Skydive Langkawi

Skydiving. Checked! Even though it was only a tandem jump, that still counts for a lot right? :)

Here's the nicely edited video by Skydive Langkawi:


A couple of weeks before my family were scheduled to go to Langkawi for a family vacation, I googled for the things to do while we are there. The usual stuff popped up -- the cable car ride, island hopping, mangrove tour, shopping and food. Then I came across Skydive Langkawi. Wait, what? They have skydiving now in Langkawi? No way! It is in my bucket list, but to do it now? That's crazy talk. That's why they call it the bucket list right? :D

But the urge for skydiving became more intensified when my sister and I were watching that one Runningman episode (Ep289), in which some of the casts did skydiving in Dubai. I just had to do it. I sent them an email asking for the pricing. After a couple more email responses and very prompt ones too, I signed up for the 3pm slot on Tuesday 15/3, on the final full day of the trip. My parents and elder brother would have headed home by then, so that would save me from telling them what I'd be doing on that afternoon. My sister asked me Mak tak kasi ke skydiving kalau bagitau dia? (So Mom won't let you do skydiving if you let her know?). I think it's leaning more towards the fact that she'd be worried sick for me.

So Tuesday came. We went to Underwater Langkawi to treat the kids for a visit to the aquarium in the morning. We were done by noon, so I packed some lunch and asked my siblings to drop me off at the hotel because the pickup was scheduled for 2:30pm.

As I was having lunch in my room, a phone call came in. The guys at Skydive Langkawi informed me that my scheduled jump had to be cancelled because 'the airspace is closed for today' although they've been trying to get it open. Oh bummer! I was a bit frustrated because I've been psyching myself out to do this. It's now or much, much, much later. Those butterflies in the stomach and skipped heartbeats for several days prior would be all for nothing. I asked if there's any opening in tomorrow's schedule. But Corey said that they could only inform me if the airspace is open for tomorrow at around 5:30ish.

At 6pm, they returned my phone call and told me that the 7:30 slot is a Go. Woohoo! By then I was praying for good weather and that I could wake up before that :).

My alarm went off at 5:50 am because I needed to get ready by 7. Surprisingly I had a good sleep. Must be because I was tired from dipping in the sea and pool yesterday evening, apart from other activities.

Upon arriving at the Skydive Langkawi office, we filled up the registration form, went over the safety guidelines, got suited up and watched videos of past skydivesr. When our instructors arrived, they checked our gear and off we went. I was paired up with Lindsay.

The Cessna could fit two tandem pairs and the pilot with no room to spare. Hence the reason they could only do 2 jumps at any one time. It is tiniest plane that I've been in and it didn't need a lot of runway to take off. It still has buckles though, which means you are tied to the airplane until it is time to jump.

Before boarding the plane

Lindsay asked me to do a scared face. This is the best I could come up with :D

I didn't have my watch with me, so I think it was a good 10-15 minutes of flight time to take us to 10,000 feet soaring above Langkawi. The sun was rising along with us. And the breathtaking view really helped to reduce the jitters.

I was the second one to jump. When Lindsay put her left feet on that tiny platfrom, I had to place mine there as well, one foot at a time.

Woooooo!

The best seat on the plane.. or outside

The next few steps sound simple enough:
- Hands on the straps before the jump
- Do the banana position (head tilt and legs curled up).
- And then double tap means open your arms
- Upon landing, legs up with the knees slightly bent because we'll be landing on our bums.

"Say it - Banana, Banana, Banana"

And... Jump!

Wheeeeeeeeeee!

Err, wait a minute. Which side is up again?

Bye bye plane!

The 30-second freefall was certainly the highlight of the jump. It was surreal! You feel like you're floating but you know you're falling because you could see the ground beneath you gets nearer and nearer. During the briefing, we were told we'd be falling at 200+ km per hour. Woah! I opened up my mouth through out the freefall that I felt like it sucked the moisture out of my mouth and locked my mouth. You could see in the video (later) that I was trying to clear that awkward feeling in the mouth. Hahaha. Even my shoelaces got undone during the freefall.

Arms wide open

Definitely the most insane thing I've done so far!

Stunning view from up above!

(Y) (Y)

Still free-falling

Tanjung Rhu. There's where we're going to land

Another angle

Clearly I don't have lots of poses :D

A quick check on the altimeter

One last thumbs up before pulling on the cord

When the chute was deployed, it felt like we were slamming on the brakes and I'd slipped through my harness. Well I didn't. Hehehe. Lindsay did say they're using the best harness there is, and if I'm not mistaken, she said they use 4 safety points, 2 more than what the regulations ask for. Clearly I was in capable hands. Insya Allah.

There goes the parachute

And we're good!

Woot, woot!

After loosening my harness for my comfort, Lindsay gave me the chance to take control of the parachute for a few minutes. The hard left (or right) was nice, where we were spiraling down. Sweet!

So much better than runner's high. LOL!

Hard right

We landed on the beach at Tanjung Rhu. After that it was just the ride back to their office to get our photos transferred and amazing edited video ready.

Lindsay taking over the chute

Final approach

Legs up

Touch down!

We did it! Alhamdulillah

I wanna do it all over again!

Man, I was really glad that I did it and that the jump did take place.Alhamdulillah. It was a blessing in disguise that my jump was postponed to the next morning, because the condition was better in the morning, much cooler and little to no breeze. When we had our swims in the pool on the day before, the pool water was hot. And it was a big pool too. At least we didn't have to worry about the rain, right?

It was definitely a two thumbs up experience!

So what's next? Let me take a peek at my imaginary bucket list :D.