Skydiving Over Mission Beach
(According to Someone Who Has Never Skydived)
Spoiler: it’s probably incredible… and mildly terrifying.
Let’s be clear right from the start:
I have never jumped out of a perfectly good airplane.
I have never hurled myself toward Earth at terminal velocity while admiring the scenery.
I have never willingly placed my life in the hands of a man named Steve with mirrored sunglasses and a ponytail.
But… I have seen the photos.
I have talked to people who’ve done it.
And I have a wildly overactive imagination.
So here’s what I think skydiving over Mission Beach is like.
1. It starts with confidence.
You wake up on the morning of your jump feeling brave.
You’ve had your coffee.
You tell your family, “I’ve got this,” even though secretly your stomach is performing acrobatics worthy of Cirque du Soleil.
Then the instructor says:
“Hop in the plane!”
And suddenly you’re reconsidering every life choice that brought you here.
2. The plane goes up… and up… and up.
You expect a small climb.
Instead, you ascend into what feels like the beginning of the stratosphere.
Mission Beach shrinks to the size of a postage stamp.
Dunk Island looks like a crouton.
Someone asks if you’re excited.
You smile.
But inside your soul whispers:
“This is higher than it looked on the brochure.”
3. The door opens, and every survival instinct quits.
The wind blasts in like a giant invisible hairdryer.
Your instructor yells instructions you absolutely cannot hear because your brain is screaming louder.
Then — and this is the part I cannot imagine calmly —
you shuffle to the edge, hanging over 14,000 feet of tropical beauty and possible regret.
4. And then you JUMP.
Well, actually…
the instructor pushes off
and you come along like a decorative backpack.
And suddenly you’re FALLING.
FAST.
Like, “did my eyebrows blow off?” fast.
But everyone who’s done it says the same thing:
You don’t feel like you’re falling.
You feel like you’re flying.
The wind roars.
Your cheeks flap.
Mission Beach unfolds below like the world’s most dramatic Google Earth zoom:
Dunk Island
Rainforest stretching to the horizon
Beaches glowing gold
Coral sea sparkling like it’s been photoshopped
It’s pure, chaotic, unbelievable beauty.
5. The parachute opens (thankfully).
There’s a quiet whoosh — and suddenly everything slows down.
Peace.
Calm.
Silence.
You’re drifting gently above one of the most beautiful coastlines on Earth like a confused tropical bird.
You can see cassowary tracks on the beach.
You can see the shimmering reef.
You can see your family down below pointing up and yelling,
“I THINK THAT’S THEM!”
6. The landing is surprisingly graceful.
You touch down on the soft sand of Mission Beach,
your legs wiggly,
your heart full,
your adrenaline somewhere in outer space,
and your hair… interesting.
And even though you were terrified
and dramatic
and briefly convinced you would never touch land again…
You immediately want to do it all over.
So, would I do it?
Maybe.
One day.
Possibly after several pep talks and a mango smoothie.
But if you’ve never skydived either,
just know this:
Skydiving over Mission Beach looks like the most breathtaking way to yeet yourself toward beauty.
And the bragging rights?
Absolutely priceless.
Are you keen to experience the exhilaration?
Click here for Mission Beach Sky Dive Centre
Planning a visit? Stay at Fridays At Three, located right on beautiful Wongaling Beach.