If you searched “skydiving near me”, it’s likely you’ve landed on this page and hopefully, we’re indeed the closest skydiving center near you! Western New York Skydiving is located in Albion, NY which is centrally located between, Rochester, Buffalo, and Niagara Falls. We’d love to host you for your skydive, but we’d like to take this opportunity to share details of what to be looking for when searching for a skydiving center that goes beyond proximity and price. This post will be especially helpful if you’re shopping around and are feeling a little unsure about where to go skydiving in Western New York.
Of course, no one wants to be driving multiple hours to go skydiving, but it might be the best thing to do if it means finding the right facility for you! Many first-time skydivers don’t really know how to find the best skydiving center and instead search the same way we search for a tire shop – the closest and the cheapest (we love the tire deals at Costco by the way… ).
Shopping for a skydiving center based on the closest and cheapest is probably not the best thing to do when considering the risks associated with exiting from a “perfectly good airplane.” In reality, you probably want to be searching for a skydiving center the same way you’d search for a brain surgeon. Can you imagine Googling, “Cheapest brain surgeon near me”? That would be ridiculous right? Instead of Googling “Skydiving Near Me”, perhaps it should be “Best skydiving near me”, which of course makes a lot more sense.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of information out there for “Best Skydiving Near Me”, so we’re going to share exactly how you should go about researching the best skydiving near you.
READ REVIEWS
Selecting the best skydiving center should be like selecting a doctor – you’ll want to do your research and that begins by reading reviews of all available skydiving centers in the region and then benchmarking them. What’s the average star rating and how many reviews have they received? It’s important to not just look at one source, but at multiple – Google Reviews, Tripadvisor, Facebook, and Yelp. You’ll get a good sense of the dropzone’s professionalism based on what others are saying.
CALL THE DROPZONE
You can get a sense about a place by calling the dropzone (perhaps more than once) and see how they interact with you. Be sure to ask questions about the experience and what you can expect.
ASK A SKYDIVER
We’re all so interconnected with Facebook and Instagram, it’s likely that if you don’t know a skydiver, you have a friend that does! Most licensed skydivers know the good and the bad for all dropzones and should be able to make a good recommendation. Chat with a skydiver and ask them this question: “If you were going to take your daughter skydiving, where would you take her?” Under that context, you’ll probably be given the name of the most safety-focused skydiving center in the area.
VISIT THE DROPZONE IN ADVANCE
Visiting the dropzone in advance without any expectation of jumping is always a good idea. Observing will tell you a lot about the place and their professionalism. Between calling the dropzone and visiting, you’re a full-on secret shopper!
UNDERSTAND THE TRUE REALITY
It’s important to recognize that while most skydiving centers follow safety requirements from the FAA and recommendations from the USPA, the culture of safety will vary from place to place. Just as all restaurants serve food, some do it better than others. It’s no different in skydiving and we want anyone who decides to go skydiving to be aware of this. Skydiving isn’t without risk and it’s important that one’s research goes beyond the query of “Skydiving Near Me.”
By no means do we wish to be a Debbie Downer (no one likes that). Because we are so passionate about skydiving, we want everyone to have the best experience possible by being informed. We have observed that many people view skydiving as they would a major amusement park, and of course, skydiving isn’t like boarding a roller coaster at all. Each person participating in a skydive (even as a tandem student), has a role to play – it’s more than a ride.
We hope this post serves as good information to help you determine the “best skydiving near you,” whether you choose to skydive with us or not. We are ultra-passionate about the sport and we hope that when you make your skydive that it will be awe-inspiring and rank as one of the top moments in your life!
Blue skies!
– Team WNY Skydiving