Skydive Venezuela

Antonov 28 is a great plane, fast and big. People is nice and good vibe. Very experience trainers and coach.

Highly recomended

Best jump plane I've jumped from, the staff is friendly and always willing to give a hand.

Nice wind conditions, great weather 95% of the days.

Good food
Great prices

Will definitely do it again.

This is a Daddy's Boys dropzone,
so skydivers whom would like to come to Venezuela to jump, 1. All of you will have to wait for the parents of the 3 Daddy's Boys skydiver who build and run the dropzone, than now are jumping out of Venezuela to decide if it would be a good deal to buy a new turbine for the anttonoff or if is a better deal to kid paying their jumps out of the country.

It’s been only one week since I arrived in Venezuela and it has been, so far, a very positive experience. I am a bit of a DZ "Bum" and I just arrived here from spending the last 3 months in Russia (Kolomna). For me, the best DZ in Europe, by far. The problem with Russia is that after September you will surely freeze your ass off and when the winter begins, you can expect temperatures of minus 30. Not good jumping conditions in any language. So, where to go from September on? I picked Skydive Venezuela as it is in the Southern hemisphere and the season is starting where in the rest of Europe is finishing.

Arriving to Venezuela - I was picked up from the airport free of charge by Giancarlo, one of the Co-owners, free of charge and stayed in his house for a couple of days. I’m not sure this is usual treatment for all tourists but it was a good surprise and a nice welcome note to the country.

The DZ - I arrived on the scorching heat with my shorts on Saturday morning. A few loads were already up. Getting all the paper work done and getting clearance to jump took me about 30 minutes. There are 2 big packing areas, one restaurant, one little shop, restrooms with full equipped showers a equipment and souvenir shop upstairs and a good few tables outside where tourists sit and point up and the manifest (Which has permanent air conditioning in case you need to cool down: this place is hot!)

Planes - The plane they have here is the Antonov 28 with tailgate, one of my favorites and will get you to 13.500 in about 13 minutes. They also have a Cessna 206 that will go as high as 10.000
The DZ is open every day of the week as long as there are enough people to operate the plane. This means that the more people you travel with, the more chance you will get to jump every day. Just 2 weeks before I arrived there was a big Brazilian group here, and they actually got a second Antonov to accommodate for it. In case there are not enough people to operate the Antonov you can always jump the 206 and get your "adrenaline dosage" from it.

People- The people are really nice and friendly and are ready to help you when you need it. I arrived here with no accommodation booked and have been staying in the house of the DZ people, and was made feel welcomed all the time. Already went to a couple of barbecue parties with DZ crowd and there is a good vibe within this dropzone. Also, thera are some of the best freeflyers in the world here and you can sure learn a lot from them.
Ah... lets not forget the bikinis. It’s always good to have some eye candy in between jumps :)

Money - BRING CASH with you (euros or dollars preferred) and DONT USE CREDIT CARDS or you will be screwed by the Venezuelan banks and the exchange rates. The official Euro/VB rate today was 1 Euro/ 3089VB. I got some money changed yesterday with the help of the DZ people for 1 Euro = 6000VB

Accommodation - There are a few places to rent around the DZ. There is also a bunkhouse in the DZ itself and they got a new 7 bedroom house to rent in the centre of Higuerote for around 20 usd per night per person. (And it comes with a swimming pool)

Overall - This is Venezuela. It is bathed by the Caribbean Sea, its average temperature is around 30 degrees, and has Chavez as president!
This DZ is a reflection of all of this and much more I expect to discover over the next 5 months I’ll be spending here.

You can’t expect to do 15 jumps per day and get everything working clockwise. Actually, I hope they don’t. If I wanted maximum efficiency and everything working as clockwise I would have joined the army. You have to relax and get into the pace of things, this is the Caribbean! This is also one of the reasons of its uniqueness and charm.
So far, highly recommended!

I’ll get back to you in 5 months
Blue Skies

Spent 2 weeks on the DZ beginning of 2007.

Had planned on 8-10 jumps/day, some sun, pleasant evening parties and a decent DZ buzzing atmosphere. All I got was the sunburns, from waiting and waiting and waiting.

Yes there is a fast Antonov, but it only takes off when the DZ boss decides to turn up on his DZ (yes, his, as in "it's mine and if you don't like it take a hike") with a couple of his friends. Never announced, never sure he'll ever come. Other conditions to meet before the Antonov moves: wait for the incompetent & lazy pilot to finish his lunch and nap, and for the courageous mechanic to stop working on that left engine every single day. Last, you might want to make sure the aircraft's license has not run out.

DZ-wise: a fantastic potential. Very convieniently located 2h from Caracas, by the sea in a resort that's supposed to be popular with decently wealthy Venezolanos, you would think the place should be swarming with jumpers and chest-enhanced Venezolanas! Think again: the DZ boss decides overnight to increase the price of the jumps several dollars, and the jumpers migrate elsewhere. No jumpers, no boss, no Antonov, no enhanced chests.

