Palm Jumeirah is five kilometres across and you cannot see its shape from the ground — from the promenade it is just a street with buildings on it. There are two ways to see the whole island: from a helicopter, or from thirteen thousand feet with your feet in the air. Fourteen ways to get above Dubai are compared below, from $53.
The jump
14 listings compared$749
Photos and video included; helicopters and balloons start at $53
Average rating
Across 11 rated listings4.7 ★
Across 7,117 verified reviews
Freefall
From 13,000 ft60 sec
Then about five minutes under the canopy, with the Palm underneath you
Everything you can book here
Fourteen listings, and the switch decides what kind of air you are buying. One is the tandem skydive over Palm Jumeirah — the reason this site exists. Five are helicopter flights, from seventeen minutes over the Palm to a transfer to Abu Dhabi. Eight are hot air balloons over the desert at dawn, which is a completely different kind of morning.
★ 4.9 · 1,916 reviews
★ 4.7 · 3,744 reviews
★ 4.7 · 28 reviews
★ 4.7 · 376 reviews
★ 4.5 · 67 reviews
★ 4.4 · 461 reviews
★ 4.6 · 28 reviews
★ 4.3 · 83 reviews
★ 5.0 · 3 reviews
★ 4.9 · 407 reviews
★ 4.7 · 4 reviews
Two questions
Fourteen listings, and they come down to three decisions: whether you want the adrenaline or the view, whether you are buying an hour or a whole morning, and whether the Palm or the desert is what you came for. Pick what matters and the page picks the one.
See it before you pay for it
Three things, and the first is the one nobody expects: the island only becomes a palm tree when you are high enough above it. Then sixty seconds of freefall at around two hundred kilometres an hour, and finally five minutes under the canopy with the Gulf on one side and the skyline on the other.
Side by side
Every listing here is one of three things. The skydive is sixty seconds of freefall over Palm Jumeirah and about an hour on the ground either side. A helicopter is seventeen to thirty minutes with the doors shut and a window seat. A balloon is a four-to-five-hour desert morning that starts before sunrise.
Swipe the table sideways →
| MOST BOOKEDDubai: Skydive Experience at The Palm with Photos & Video | Dubai: Helicopter Adventure Above The Palm | Dubai: Luxury Balloon Flight with Michelin-Curated Breakfast | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per person | $749 | $257 | $462 |
| Duration | About 1 hour | 17 minutes | 5 hours |
| Cost per minute | $12.48 | $15.12 | $1.54 |
| Over Palm Jumeirah | Yes | Yes | No — the desert |
| Departs from | Palm drop zone | Palm Jumeirah heliport | Pickup from your hotel |
| What you see | Palm Jumeirah from 13,000 feet, in freefall | The Palm, the Burj Al Arab and the Marina | Desert dunes at dawn, then breakfast |
| Transfers included | No — get to the drop zone | No — get to the heliport | Yes, hotel pickup |
| Rating | 4.9 · 1,916 | 4.7 · 3,744 | 4.9 · 407 |
| Best for | Doing the thing itself | The same view, calmly | A completely different morning |
| Book this one→ | Check dates | Check dates |
Free cancellation up to 24 h · Reserve now, pay later
Verdict
About sixty seconds of freefall from thirteen thousand feet, directly above an island whose shape cannot be seen from any street on it. One thousand nine hundred and sixteen ratings at 4.9 stand behind it, and the photographs and video are in the price rather than sold to you afterwards. The one reason to book something else is that you do not want to jump out of an aircraft — in which case the helicopter over the same island costs a third as much.
Check dates and availability→Before you book
The helicopter over the Palm on this page carries 3,744 ratings and the jump 1,916. Four listings carry none at all, and two carry fewer than five. That does not make the newer ones bad — but a 5.0 from three people tells you far less than a 4.9 from nearly two thousand. Read both numbers before you decide.
Two-minute check
Fourteen listings and three completely different kinds of morning. Three answers narrow it to one: how much adrenaline you actually want, how much of the day you are giving it, and what you are willing to spend.
How much adrenaline do you want?This is the question that decides it
What are you willing to spend?Per person
How much of the day?The jump itself is about an hour door to door
You'll get the flight that fits your answers, the thing about it that catches people out, and an honest word about how much evidence its rating rests on.
