Skydive the Whitsundays
Top Off Your Whitsunday Holiday With A Spectacular Skydive!
Skydiving is a buzz just by the act of doing it, but if you are dropping over one of the world’s most delectable destinations, the Whitsundays, it makes it all the more enjoyable. Skydive the Whitsundays at Airlie Beach with highly qualified instructors, tandem-style, or go it alone to 14,000 feet.
Skydive Airlie Beach is the main operator of skydives in the Whitsundays region and is nice and close to Airlie Beach, with the airfield just a few miles away. The airport is also next to Conway National Park, so you have that to look forward to along with the Whitsunday Islands for your drop zone. The beautiful Whitehaven Beach can easily be seen, along with the Great Barrier Reef proper on a nice day, and you can have the option of a video made of the entire trip from flight to jump.
The jump crew is made up of highly qualified, long-term skydivers, some of whom have been national champions in their field and have performed thousands of jumps. A typical jump will entail pick-up and drop-off at your hotel in Airlie Beach and will be around two hours in total. There are just two paying passengers per jump and you have the choice of an 8,000-foot base jump, up to a massive 14,000 feet. For footage, you can opt for photographs, a video or DVD of your trip and experience. Skydive Airlie Beach mostly do tandem skydives for those who have no experience, which also go to 14,000 feet and include a video if you so wish. To skydive the Whitsundays, you need to be at least 14 years of age.
There are four tandem options in all, going from 8,000ft with 20 seconds of freefall, 10,000 feet with 35 seconds of freefall, 12,000 feet with 45 seconds of freefall, and 14,000 feet with a complete minute freefalling. Prices start at around AU$250 for the 8,000-foot skydive and go up in 50-dollar increments. These prices are among the cheapest for skydiving anywhere, plus you get to see the Whitsundays in all their glory.
Along with the skydive, many visitors have a look at Conway National Park, which is right next to the airfield and has nice scenery and good hiking. It overlooks the Whitsunday Passage and features rainforests, mountains and valleys and you can camp out, to boot. One of the highlights is the view from Mount Rooper lookout, which takes in Hamilton, Dent, and Whitsunday islands, while Coral Beach also has a viewpoint nearby. As well as Conway National Park, getting on a cruise of the islands is a must, even if just for a half-day jaunt. All sorts of trips are available on a variety of vessels and you can even do an assisted dive if you’ve never dived before.
Getting here to skydive the Whitsundays is best done by flying to nearby Proserpine Airport, which is about 30 minutes from Airlie Beach and Shute Harbour by shuttle bus. Coaches and trains also serve from Brisbane and if you have hired a car you simply take the Pacific Highway.
