Skydaving

I learned to swim when I was very young and took up SCUBA several years before I took up skydiving (I'm a certified rescue diver working on my divemaster and should be finishing my A license requirements on Friday). I actually feel more comfortable underwater than I do under a canopy at this point, but skydiving is much more thrilling.

I just took my ground school course at the beginning of last month, waited two weeks for the rain to stop, and began jumping. My first jump was a training tandem and the only times I was nervous were from the ground up to about 3,000 feet, and then when the door opened. Like most of the other people who've replied, once I'm out the door all concerns are gone and it's just fun. I did also get a bit nervous after my first AFF jump just trying to work out the timing on my flare. I was on radio but got very nervous and when I finally heard the "flare" command I slammed down on the toggles and came to a standstill about 12 feet in the air. PLFs work!! I was so nervous after that that I almost rode the plane down from my second AFF jump, but I went out the door, only stalled out 6 feet above the ground that time, and was so excited to do it again that I can hardly explain it. Anyway, I'm at 19 jumps now and am much less nervous on takeoff and when the door opens, but I do occasionally experience an adrenaline dump. My advice is to try to do at least two jumps a day so that you're not so nervous (the first is always the most nerve wracking). The only downside to any of it is that you may lose sleep, lose focus at work and annoy your friends because you're always thinking or talking about skydiving.