"Did you arch?"
                                                      "Oh, yeah!"

                       "Give me a good arch!"

 

  While enjoying the Caribbean, there was another matter that pumped adrenaline to our veins.
50 seconds long free fall above Yucatan Peninsula. Freefalling to Playa del Carmen, one of the most attractive beaches in Mexico.
If you ever had the urge to jump off the plane, this is the great place for coming down back to Earth..
 
  Neither of us had ever been parachuting before. This was completely new idea. We've decided we wanna lose skydiving virginity in the warm Yucatan Peninsula, on the Caribbean shore.
We found 2 professional sky divers: Jerry from the US and Danny from Sweden, who run a small shop in Playa del Carmen. They didn't look too professional, but they had a valid Mexico license so we climbed up in their small plane up to 10,000 feet (3,048m) above Playa and then they kicked us out of the plane..

 

          "Don't worry, even 5 people can squeeze into this plane."           

             Last seconds before jump. "Oh my!"

 No, they wouldn't let us go off half-cocked.
First, they had to teach us how to arch. That's the most important skill for the first 5 seconds after you leave a plane.They taught us some other tricks, showed us a video and all systems were go.
We ascended slowly. Island Isla Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and Caribbean sea were below us, visibility was great, also the Caribbean is clear-as-a-bell (up to 70m underwater visibility, occasionally 100m) and has postcard-perfect azure water.
Because nobody can jump alone for the first time, we were sky diving in tandems, each of us had a hanging "pro" on our backs. Also it wouldn't be easy to leave a plane alone for the first time, but this way the guy behind you pushes you so you don't have a choice.

     Playa del Carmen as we've seen it from the plane

 

 

The temperature was pleasant, wind was kicking, but we didn't care. For the first 5 seconds you have to do the arch to get falling under control, then you can enjoy free fall for 45 seconds.
You can move your arms and be turning either to the right or left. It's up to you. You are falling flat down in a speed of 120 mph and the Earth is coming closer.
It's a thrill and the freefall is the best part of the jump.

The parachute opens, roughly 5,000 feet above the ocean and you can enjoy the ride and the beautiful view in a much slower rate. It's hard to describe, but we were on cloud #9.
You can go slow or fast, you can even stop, you can turn in either direction, there are all kinds of things you can do and enjoy on the way down.
We decided to go through a little cloud, where you can always see a shadow of yourself with a round rainbow in it.
It's a fine affair to go through a little cloud.
After 5 minutes of gentle ride we fell into Playa del Carmen's arms onto its velvety sand beaches.

 

"Did you arch?" Oh, yeah!!!
"Give me a good arch!"
Since then we were arching just for fun very often.

 

In Tulum, but still "on cloud nine"

 

next page