Skydiving at Skydive Serbia

What to expect when tandem skydiving in Belgrade with Skydive Serbia (aka Tandem Skok Beograd)

This summer while visiting Serbia, I decided to fulfill a longtime interest and go skydiving. For anyone else considering skydiving during a visit to Belgrade, here’s my take on the experience and what to expect.

Website: skydiveserbia.com
Phone: +381-60-0292012
Location: Lisičji Jarak Airport (LYBJ) ~30 minute drive from downtown Belgrade.

Details

We went as a group of three, including my girlfriend and a mutual friend. It was easy to reserve over the phone, and we were able to book a Saturday morning jump despite calling them only a couple of days in advance. Even though our friend lived in Belgrade, it was his first time hearing of Lisičji Jarak Airport, since it’s tiny and has only small planes. He drove us all out, which took about 30 minutes from downtown Trg Republic square.

When we got to Skydive Serbia’s small office at the airport, their staff was friendly and most spoke fluent English. All of the instructors seemed exceptionally experienced. The one guy I asked had a jump count of 1,200. Some of the others were ex-military types who’d been jumping out of planes since before they left the force. We felt like we were in good hands.

Their packages start at a reasonable but not cheap €170/person (also payable in Serbian dinars) for a jump from 3,000m. That’s nearly 10,000 ft., and standard for tandem skydiving. If you want, you can pay extra to jump from as high as 4,000m (more than 13,000 ft.). Higher than that and I think you’d need to bring oxygen with you. The packages are €50 more per person if you want photos and videos of the experience. That might seem like a lot, but I looked at one skydiving place in Arizona and they charged four times as much for their pictures and videos (although they did talk up their focus on quality). In any case, do you have much of a choice when it’s potentially a once-in-a-lifetime experience? (If you’re unsure, I’ve provided more details about the photos and videos below so you can decide if it’s worth it for you.)

They needed us to pay in cash onsite the day of, and all jumpers needed to be under 100kg (220 lb.). Our friend was the heaviest of the bunch and weighed in at 95kg, so no problems there.

Buildup and experience

We all suited up in optional jumpsuits (and required eyewear) they lent us free of charge, to help us stay warm at high altitude. And to look cool. They can accommodate large groups, but you’ll be going three at a time since that’s the max that can fit in their Piper Seneca II airplane. There are no seats in the plane, so the three of us all sat together with our tandem jumpers/instructors on the floor. They strapped us to themselves, then we took off from the grass, skipping the airport’s small runway.

Oh by the way, there was an open hole where the airplane’s door would otherwise be (to make it easier to jump), so if you go up with two other people, one of you will be sitting by this big open space. In our case, that was me. That allowed for amazing views on the way up, but it was a little scary despite having previously flown in doorless military helicopters (since in those cases I at least had something to hold onto). Although I was never in danger, I had to actively keep myself calm as we climbed higher so others wouldn’t notice my concern.

And then we were freefalling. I’ve been to an “indoor skydiving” wind tunnel, and I’ve been bungee jumping once, and honestly, this was nothing like either. The experience was probably the most intense thing I’ve ever felt, and it was a hell of a rush. Gently parachuting afterward (a much longer part of the experience) felt great. You can also take control of steering the parachute if you want to, but you might have to ask them.

We landed on the same field we took off from. If you have non-jumping friends, they can wait there and take pictures from the ground. There’s also a nearby café where they can hang out.

Photos and videos

Photos and videos were taken via wrist-mounted GoPros that the instructors brought with them. They sent us the photos and videos via a web link the next day. I’ve included the full video of myself below so you can get a sense of what they’ll give you. The photos were fun but relatively low quality at 1,280 by 720 pixels. I’ve included a few in a slideshow here, edited from their original 16:9 aspect ratio to 4:3. Each of us got a slightly different number of photos (55, 72, and 61).

Photo slideshow: