Rules
These are the two questions that stop a Skydive Dubai booking before it starts, and both have the same answer behind them: it is about the harness and the canopy, not about policy. Below is what the limits are for, how they are applied, and what to do if you are near one.
Quick answer
Every drop zone sets a maximum weight and a minimum age, and they are engineering numbers rather than rules of thumb. A tandem canopy is certified for a combined weight, and the harness has to fit. Declare your weight honestly when you book rather than at the scales — operators can usually work around a borderline figure if they know in advance, and cannot if they do not.
What the numbers are actually protecting
The canopy has a certified weight and the harness has a fitting range. That is all.
The canopy. A tandem parachute is certified to a maximum combined suspended weight — instructor, passenger and about twenty kilos of equipment. Exceed it and the canopy flies faster, turns harder and lands faster, which is precisely the situation nobody wants on a passenger’s first jump.
The harness. A tandem harness has a finite adjustment range. It has to be tight enough that nothing moves during a two-hundred-kilometre-an-hour deceleration, and it has to fit over the person actually wearing it. Very tall and very short jumpers are checked for the same reason as heavy ones.
Age works the same way in both directions: the minimum is about a harness fitting a smaller frame and a legal guardian signing, and there is usually no maximum, because what matters at seventy is mobility and joints rather than a birth year.
If you are close to a limit
None of these are tricks; all of them make the operator’s job possible.
A borderline weight declared in advance is a scheduling question. The same weight discovered at the scales is a cancelled jump.
Combined weight is what the canopy is certified for, so pairing matters. Operators do this routinely when they know in advance.
Different aircraft loading and different availability sometimes make a borderline booking easier to place.
Very tall passengers occasionally need a specific harness. It is a five-minute problem with notice and a whole-morning problem without.
Back, neck, shoulder and heart conditions matter because the canopy opening is a firm deceleration. Operators are used to the conversation.
Six questions Skydive Dubai gets asked before every jump
These come up at the desk more than anything else.
Yes. Skydive Dubai confirms the figure you declared because the canopy is certified for a combined weight.
In the same aircraft, usually yes. Each of you has your own instructor and your own canopy.
You can. Nobody is pushed. It is rare, and Skydive Dubai handles it without drama.
Usually. Goggles fit over most frames, and contact lenses are fine.
Usually under half an hour, though slots run in order and a delay ahead of you moves everything back.
Check your policy. Many exclude skydiving unless you add adventure cover.
There is no advantage anywhere in understating your weight. The scales are at the drop zone, the jump is refused on the spot, and the operator could have solved it with a phone call.
Tickets and booking→Book direct
Three ways to get above Dubai with no weight limit worth worrying about.
★ 4.9 · 1,916 reviews
★ 4.7 · 3,744 reviews
★ 4.6 · 28 reviews
★ 4.4 · 461 reviews
Skydive Dubai applies the same limits at both drop zones, because the canopy and the harness are the same at both.
Tickets and booking→Common questions
Yes, at every drop zone. It exists because a tandem canopy is certified for a maximum combined weight of instructor, passenger and equipment. Declare yours when you book.
Every operator sets one, and it is about harness fit and about a guardian being able to sign the waiver. Check the listing for the specific figure before booking for a teenager.
Usually not. Mobility and joints matter far more than a birth year, and people jump well into their seventies.
Contact the operator before booking. Pairing with a lighter instructor or a different aircraft loading often solves it — but only with notice.
No. No drop zone permits it.
Some do and many do not. Back, neck, shoulder and heart conditions are the ones to declare, because the canopy opening is a firm deceleration.
Go deeper
$749 for the jump, and what the rest of this page costs.
Palm or desertTwo drop zones, two completely different views underneath you.
TandemWhat actually happens, minute by minute, from briefing to landing.
BookingHow far ahead, what sells out, and what the price includes.
HeightThirteen thousand feet, and what sixty seconds of freefall means.
PhotographsIncluded in the price here, and what you actually get.
Dubai: Skydive Experience at The Palm with Photos & Video
★ 4.9 · 646 reviews · Free cancellation 24 h