Taking recommendations for AFF & A license course dropzones

I've done AFF lvl 1 & 2 instead of tandem a couple years back, mainly because I wanted to drop by myself and not hoisted to a mother duck. I had a great experience at Skydive Perris, but to be honest the view while falling wasn't that great since it was pretty much just a desert. Their indoor skydiving was useful for learning initial posture, though.

I'm a cubicle worker/slave in Korea, but I'd like to own a license since it'll allow me to do some skydiving around the world relatively cheaper when I get to travel(aside from the initial expensive refresher jump I'll have to do).

Since everything is more expensive in Korea(around $500 per jump, $2 for a 500ml of coke) & I can't get the USPA A-license here, I'd like to use my vacation time to go anywhere in the States(or even somewhere non-US, although I'm not sure if USPA license can be acquired out of the US) to do all the 25 jumps and AFF courses. Budget is about $5~6k including the plane ticket back and forth and lodging for about a week, so that leaves about $3~4k for jumping.

It'll have to be finished in a week or 8~9 days tops, so I'll have to jump about 4 times per day I guess. I'd like a location that will allow such strict time schedule, along with not too expensive rates and good view(preferably). If I fail to get my license in one trip, that means I'll have to shell out for a 9000km plane ticket once again, while getting unpleasant glares from my boss.

Any suggestions welcome, thank you.

There is a  (US based) Korean instructor who runs bespoke AFF courses for Korean students at Skydive Elsinore. Not far from Perris but the views are, IMHO, somewhat better. But I guess you should be concentrating on your drills in freefall and airspace/landing pattern under canopy rather than the view.

4 hours ago, NekoFetish said:

I had a great experience at Skydive Perris, but to be honest the view while falling wasn't that great since it was pretty much just a desert.

If your priority in learning how to skydive is scenery, you can try PISC on the North shore of Oahu. They are very good at what they do. On a very clear day, you can see five islands. Rare, but it happens. Other good places include: 

Skydive Chicago - But you may have to look at corn on the way down. Also, they run their Summerfest the end of July, beginning of August. Probably not the best time to try and go through AFF. Don't know. Give them a call to confirm.

Skydive Arizona in Eloy, AZ - More desert, but you will be looking at it from the other side. Very hot in the summer. A good late fall, winter option. 

Skydive Deland in Florida - You can see the ocean, Daytona Beach, possibly Cape Canaveral, and at the right point in the day when the sun sits just right, you can catch its glint off the Eyesore on I4. Spectacular. 

They are all large DZs with full time schools and good instructors. Good luck. Hope it all works out for you. 

Hey Neko! 

The school here in Eloy is Adventures In Skydiving. They regularly see students who travel to Arizona specifically so finish AFF in a week. If you have already done some jumps and tunnel time in Perris, you will be able to count those jumps towards your license. 

The best time to jump in Eloy is between the months of October and and March. During these months, it is absolutely possible to make 4 jumps a day. There is also a wind tunnel on site that you can practice in to help you pass your levels. There is a bunkhouse to stay in which is $8 USD per night with free hot showers and free WiFi. 

The view at Eloy is also a desert but we have beautiful mountains (Picacho Peak and Newman Peak) that look like the desert scenery in old Western films. 

You can email the school to see about their winter schedule: [email protected]

Here's what I wrote a few months ago to someone who wanted to do something similar to you...

"I had experience with both AFF & STP and I would recommend the STP program over AFF. I passed my first 7 levels with AFF, then they pretty much left me alone to do solo jumps where I didn't learn much. I went to Spaceland Florida to finish and they had a coach jump with me every time. I had three excellent coaches for seven jumps and they told me they would do all they could to get me my A license in the five days I had there. They also filmed me (no video at my AFF program) which helped me see my mistakes in freefall. I liked the attitude of all the employees there and that they gave STP students priority on loads and with rental gear & packing. They also included skills my AFF program didn't (barrel rolls, leg turns, side slides, etc.) The Super Caravan plane was awesome-fast and wide doors, and they took us up to 14K feet most jumps. I did get my license while I was there and plan on going back there, and to the Dallas location."

Overall, I would recommend any Skydive Spaceland location (Florida, 3 in Texas, Georgia) since they all use the STP program and if the weather is good, you can get your A license in a week.

Sorry for a late reply everyone, I'd been busy at work.

On 6/10/2019 at 7:34 PM, Bokdrol said:

There is a  (US based) Korean instructor who runs bespoke AFF courses for Korean students at Skydive Elsinore. Not far from Perris but the views are, IMHO, somewhat better. But I guess you should be concentrating on your drills in freefall and airspace/landing pattern under canopy rather than the view.

Thank you for the recommendation, but the fact that the instructor is a Korean doesn't really bring anything to the table for me xD I'm completely fluent in English, so there's no reason to specifically find someone originated from my country.

On 6/10/2019 at 8:33 PM, flyhi said:

If your priority in learning how to skydive is scenery, you can try PISC on the North shore of Oahu. They are very good at what they do. On a very clear day, you can see five islands. Rare, but it happens. Other good places include: 

Skydive Chicago - But you may have to look at corn on the way down. Also, they run their Summerfest the end of July, beginning of August. Probably not the best time to try and go through AFF. Don't know. Give them a call to confirm.

Skydive Arizona in Eloy, AZ - More desert, but you will be looking at it from the other side. Very hot in the summer. A good late fall, winter option. 

Skydive Deland in Florida - You can see the ocean, Daytona Beach, possibly Cape Canaveral, and at the right point in the day when the sun sits just right, you can catch its glint off the Eyesore on I4. Spectacular. 

They are all large DZs with full time schools and good instructors. Good luck. Hope it all works out for you. 

Those are very solid suggestions, even with links for convenience! Thank you, I'll look into them. I still do have about a year to plan(It's not like I can just take a 1~2 week long leave without letting the department know, so I'll have to give at least a 5~6 month notice for such a long leave.)

My priority in learning is scenery because it will be one of my few opportunities to go travelling(budget, time, etc) - so I thought having some eye candy would be better than looking into the desert for 30+ jumps.

On 6/11/2019 at 1:45 AM, SDAZ said:

Hey Neko! 

The school here in Eloy is Adventures In Skydiving. They regularly see students who travel to Arizona specifically so finish AFF in a week. If you have already done some jumps and tunnel time in Perris, you will be able to count those jumps towards your license. 

The best time to jump in Eloy is between the months of October and and March. During these months, it is absolutely possible to make 4 jumps a day. There is also a wind tunnel on site that you can practice in to help you pass your levels. There is a bunkhouse to stay in which is $8 USD per night with free hot showers and free WiFi. 

The view at Eloy is also a desert but we have beautiful mountains (Picacho Peak and Newman Peak) that look like the desert scenery in old Western films. 

You can email the school to see about their winter schedule: [email protected]

Thank you for the information! I think your school is the one that was mentioned above, too. I'll take a look around in the website and contact when I have some solid schedule.

On 6/11/2019 at 2:42 PM, PlaneFun said:

Here's what I wrote a few months ago to someone who wanted to do something similar to you...

"I had experience with both AFF & STP and I would recommend the STP program over AFF. I passed my first 7 levels with AFF, then they pretty much left me alone to do solo jumps where I didn't learn much. I went to Spaceland Florida to finish and they had a coach jump with me every time. I had three excellent coaches for seven jumps and they told me they would do all they could to get me my A license in the five days I had there. They also filmed me (no video at my AFF program) which helped me see my mistakes in freefall. I liked the attitude of all the employees there and that they gave STP students priority on loads and with rental gear & packing. They also included skills my AFF program didn't (barrel rolls, leg turns, side slides, etc.) The Super Caravan plane was awesome-fast and wide doors, and they took us up to 14K feet most jumps. I did get my license while I was there and plan on going back there, and to the Dallas location."

Overall, I would recommend any Skydive Spaceland location (Florida, 3 in Texas, Georgia) since they all use the STP program and if the weather is good, you can get your A license in a week.

 

I've seen some arguments on AFF vs STP before - still not sure how they differ though. Thanks for the program suggestion along with +rep on Skydive Spaceland. I'll take it into consideration.