Learning to skydive is, we think, one of the best things you can ever do. Not only do you learn a new skill, you also open up a whole new world of opportunity, community, excitement, personal growth and achievement that is pretty much incomparable.
As a training centre of excellence, we’ve welcomed thousands of people over the years who have come to learn to skydive with us. Many of those people continue to jump today, having made it a lifelong hobby. Some learned to jump, did as many as they wanted to and then moved on. Either way is fine and in both scenarios, the people have made memories and had experience that will last a lifetime.
We’re often asked if there’s a ‘best time’ to learn to skydive so the aim of this post is to answer that!
Whether the weather is good…
Skydiving is typically thought of as a summer sport, mainly because we’re governed by the weather and that’s when we usually expect to have the best weather here in the UK. Cloudy, rainy or windy days are a no-go for us for safety reasons, so blue skies, low winds (and a bit of heat) are our favourites.
Those things aren’t restricted to just the summer months, though. In fact, we do a lot of jumping over the winter too because often the colder spells lead to clearer skies. You might need to wear a few more layers, but you can expect stunning blue skies and breathtaking early sunsets, turning the skies above the Vale of Belvoir into streaks of gold and pink. There’s really nothing like it.
Of course, you’ve got everything in between, too! Autumn weather still carries the heat of the summer, the yellows of the fields make for beautiful backdrops, and springtime brings forth pretty flora and fauna for us to enjoy when riding down to earth on our parachutes.
Prepare for the weather of the day (we favour thin layers in the winter), and you can learn to skydive any time of year.
Popular times of year
Some times of year are more popular among experienced skydivers and it will come as no surprise that those times are usually in the summer. We tend to see a lot of skydivers coming out of hibernation around April time before heading back into their winter hideouts around November.
That can be both and up and a downside. As someone learning to skydive in what we could call the ‘off season’, you’ll likely find yourself amongst a very small but close knit community of colder weather jumpers. It’s a lovely atmosphere to be part of and you get a real sense of what it means to be part of a tight group, with lots of time to get to know one another and chat about the day over a hot chocolate at the end of the day.
Conversely, in the on-season months it’s much busier, so more people to meet, but also, a lot more people to meet!
Quieter times of year tend to make it easier for us to get lots of jumps in, while busier times can mean waiting a short period for equipment or aircraft space. Although with three super fast aircraft here at Langar, long wait times are very uncommon.
Make time for your skydiving course
No matter what time of year you choose to jump, it’s well worth making yourself available for a period of at least the full week of your course. An ideal structure for an AFF course for example would be:
- Monday – ground school
- Tuesday – levels 1-3
- Wednesday – levels 4-7
- Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday – consolidation jumps and level 8
In this way, it is possible to get your skydiving A licence within 7 days, so making yourself available for that whole period is a benefit.
If you’re not able to do that, that’s OK too but expect longer delays between jumps to mean it’s a little more difficult to learn quickly. Our bodies develop muscle memory so the more recently we’ve jumped, the easier it is to replicate what we’ve done well and rectify what we need to, too.
Where to stay when learning to skydive
One consideration many of our students have for choosing when to learn is where they will stay. We have a campsite available here which is great to use when the weather is warmer. If it’s a cooler time of year, choose from the many local options for B&Bs in the local area, here.
Ready to learn?
If you’re ready to learn to skydive, you can view available dates through 2023 here. We run ground schools most Mondays. Want to find out more? Check out our AFF course for the best way to learn to skydive.