Six ways up
Ratings are the operators’ own numbers on GetYourGuide, shown exactly as published. We do not write reviews and we do not average other people’s into a score of our own. The skydive carries 1,916 ratings at 4.9; the helicopter flight over the Palm carries 3,744, and we say which is which.
★★★★★
Based on 7,117
verified reviews
Every rated listing on this page, scored by the people who took it on GetYourGuide.
Read all 7,117→Dubai: Skydive Experience at The Palm with Photos & Video
From $749 · 1,916 reviews
★★★★★
About sixty seconds of freefall from thirteen thousand feet, then five minutes under the canopy. 1,916 ratings at 4.9, and the photographs and video are in the price rather than sold to you afterwards.
Dubai: Helicopter Adventure Above The Palm
From $257 · 3,744 reviews
★★★★★
Seventeen minutes over the Palm, the Burj Al Arab and the Marina, with the doors shut and a window seat. 3,744 ratings at 4.7 — more evidence than anything else here.
Dubai: Luxury Balloon Flight with Michelin-Curated Breakfast
From $462 · 407 reviews
★★★★★
Five hours that start before sunrise: an hour aloft over the dunes at about four thousand feet, then a Michelin-curated breakfast after landing. 407 ratings at 4.9.
Dubai: The Dubai Balloon at Atlantis
From $53 · cheapest here
★★★★☆
A tethered balloon at Atlantis that rises straight up and comes straight back down. It is not a flight and it is not a skydive — but it is twenty minutes above Palm Jumeirah for the price of lunch. 461 ratings at 4.4.
Dubai: 22-Minute Helicopter Flight
From $354 · 376 reviews
★★★★★
The Palm, the Burj Al Arab, the Marina and Downtown in one flight. 376 ratings at 4.7.
From Dubai to Abu Dhabi: Helicopter City Transfer
From $3270 · the price anchor
★★★★★
Thirty-five minutes by helicopter from Dubai to Abu Dhabi. It is a transfer rather than a tour, and it is here to show you what the ceiling looks like — the jump costs less than a quarter of it.
What it really costs
A tandem skydive over Palm Jumeirah is $749 a person, and that price includes the photographs and the video, which on many drop zones is an extra. A helicopter over the same island starts at $257, and a balloon over the desert at dawn from $259.
Swipe sideways →
| What you are paying for | Price | What you get | Cancellation |
|---|---|---|---|
| The tandem skydive over the Palm, about 1 hour | $749 | Around 60 seconds of freefall from 13,000 ft, then 5 minutes under canopy — photos and video included | Free cancellation 24 h |
| A helicopter over the Palm, 17–30 minutes | $257–$482 | The same island and the same skyline, through glass, with a seat and a headset | Free cancellation 24 h |
| A balloon over the desert, 4–6 hours | $53–$3,150 | A dawn start, an hour aloft over the dunes, and usually breakfast — not over the Palm | Transfers usually included |
The honest answer
If you have ever wanted to do a tandem skydive, this is the place people travel for, and the reason is underneath you rather than in the jump itself. Palm Jumeirah has no ground-level view: the shape that made it famous exists only from the air. Sixty seconds of freefall directly above it is the single most photographed jump in the world for exactly that reason.
The jump, minute by minute
Passport or ID, the waiver, and your weight confirmed against what you booked. Wear trainers and something you can move in.
Ten minutes, and the only part that matters is the body position: head back, hips forward, arms out when your instructor taps you.
Fitted by your instructor, then checked twice. You will feel over-tightened. That is correct.
Ten to fifteen minutes climbing to about thirteen thousand feet. The Palm gets smaller and starts to look like a palm.
Cold air, a lot of noise, and about four seconds where nothing in your body agrees with what you are doing.
Roughly sixty seconds at around two hundred kilometres an hour. It does not feel like falling — it feels like lying on a very strong wind.
The noise stops. Five minutes of quiet with Palm Jumeirah underneath you and the Dubai skyline on the horizon.
Feet up, slide in. Then the photographs and the video, which are already on a card with your name on it.
