8 Essential Tips for First-Time Skydivers

Key Takeaways
Before your first time skydiving, it’s important to get enough sleep, hydrate, and wear comfortable, athletic clothes. Visit the dropzone beforehand, bring your support squad, and learn breathing techniques to help you manage your nerves and anxiety. Before you jump, make sure you review and accept the risks so that you can stay present in the moment and really enjoy the thrill of skydiving.

Table of Contents
1. Get Physically Prepared
2. Make Financial Decisions Early
3. Visit the Dropzone Beforehand
4. Bring Your Support Squad
5. Understand the Training Process
6. Know What to Expect in the Plane & Freefall
7. Manage Your Nerves & Anxiety
8. Review & Accept the Risks

Is it your first time skydiving? If yes, you’ve come to the right place! Tandem skydiving is a thrilling adventure that’ll leave you with the confidence that you can take on any challenge, but it’s also something most people don’t know much about. To help you out, we’ve made a list of 8 first time skydiving tips for how to prepare for skydiving. Let’s go!

1. Get Physically Prepared

Worrying about how to prepare to skydive for the first time? The prep should start the day before with a full night’s sleep. You want to arrive well-rested and hydrated. We recommend eating a light meal about one or two hours before your skydive.

You should wear sneakers and athletic clothes that are comfortable, like a T-shirt and sweatpants. Avoid any accessories. You can wear your eye glasses or contacts – we’ll provide you with goggles that can fit over glasses if needed. We want you to be able to see the amazing view!

Make sure you’ve checked in with your doctor if you have any pre-existing medical conditions, especially those related to your heart, lungs, back, or neck. There aren’t many physical requirements to making a tandem skydive, but you should be flexible enough to have a full range of motion and in generally good health.

What should you not do before skydiving? Do not drink alcohol or consume drugs, overeat a giant meal, or SCUBA dive within 24 hours. If you show up to a dropzone under the influence, you will not be permitted to skydive. Also, don’t overthink it! Skydiving is supposed to be a fun, exciting experience.

2. Make Financial Decisions Early

We recommend deciding on your photo or video packages in advance, so that you fully understand what is included in your tandem experience. That being said, it’s a good idea to keep a budget for any extras, like buying additional jumps!

Deciding beforehand reduces day-of stress, and you want your focus to be entirely on the skydive, not your wallet! While it may seem pricey to add on photos or video to your jump, it is so worth it! 

Think of it this way: when was the last time you did something completely brand new for the very first time? Wouldn’t that be an awesome memory to have on video? Don’t worry – even if you decide against it ahead of time, you can always add on photos or video once you arrive at the dropzone.

3. Visit the Dropzone Beforehand

This isn’t mandatory, but if you have not actually been to a dropzone or seen skydivers in action, consider making the time to visit and get to know the layout and facilities. Being a spectator is a great way to understand that EVERYONE is nervous on the first jump. Watch the tandem skydivers getting ready as they load into the plane and share in the excitement and celebration when those tandems come in for landing.

By spending some time at the dropzone ahead of your jump, you can get comfortable with the environment and ask any questions you may have when it’s not “your day.” This will help reduce unknowns and help you stay more present in the moment when it’s your turn!

4. Bring Your Support Squad

We’ve seen it all, from people who show up in matching outfits with half their fraternity to someone who came by themselves to conquer a fear. While we have nothing but respect for the brave souls who make their first skydive alone, there are benefits to having friends and family on site with you. We are here to support you, of course, but they know you best! 

Plus, it’s so great to accomplish something incredible in front of your loved ones. Not only should you bring your support squad with you to the dropzone, but you should also consider jumping together! 

Spectators enhance the experience, especially when you wave to them from above the ground before landing. But, having your loved one on the plane ride up with you is even more special. If you’re feeling nervous about following through, social accountability helps you commit. If your best friend is behind you, you’re going to have to jump out of that perfectly good airplane!

5. Understand the Training Process

Once you’ve signed your waivers, our instructors will provide you with a pre-jump safety briefing. We’ll teach you about what you can expect, key body positions for freefall and landing, and answer any questions you have. The classroom instruction typically takes about 15 minutes. 

The primary focus of the pre-jump briefing is to go over the “arch” body position for freefall (think: making your body look like a banana, with your hips pushing down) and how to lift your legs in the air for landing. From that point on, your tandem instructor will be with you every step of the way.

Our tandem instructors are USPA-certified and highly trained to provide you with a fun experience that keeps safety first. Our instructors have thousands of jumps, and we are happy to answer any questions you have, even on the plane ride up!

6. Know What to Expect in the Plane & Freefall

The ride to altitude is typically 15 to 20 minutes. You might think there will be a “stomach drop” feeling as you exit, but the relative wind from jumping out of a moving object makes it feel more like a gentle slope. Freefall lasts a little less than a minute, and then your instructor will deploy the parachute. We talk more about what skydiving feels like in this article.

After, you can expect a few minutes of a canopy ride. You can chat with your instructor about whether you want your time under the parachute to be more relaxed, or if you want to try any fun turns! At about 1,000 feet about the ground, your instructor will begin the landing pattern.

7. Manage Your Nerves & Anxiety

Everyone is nervous before skydiving – it’s completely normal. Come mentally prepared with some good breathing techniques to stay calm. Try to focus on the excitement, not the fear! That being said, being scared can be fun too. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” That’s because challenging yourself to be brave is a good thing!

What is the scariest thing about skydiving? The scariest part of a skydive really is the anticipation – not the jump itself. Once you exit the plane, most people say their fear completely disappears.

8. Review & Accept the Risks

When you show up for your tandem skydive, there will be a lot of forms to fill out. A LOT! Some of those forms will make you want to reconsider. Yes, there are risks with skydiving. You will be asked to show your ID and sign your name, and you will be required to accept the risks of jumping out of an airplane. 

You can comfort yourself with the reality that skydiving goes on every day all over the world and the statistics are definitely on your side for an awesome experience! When you go through the training process required to jump out of that plane, you are suddenly a part of the energy and excitement that only exists for skydivers.

So, what is the riskiest part of skydiving? The current fatality rate for tandem skydiving is approximately 1 in every 500,000 jumps. When it comes to solo licensed skydivers, according to the United States Parachute Association, “In 2024, USPA members reported making 3.88 million skydives. In the same year, there were a total of 9 civilian skydiving fatalities in the United States.” That translates to about 1 in every 431,000 solo jumps.

While parachute malfunctions may happen, there are backup systems and training in place to support a safe landing. You might have even heard phrases like, “Don’t Delay, Cut Away!” or “the five second rule.” What is the five second rule of skydiving? Essentially, it’s a guideline to take five seconds to make a decision about whether or not to cut away a malfunctioning main parachute to replace it with the reserve parachute.

With modern equipment and training standards, the sport of skydiving has followed a consistent trend of decreasing fatalities and serious injuries over the last 50 years. Most people assume skydiving is more dangerous than it is simply because the idea of it is so crazy and thrilling. In reality, it’s measured risk that can be mitigated with training and proper equipment.

Are You Ready to Skydive?

Now that you know our best first time skydiving tips, it’s time to book your tandem jump! Feel free to contact us or come visit us at Skydive STL before you make your first jump to ease any nerves and ask all your questions.