Sure it's a little touristy. What do expect in Hawaii? I spent a couple weeks in Hawaii and only made a couple jumps. Was lucky enough to get there on a weekend with quite a few other fun jumpers so we actually made a few jumps together. Generally, you don't find a lot fun jumpers on the Islands. If you do, they come out for the sunset loads during the week. My kudos goes out to Clarence. He is a great coach. I learned A LOT. If you get on his good side, he'll teach you everything! Didn't really get a "vibe" one way or the other. One day it was great, high energy, "let's jump!" The next..."eh, big deal. No one wants to jump?" The landing area is a little intimidating, with a mountain on one side and the surf on the other. But you'd be surprised how much room there really is to land. Can't say the same for the packing areas. All the space is taken up by the rigger's and packers. I found myself packing in the restroom's!
On the negative side, the Tandem instructors certainly like to showboat. "Hooking-in" a student seems to be their trademark. And "swooping" the buildings is another dangerous trick they excel in. Almost everytime I visit another student gets hurt. Watched a girl break her ankle on a tandem the day I was there. Really takes the thrill out of the dive when sitting in hospital bed.
I'll still bring my parachute the next time I'm in paradise. Although, my time would be better spent wind-surfing.