The one thing to know
Everything else on this page is a preference. This one is geometry. Palm Jumeirah is an artificial island about five kilometres across, and from any street on it you see a street: apartment blocks, a monorail, a beach. The trunk, the sixteen fronds and the crescent breakwater only resolve into the shape everybody knows from a few thousand feet up. That is why the drop zone sits where it does, why the Palm jump costs more than the desert one, and why the photographs from this particular skydive are on more walls than any other. You are not buying sixty seconds of freefall. You are buying the only angle from which the island makes sense, and the freefall is how you get there.
Four parts of the jump
Five kilometres across, and a shape that exists only from the air.
From about 13,000 feet, at roughly 200 kilometres an hour.
Burj Khalifa, the Marina and the Gulf, from under the canopy.
The other drop zone, and the other kind of morning.
Start here
Here is the thing that makes Skydive Dubai different from every other drop zone on earth, and it has nothing to do with the jump: Palm Jumeirah cannot be seen from the ground. It is an artificial island five kilometres across, and from the promenade it is a street with apartment blocks either side. The shape that made it famous — the trunk, the sixteen fronds, the crescent breakwater — only resolves from a few thousand feet up. There are exactly two ways to look down at it: a helicopter, or the open door of an aircraft at thirteen thousand feet.
The jump is a tandem, which means you do not need any experience. You are attached at four points to an instructor who has done this several thousand times, and your entire job is to put your head back and your hips forward. The briefing takes ten minutes and nine of them are about that one position.
Sixty seconds of freefall is longer than it sounds. From about thirteen thousand feet you fall for roughly a minute at around two hundred kilometres an hour before the canopy opens. People expect it to feel like falling. It does not — there is no reference point and nothing rushing past, so it feels like lying face down on an extremely strong wind.
Then the noise stops. Canopy open at about five thousand feet, and five minutes of something completely different: quiet, slow, and the whole of Palm Jumeirah laid out under your feet with the Gulf on one side and the Dubai skyline on the other.
The photographs are in the price here, and that is unusual. At most drop zones the video is an add-on sold to you afterwards when you are in no state to negotiate. On this listing it is included, which is worth roughly a hundred dollars on its own.
There are two drop zones and they are not interchangeable. The Palm is what everybody pictures and it costs more. The Desert Campus is over dunes, is usually cheaper, has more availability and is a forty-minute drive further out. If the island is the reason you are jumping, book the Palm and book it early.
And the last thing, which no listing says plainly: the weather decides, and it decides on the morning. Wind aloft cancels jumps, and Dubai gets more of it than its reputation suggests. Leave a spare morning if you can — a cancelled jump is refunded, but a cancelled jump on your last day is just a refund.
If jumping is not for you
The island cannot be seen as a shape from the ground, but the skydive is not the only way up. A helicopter covers the same view with the doors shut for a third of the price, and a balloon over the desert is a different Dubai entirely.
Practical
Four things decide how this goes: which drop zone you booked, the time of year, whether you fit the weight and age limits, and how much of the morning you left free afterwards.
Attached to an instructor at four points, with a ten-minute briefing.
Roughly sixty seconds of freefall before the canopy opens.
It does not feel like falling — there is no reference point.
Quiet, slow, and the whole island underneath you.
On this listing, rather than sold to you afterwards.
Registration, briefing, gear, flight, jump, landing.
And invisible as a shape from any street on it.
The layout only resolves from a few thousand feet up.
And the Dubai Marina and skyline on the other.
The building at the top of the crescent, and your orientation point.
The other drop zone: dunes instead of the island, and usually cheaper.
Seventeen minutes, doors shut, from a third of the price.
They are about the harness and the canopy, not about policy.
No sandals, no skirts, nothing loose.
Jumping on an empty stomach is worse than jumping on a full one.
Calmest air, least haze and the least chance of a weather delay.
Wind cancels jumps and the decision is made on the day.
Comfortable on the ground and the clearest air of the year.
Shown on most listings on this page.
The Palm drop zone is the bottleneck, not the aircraft.
Palm and Desert Campus are different products at different prices.
The jump carries 1,916 ratings; four listings here carry none at all.
Included here. Check the line before you compare prices anywhere else.
Passport or Emirates ID, and the waiver is signed on the day.