After a few days of applying that sunscreen lotion you reluctantly get a few jumps from the Cesna, that will barely reach 10,000ft before the lazy pilot (yes, same guy after his nap and before his afternoon break) insists that you exit his aircraft. Not a bad idea though, considering that the night before the poor aircraft and its engine were in bits in the hangar with three guys banging on an un-identified piece of metal...

By the way, enjoy this jump from the Cesna, as next week it leaves the DZ for some remote place in the jungle.

Therefore you fairly quickly start hitting town and beach in the hope to find a good reason to enjoy your holiday. But anyone who has some experience of decents beaches around the world will put the Higuerote area at the very bottom of the "average" list. Not only that, but you soon realise that the lack of motivation, planning ability and competence that you found on the DZ is actually fairly widespread in the area, including in the most expensive hotel around (Do not book anything at the Fiesta Inn Aguasal: bunch of crooks, very poor service, no hot water for 2 weeks, high prices).

Rather than bore people with more abuse I shall finish on a good note: Isla Tortuga is, indeed, one of the prettiest places on earth to jump. 1h on the cesna from the DZ right in the middle of the ocean, Tortuga in itself is almost worth the trip from Europe or the US. Pristine water, coloured reefs, white beaches everywhere, cheapest langostas on earth. However, convincing the DZ boss to organise jumps over there is not easy at all, and likely to be cancelled at the last minute for any invalid reason. Be aware.

Some stats:
2 weeks on DZ. 4-5 jumps/day on average and I was lucky, half from Cesna half from Antonov. US$16/jump, US$6/packing I think, US$100 for each airport transfer. 2 jumps on Tortuga. 3,232,574,223 hungry mosquitos had a bit of me.

Mañana.

Just came home from three weeks of sweet bliss.
I stayed in the new bunkhouse, clean and cheap(6$/night)with good beds. Be warned though, the locals had a tendency of turning the a/c down to 16°C at night, that will give you the sniffles.

The AN-28 is a bit noisy but very fast.
Jumping was good, but its not really the place to go if you want to do 100 jumps a week yet.
Actually one of the biggest problems was lazy jumpers! I'd wake up at 7:30, look at the clear skies and still not be jumping until 9-10 because everyone was busy lounging around having breakfast in their luxury hotels.
Also, people had a hard time showing up in the loading area on boarding call.

Load organizing was a bit messy, consisting mostly of stuffing wingsuiters and solos in first.
Also I'd recommend getting a floatation device. I was exiting above the sea more often than not.

I did a few coach jumps and was treated real well. I learned lots!

Jumping over Isla la Tortuga was just breathtaking!

The town of Higuerote is nothing special really, most people where very friendly and there was decent food to be found almost everywhere. The shops all carry the same chinese copies and of course there's a liqorstore every 20 meters.
I found plenty of internetcafe´s, they all had decent connections and the prices were next to nothing.

Now I'm going to get some spanish lessons.
See u guys next year!

Just returned from 3 weeks of bliss in Venezuela this Jan. Amazing views, fantastic plane and some of the most talented staff working in skydiving. If you want to learn, you are in very safe hands.

A group of 5 Irish traveled to Higuerote, we got a free airport ride but we didnt mind sitting in the back of a pickup truck as a previous reviewer seems to have objected to, most of the country seems to travel like this....free airport rides have now stopped as the main bridge from Caracas airport has collapsed, this is a major disaster, a 2 hour drive now takes 5. A new road wont be finished until sometime in 2007. If you are a group of 3-4 you can hire a plane for $300 as we did and fly into a major airport in a 206 with a 747 hot on your tail! Great views all up the coast as well. Taxi is about $120, phone or mail the DZ to organise someone to meet you, if you don't you are likely to be held up within 5 min of leaving the airport. Caracas airport is a minefield of trouble as is the city, paying a guide is the best way to make any potential problems disappear.

We were expecting a field and a plane, what you get is a large packing area, cafe....great steak sandwich, lovely fresh fish, brand new bar, showers and toilets and bunkhouses on the way, a lot of progress in a very short space of time.....this place is going to be huge in the future.

Things are slow and I mean everything, you have to relax and get into the pace of things, this is the Carribbean! 4 to 10 loads a day in shorts. There has been a lot of rain this year, the sea is brown because of the river that runs into it and was getting less and less brown every day as the rains lessened. Rain has been a major issue this year destroying the coffee crop, fuel was in short supply when the bridge collapsed due to landslides restricting operations....

Faced with the bad news of no jumping for a day we were offered the opportunity to visit a little bit of paradise so we flew to the tropical reef Island of Tortuga instead. The others got to jump it the following week, something I regret missing due to a minor injury.

