Just a mere week ago, I left the safety of my nicely A/C'ed office cubicle behind and jumped out of a perfectly functioning airplane. Seeing as I don't even like roller coasters, I'm not sure why, but I signed up for a tandem jump with Skydive Hawaii. I suppose trying anything once has always been somewhat of a life practice for me, and I didn't want to let this intriguing opportunity slip by.
After a few early morning stops (coffee, bananas, and a failed attempt at getting acai bowls), I finally made it to Dillingham Airfield, the secluded North Shore headquarters of Skydive Hawaii. A little over an hour's drive from Honolulu, Dillingham Airfield seemed like an ideal locale to tackle this adventure. The Pacific Ocean, dramatic green mountains, and a tiny road helped me feel like I was on the other side of the earth. When I arrived on site, I was immediately instructed to sign a lengthy waiver form and watch an instructional video. Afterward, I held my breath and signed my life away--about 15 different times as this crew doesn't mess around. The woman helping with registration assured me that the waiver was scarier than the actual skydive. She might have seen the panicked look in my eyes.
My skydiving companion Shira Lazar with her instructor.
Fast forward to sitting in the plane. I'm strapped to a Russell Crowe-ish looking guy named Mark, who when we zoom past the clouds, lets me know that we weren't even halfway there yet. My knees got weak wondering where "there" was, but I took comfort in knowing that Mark was glued to me, and he'd accumulated more than 10,000 jumps on his skydiving notch. All of a sudden, our plane's hatch opened, and everyone ran out of the plane in hurried excitement - there was no teetering over the edge like I've seen in movies. "Go! Go! Go!" was all I remembered before running out of the plane. Then I was falling. Fast.
Naturally, I screamed until my voice went silent. Then, my body went numb and I thought Mark may have been talking to me, but all I could think about was the feeling of falling 120 mph and how much of a fantastic thrill of a lifetime I was experiencing at that moment. When the parachute opened, I breathed a sigh of relief as I floated down and Kaena Point and Oahu's North Shore unfolded before my eyes. The ocean was clear enough to spot green sea turtles and I was high enough to compare Mokuleia-beachgoers to the likes of picnic ants. I felt really, really alive and happy to rejoin planet earth as we safely touched down onto the field.
Proof! I made it!
Skydiving was a top-notch experience that any thrill seeker should experience on Oahu. On a clear day, you can see all the way to Pearl Harbor, and in the winter, Hawaii's famous humpback whales come out to play.
For more information, visit www.skydivehawaii.com.
--RAP