Everything you need to know before your first jump.
With more than 35,000 jumps between them, our team of highly experienced, expert tandem instructors knows all there is to know about tandem skydiving and has answered more skydiving questions than you’ve even thought of! We’re here to make your experience the best it can be, so don’t be afraid to ask if there’s anything we can answer for you or if you simply want to talk through the experience a little more.
If you have questions that aren’t answered below, please contact our team via our contact page.
Skydive OC is the premier skydiving location for skydiving in Maryland and the Washington DC metro area. We welcome thousands of jumpers from around Maryland, Baltimore, and DC, as well as further afield, every year.
Located in Ocean City, MD just minutes from the beach, we offer unparalleled views of the Atlantic Ocean, Maryland’s Eastern Shore, and Assateague Island.
Our expert team is made up of highly experienced tandem skydiving instructors, who have all passed rigorous examination processes and proven their abilities through thousands of skydives each.
We are located in West Ocean City, MD. It’s about a 5-minute drive from the boardwalk and 1st Street on Coastal Highway. As the skydiver flies, the airport is approximately 1 mile south of the Ocean City boardwalk, along Assawoman Bay.
We recommend a few days notice during the week and about a week’s notice for a weekend appointment. We do take same-day appointments but availability is typically limited if any.
Your instructors work hard to give you an experience you will not soon forget. Tip envelopes will be provided to you on the day of your jump should you feel you have received exceptional service!
The United States Parachute Association (USPA) is the regulatory or governing agency serving skydivers. They are the only such agency in the United States and have set forth standards in skydiving safety and training. Skydiving centers that have pledged to abide by these safety standards are called “Group Members.” The Ocean City Skydiving Center is a USPA Group Member and all of our instructors are individual members adhering to the Basic Safety Requirements as dictated by the USPA.
Statistics on the safety of skydiving are meticulously recorded by the USPA (United States Parachute Association). Tandem skydiving has the best safety record of all types of skydiving. According to the National Safety Council, a person is much more likely to be killed getting struck by lightning, or stung by a bee. Find out more on the USPA website.
While skydiving is definitely an extreme sport carrying an obvious risk of serious injury or death on every jump, we are proud to say that with over twelve thousand tandem skydives, we have not had a single student injury at the Ocean City Skydiving Center. Statistics have proven that skydiving injuries typically occur during a poorly executed landing. The tandem skydiving method employed by the Ocean City Skydiving Center greatly minimizes this risk by the direct supervision of our highly experienced, rated tandem instructors. This adds an unparalleled safety margin, as an instructor with thousands of skydive experiences, will possess certain expertise with the parachute during landing.
At Skydive Ocean City all main parachutes are either packed by our instructors, our staff FAA certificated parachute rigger, or a directly supervised parachute technician. Auxiliary or reserve parachutes are inspected and repacked every 180 days, per FAA regulations, by our staff FAA-certificated parachute rigger.
Unfortunately, no. The skydiving age requirement of 18 is set forth due to the hold harmless waivers every skydiver must agree to and sign. These waivers are only binding if the person signing is at the age of consent — 18, or older. Parental or guardian permission holds no validity when signing legal documents directly related to the release of liability regarding recreational sports.
Additional fees apply for guests weighing over 200 lbs, and the maximum weight limit is 235 lbs.
If you are (1) under 5′5″ and over 200 lbs, or (2) over 5′5″ and approaching the 235 lb limit, we ask that you call or email us for pre-approval before booking. Factors such as age, height, overall physical condition, body shape, and combined exit weight will be reviewed before an approval can be made. Preliminary approvals can often be made over the phone, but a final approval can only be given once the instructor has had the chance to see your build and physical condition in person.
The maximum weight limit for tandem skydiving at Skydive OC is 235 lbs, and guests over 200 lbs are subject to additional fees.
Beyond weight, your body shape and physical condition also play a role in determining your ability to fit in a tandem harness properly and safely, and to perform the body positions required for freefall and landing. Even if you're within the weight limit, your Body Mass Index and body shape may make a skydive more of a risk to you. Typically speaking, individuals over 200 lbs and under 5′5″ may find themselves at risk, and in all cases the final call rests with your instructor.
If you have any concerns about your fitness for a tandem skydive, please call us ahead of booking so we can walk through it with you.
No outside cameras are permitted on your skydive due to safety reasons. Even experienced skydivers are not allowed to take these types of cameras on a jump with them until they have at least 200 jumps under their belt. There are no exceptions to this rule. We offer skydiving video services — browse through our video packages here.