Best time
Jumps run all year, but Dubai in August and Dubai in January are not the same city. What the month decides is the heat on the ground, the haze in the air and how early you have to be awake.
Nov – Mar
Air in the twenties, low humidity and the clearest visibility of the year. This is when the Palm photographs best from thirteen thousand feet, and it is also the busiest stretch — book ahead.
Apr & Oct
Warm rather than hot, fewer people, and the early slots are comfortable. A good compromise if your dates are fixed and winter is not an option.
May & Sep
Everything runs, but the ground is genuinely hot by mid-morning and haze builds through the day. Take the earliest jump available.
Jun – Aug
Above forty on the ground, high humidity and the most haze of the year. Jumps still run at dawn, and it is the cheapest time to be in Dubai — but it is not when the island looks its best.
Worth knowing
Check which drop zone you are booking. The Palm and the Desert Campus are two different places with two different views and two different prices. If the island is why you are jumping, the listing has to say Palm.
The photographs are included on this listing. At most drop zones in the world they are not, and they are sold to you afterwards for about a hundred dollars while your legs are still shaking. Compare prices with that in mind.
Eat something light beforehand. The most common piece of bad advice is to jump on an empty stomach. Do not — low blood sugar and adrenaline together is how people feel unwell on the climb.
Wear trainers and something you can move in. No sandals, no skirts, nothing that can flap. Sunglasses stay on the ground; you get goggles.
Book the first slot of the day. Calmest air, least haze over the island, and if the weather turns later you have already jumped.
Leave a spare morning if you can. Wind cancels jumps and the call is made on the day. A cancellation is refunded, but a refund is not a skydive.
Round out the trip
Go deeper
Common questions
A tandem skydive over Palm Jumeirah is $749 a person, and the photographs and video are included in that price. A helicopter over the same island starts at $257.
About thirteen thousand feet, which gives roughly sixty seconds of freefall before the canopy opens at around five thousand feet.
No. It is a tandem jump: you are attached at four points to an instructor, and the briefing takes about ten minutes.
The Palm if the island is why you are jumping; it is the view everybody pictures and it costs more. The Desert Campus is over dunes, usually cheaper, has more availability and is further out of the city.
Every drop zone sets them, and they are about the harness and the canopy rather than about policy. Declare your weight honestly when you book rather than at the scales.
On this listing, yes — stills and video. At most drop zones they are an extra sold to you afterwards, so it is worth checking that line when comparing prices.
Wind aloft, low cloud and poor visibility. The call is made on the morning, and a cancelled jump is refunded or moved.
November to March: comfortable on the ground and the clearest air of the year. In every month the first slot of the day is the best one.
Free · no account needed
One PDF: what the jump actually costs, Palm against Desert Campus side by side, the weight and age limits, and the hour from registration to landing minute by minute.
The plan is on its way. If it isn't there in a minute, look in Promotions.
Why trust this page
Durations, prices and ratings are read off the live listings rather than copied from other affiliate pages. Heights, distances and place names come from the published record.
Photographs and video are part of the price on the jump listed here and an expensive extra almost everywhere else. We say so, because it changes the comparison by about a hundred dollars.
A 5.0 from three reviews is not the same evidence as 4.9 from nearly two thousand people, and we label it that way rather than sorting everything by score.
Fourteen listings, ordered as a shop window rather than by price, ranked on what they actually put underneath you. We earn a commission when you book, and it does not change what we recommend.
The answer
If you came to Dubai to do this, book the tandem over Palm Jumeirah at $749. It carries 1,916 ratings at 4.9 — the strongest score on this page — the photographs and video are in the price, and it is the only way to look down at an island that has no view of itself. If the jump is not for you, the helicopter over the same island at $257 gives you the same view with the doors shut, and it carries more reviews than anything else here.
Check dates and availability→ Free cancellation up to 24 hours · Reserve now, pay laterBefore you go
All fourteen listings by price and length, Palm against Desert Campus, the weight and age limits, and the hour from the waiver to the photographs.
Check your inbox in a minute.
or
Just show me live dates and prices →
Dubai: Skydive Experience at The Palm with Photos & Video
★ 4.9 · 1,916 reviews · Free cancellation 24 h