Basic hotel was $20 for a twin room, no pool, had air con and cleaned every day, we shared so it worked out v cheap. Loads of expensive places available. No hot water, power cuts and no running water at random times are all part of Venezeulan life no matter how much you pay. Food was expensive for a ''3rd'' world country, $20 a day seems right but you cannot fault the quality and freshness, $6 for a steak and salad, 80cent a beer. Prices vary wildly, shop around...
Town has everythig you need, very quiet with not much going on. We didnt have much of a problem entertaining ourselves, but then again we are Irish.....
The airport is only about a 15 min walk or $1.50 in a taxi.

Venezuela has its hazards, it is a place of extreme poverty, if you advertise yourself as a walking wallet, you will mugged. Dress down, carry small amounts of money and find your way round the town during the day saving yourself a surprise at night. Be a little bit wise and you will have no problems....Americans and Germans beware, things do not run like clockwork and Venezuelans work to their own timetable, not yours.

I highly recommend Skydive Venezuela to anyone who jumps and to those who don't. Travel is a wonderful experience and Venezuela has something for everyone.

See you there next year.

I have been skydiving in Skydive Venezuela for almost 3 months, and i think is an amazing drop zone. I
read a review from a guy from Chile, and i don´t think he is right at all. I was there when they were there, and they are a mess, it is true that they had bad luck with the weather, but it doesnt rain all the time, actually, it hardly rains, is there a place in the world where it never rains???? and like it says in the web page, it is tropical weather. You can jump in shorts! Where can you do that during the winter? In Venezuela it is never cold.
I also went to La Tortuga, it is so beautiful, i don´t know why they didn´t go, maybe because they wanted everything for free, or maybe because they were so anoying, nobody wanted to be with them.
I remember there was a party at the DZ, one of the chilean guys was so drunk, that he broke a bottle of whisky and he didn´t want to pay it. And he was molesting people arround.
About the security, you have to take care of yourself a little bit more than the usual, spetially in Caracas, but it is not as bad as people think.
At this moment i am checking my mails at the drop zone (they have internet) while i watch people from Norway, France, Ireland, Canada, Italy, USA, Venezuela... boarding the plane, the sky is totally blue and everybody is having a great time...
Make your choice, come to Venezuela.
Blue skies for you too!

I went to venezuela to jump, but is not the place they say. There is no swimming beachs on the dropzone, because there's a lot of shit on the water in higuerote (see the brown part of the water on the picture of higuerote's airport in the web site). Jumps cost 13us, that's the good (and only) thing. Loads are very slow, they don't jump every day, they don't have free airport pickup (it cost 50us the taxi they sent me), they can not jump on isla tortuga and is not near caracas (2-3 hrs).
I have to stay 4 days in caracas spending 50us on regular hotel (***) and food, per day. People in venezuela is very opportunist and they will always charge more. DZ owner is an arrogant and with giancarlo, are always saying "tomorrow we are going to jump".....and nothing in the first 4 days.
On the 4th day, I called DZ owner (johnatan) and he says "came to my house on a taxi cab and I can take you to the dz"....when i get there he has a truck full of thing, and we were 4 people, so he said in his house to us: "go on the taxi is not so expenssive"...=50us.
When i get ther (dz), you will see the mud no every part of the landing area, less in the "staff landing area", where you can not land ever.
The price and the plane are excelent, but the town is dangerous (caracas too), so you can not do anything after 9 pm.
I was two week there and I only jumped 18 jump (i wanted 60 jumps, because they said to me that is possible to do it on 2 weeks).
On the week days they jummps 1, 2, 3 or 4 load max per day. and in the weeken they jump between 10 and 16 loads per day.
altitude is between 12.400 and 15.000 feets, on 15 mins.
the hotel cost U$40 weekdays and U$60 weekends, per a doble room (there's no single room), on food you spend U$20 per day. they won't answer your mails, becuase service doesn't exist in venezuela's hotels.
there is a house where you can stay for 10us per day, but it hasn't air conditioner.
There's a lot of mosquitos and you must have a pool and air conditioner.
Weather is not so good, almost every day rains, but for 15 mins or for 2 hrs, and then sun, with a lot of clouds, most times not jumpable.
I'm from Chile, so my first language is spanish, but the people in venezuela will always try to charge more.
there is one beach at 30 min (chirimena)where you can surf (not amazing but nice lefts).

VENEZUELA IS NOT A GOOD PLACE TO GO FOR ANYONE..... FOR AN AMERICAN: IMPOSSIBLE. THE COUNTRY IS VERY DANGEROUS AND NOTHING WORKS RIGHT

I don't have any problem with the venezulean skydivers but I hope you don't go to venezuela to jump. DZ has not vibe and believe me it's better to pay a few bucks more fort a jump in a better place.

blue skies

What more can we ask for?
There's the perfect weather, fast antnov-28 tailgate holds 22 jumpers; flies with ten.
manifest and packing in nice new structure with great infastructure under constructure,everything will be here,probably by the time you here this is here.
The women are hot
and everything is CHEAP,CHEAP