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Comfortable athletic clothing and lace-up shoes. On a warm day, shorts and a T-shirt are fine — female students should consider yoga pants, workout pants, or board shorts. On cooler days, go for jeans or sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt, and on cold days layer up with long underwear underneath. Sneakers or other lace-up shoes are required footwear on every jump.
The goal is to have as much fabric between you and the harness as possible. For that reason, tank tops, sleeveless shirts, and short shorts should be avoided. All female students must wear shirts whose collar line sits no lower than a couple of inches below the collarbone — no exceptions. Loaner clothing and shoes are available if you arrive inappropriately dressed.
Keep in mind that collared shirts and items with drawstrings or zippers will also cause you discomfort as they catch the 120mph wind.
All jewelry and piercings will need to come off before your jump — save yourself the hassle and leave them at home. Lastly, bring a hair tie, and if you have the choice, contact lenses are preferred over eyeglasses.
No. Arrival time is your check-in time at the time of booking. Even though you have paperwork and training to complete, we are not ready to begin this process until your scheduled check-in time. A late arrival, however, may mean we will not have ample time to get you ready for your scheduled flight. Please keep in mind you will be at the DZ for approximately 3 hours. Be prepared for this as there is some downtime between your training and actually boarding the plane. There is much happening behind the scenes so please be patient and prepare for one of the best experiences of your life!
This is not possible. Each tandem pair exits the aircraft with about 5-10 seconds of separation out the door to ensure that parachutes will not be deployed in close proximity to each other. Because of this separation, it is not possible for your instructor to film another person’s skydive.
All payments are non-refundable but are transferable and valid for one calendar year. In the event that your skydive will have to be rescheduled due to inclement weather, you will have up to one calendar year to do so. On days with marginal weather forecasts, we will assess the weather and communicate with you via email by 7 am.
All payments are non-refundable but are transferable and valid for one calendar year. In the event that you need to reschedule the date, time, or number of people in your party you must give 72 hours’ notice in order to avoid a deposit forfeiture and be able to apply the payment up to one calendar year.
The freefall and parachute environments do not cause any difficulty in breathing however some students have commented that it was awkward to breathe during the first few seconds. This is caused not by lack of oxygen but by the surge of adrenaline and excitement of first jumping out of the aircraft.
Typical freefall speeds are approximately 120 MPH although this can increase or decrease slightly with body size and position.
Although the water and beach are only several hundred feet away from our target landing area at the Ocean City Airport, we are prohibited from landing on the beach unless special event permission is granted. The designated landing zone is a grassy patch located approximately 300 feet from our spectator deck. View our local information page for more details regarding nearby accommodations, restaurants, and attractions.
Several factors come into play when we land a parachute. Most tandem parachute landings are very soft, oftentimes standing up nicely. However, this soft stand-up style landing cannot be guaranteed and students must be physically fit enough to perform a harder falling down or sliding style landing. Generally, a person is fit to tandem skydive if they can perform other rigorous sports such as tennis, basketball, or racquetball and not injure themselves. Please consult your physician if you have doubts about your physical condition or strength.
Many people are hesitant to skydive due to their personal fear or discomfort of heights. A skydiving experience does not equate to being say at the top of a ladder, bridge, or building. You are simply too high up to have any height-induced vertigo or dizziness. We are over two miles up when we skydive. An individual would no more encounter a fear of heights during skydiving than when flying in a jetliner.
Most students would say the parachute opening was not nearly as hard as they anticipated it to be. On occasion, the parachute will open harder than normally expected. Although possible, it is unlikely you would sustain any injuries from an opening. Please consult your physician if you feel you may have a condition where you should refrain from skydiving.
It’s on your bucket list and you’re not sure if you waited too long to finally take the plunge? Perhaps. Skydiving is a sport and requires you to be able to engage in it as such. There are certain body positions during the gearing up process, freefall, and landing which are mandatory for you to perform in order to safely skydive. As a fitness test, we ask that you be able to engage in a moderate game of tennis. For agility and endurance, we ask that you feel comfortable jumping from the top of a picnic table without feeling threatened of injuring yourself. Individuals over 55 years of age must be in excellent physical condition compared to others his or her age. If you are nursing an injury involving the knee, back, neck, or ankles you may want to discuss your participation in skydiving with your physician. Ultimately, in any event, your instructor has the right to refuse anyone they deem unfit to skydive. We are proud of our perfect safety record and would like to keep it that way!
You're already here for the adventure. Make it the most extreme, most unforgettable thing you do all trip. Book your beachfront tandem skydive today.