaline and wind. The fear mostly subsided as my body adjusted, and I looked at the view below at the Palm Jumeirah.

At around 3300 feet (1000 meters), the skydiver pulled the parachute. He said he would let me steer, so I immediately grabbed the toggles and began steering the parachute—doing zigzags and circles in the air. The experience was surreal—and so was the view. My heart was still racing, but the passage of time slowed, and I lost track of it.

In my excitement, I barely heard the jumper’s muffled yelling. “ead…r..legs!”

“What?”

“SPREAD. YOUR. LEGS,” the jumper yelled.

“Goddamn—at least buy me dinner first,” I said, placing my legs in position. We were approaching the landing zone.

I didn’t do it right, so we both slid on our asses for about five feet during the landing. Nailed it. 10/10.

Down to Earth

As I stood there triumphantly, pretending that the leg straps didn’t cause terrible pain in my groin, I could hear Rahul in the distance as he floated down towards the landing zone. “Ohhh fuuuuuuuuck! So cool! This is amaaaazing! Ace! Look! AAAACCCCEEEEE!”

His excitement mirrored mine. I had never felt such a rush in my life before. Everything around me seemed so vivid—so clear. My senses were sharp, my body was tense, my heart kept racing, and my mind was euphoric. But I was surprisingly at ease. I felt invincible—as if I could do anything.

After collecting our photos and videos, we were on our way. We checked the time and realized that it wasn’t even noon yet. We had a lot of time on our hands. So, we proceeded to do the only logical thing any horribly tired and sleep-deprived individuals would do—go flyboarding, spend thousands on watches, buy gold, and tour Dubai.