Heart reeling and legs shaking, I’m standing at the edge of the aircraft, about to take the plunge at 4,000m above the ground. Looking out of the plane’s opened door, my head spins deliriously while the strong wind slaps me back into reality. Green fields, snow-peaked mountains and buildings are scattered below me like tiny lego pieces. But amidst the chaos (overpowering winds and dizzying heights), I am air-bound without even realizing it. The rush from the free-fall sweeps through me like an electric current and before I know it, I’m experiencing an adrenaline high.
Skydiving in Costa Brava sure as hell tops any other adventures I’ve had (from climbing an active volcano to swimming with nurse sharks and cliff-jumping). During the seven minutes of the jump, I experienced a whole series of adrenaline and emotions: energy powered through me during the initial 60 seconds of free-fall, which later transformed into awe-inspiring pleasure as the parachute was released. Surprisingly, free-falling actually felt more like flying than the sensation of falling, which made skydiving much more enjoyable than bungee-jumping. Here’s a series of photos shot by my cameraman in the air – enjoy!
Just off the plane
Above the green fields and mountains of Costa Brava
Screaming ‘hell yeah’ during free-fall
A video of fellow blogger John O’Nolan landing (with voice commentary by Keith Jenkins):
Skydive Empuriabrava
Empuriabrava is the largest marina in Costa Brava, the northeastern coast of Spain. As skydiving expert Santi Corella from Skydive Empuriabrava mentions, this is the only drop zone in the world that is close to a town/city. With easy access to restaurants and hotels, Empuriabrava makes for an excellent spot to try out skydiving.
I had the chance to speak to Santi, who’s traveled the world in search of the best skydiving spots. He’s worked as an instructor for decades, was part of the Spanish national skydiving team for 10 years and is now actively involved in Proyecto Atlas (a project that brings skydiving enthusiasts together to skydive in wingsuits around the world). Here’s a short video clip from Santi:
This experience was made possible by Skydiving Empuriabrava, Costa Brava Tourism Board and Tourism Spain but all opinions are my own. Read more about my travels in Costa Brava here or follow me on Twitter with the #InCostaBrava hashtag.
Sounds like you and Abi had a great time. Quite the rush. Literally.
Looks like one hell of an experience you guys had.
Fun!!!! It must be such a crazy rush. I have yet to experience skydiving.
Anja, good to see you here! Skydiving was definitely nothing like I'd imagined – you absolutely need to try it the next time you get the chance.
wow .. don't know if i could ever experience this , seems a little scary
Can you please assure me I am not going to get a heart attack???
Jumping off a (2 meter?) trampolin is one of the most horrible things I have ever done. I couldn't stand the feeling of not having any ground beneath my feet! Can't picture the same feeling times 10 thousand
haha! No seriously, it really wasn't as scary as bungee-jumping or canyoning. You only get the falling sensation for a few seconds but the force of the wind almost feels like a support and the feeling you get is just pure adrenaline!
I am afraid of rollercoaster, but i will definitely try sky diving!
Congratulations that is something I just wouldn't do because that is pooh pooh pants territory for me. Personally I'd be happy to go 300km/hr in a car on the ground but not falling out of a plane.
Thanks for providing valuable info regarding the topic. I am a fan of your blog. Keep up the great job.
Adventure travel is really sound quite and attractive. I like to do any travel where must have adventure and I frequently make adventurous skate riding. Skydiving is another adventitious game which I would like to do. I hope I will get enjoy from it. Thanks