Skydive Jurien Bay Review 2024
This is the 1st dropzone I visit outside DZT (Dropzone Thailand).
I have 60 jumps, hold a USPA B license, own all my skydiving gears, visiting JBay as a fun jumper.
Dropzone detail:
Their website: https://skydivejurienbay.com/
Transportation 
I arrived at Perth airport on 2024-04-27 at 12+am and stayed at the Sanno Marracoonda Perth Airport Hotel.
The total distance to JBay is 227km, and driving will take approximately two and a half hours.
Google map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/2yhqTym7oti9FA3V9
Booking a taxi / Uber is more expensive than renting a car.
I don’t rent a car because I have a ride back to Perth airport, and there is no need to drive in town when all the amenities are literally across the street from the dropzone. If you rent from the airport, you can only return it there. It’s not worth renting a car if you only intend to stay in the dropzone.
You can post on the JBay fun jumpers Facebook group (Redirecting...) to see if someone can give you a ride. That’s what I did.
Admin process 
I reached the dropzone around 8 am.
They accept cash, credit, and debit cards, except AMEX.
First, I pay a $120 + 0.865% surcharge for a 3-night Lucky Shack private room using my Wise debit card. I leave my luggage in the room to be more mobile.
Second, I spend about 20 minutes filling out 3 forms (waiver form, Australian Parachute Federation (APF) form).
At this point, it’s about 9 am. Kiwi (DZ safety officer) was already doing a tandem jump. He is not free but I need him to review my logbook, forms, equivalent APF license, and rig.
Third, I go to the Jurien IGA to buy my daily necessities. And buy a pack of beer (AUD 61) from BWS Jurien Bay to share with DZ people.
I spent the next few hours familiarizing myself with the dropzone.
Kiwi reviewed, briefed, and signed off around lunchtime when they shut down the caravan.
Paperwork is done. I paid AUD 30 for a 1-month APF temp license.
Lastly, the ground crew drove me to the landing zone to see how the landing was done.
Raven (customer service, manifest, ground crew) invited me to Burble to set up my account. From Burble, I see that JBay uses it for Credentials and Dropzone Functions. But adding money, and booking load is all done manually by Raven, I suspect it’s to avoid paying the Burble transaction/platform fee.
It’s 2 pm when I can finally jump. I got 1 jump that day.
The manifest monitor only shows the load and jumpers, with minimal information. Raven will walk to the packing area and tell jumpers to gear/load up.
They will drive all jumpers to and from the Jurien Bay Aerodrome via a shuttle van.
Pricing
As of 2024-04, the price of each jump is AUD 60, the same for full altitude (14000, 10000) and hop & pop (7000).
I paid $120 + 0.865% for 2 jumps as I am unsure how many jumps I can get in 3 days. Turn out to be a great idea because I shorten the trip to 2 days.
Plane
The plane is a Caravan which takes a maximum of 16 people. The door is on the left.
The plane will fly to 2 locations, the tandem will land on the beach while the funjumper land in the paddock nearby.
As a fun jumper, your exit altitude depends on whether the tandem jump is done at 10000 or 14000 feet.
It is clear that the tandem jump has priority and I am just there to fill the slots.
Landing zone 
The view is decent, it has a coast view.
In Apr/May, it’s Autumn, the temperature is cool. I can wear my full-body jumpsuit here without sweating, it feels comfortable.
During the freefall, I feel my fingers stiffer every 1000 feet due to the cold wind. I never wore gloves for skydiving before.
It’s a bit hard for me to determine the altitude in a new DZ, the landing pattern is a bit weak, but the landing itself is ok. What is new to me is that you can go with either a left or right-hand pattern.
There is shit around the grass, so you have to watch where you land.
Accommodation 
The Lucky Shack is next to the dropzone, location-wise, it’s perfect. You can choose to camp (AUD 15), bunk (AUD 20), or private room (AUD 40).
There is a kitchen and washing machine.
I am underprepared. I have to buy a towel as it isn’t provided. The water heater goes on and off at times.
There is no wifi here, the dropzone wifi (next block) is too weak. My data roaming is bad here. When I return to the room, I have nothing to do but sleep. I sleep from 8 pm to 6 am.
Personal Experience
I cut my trip from 3 to 2 days because of these factors
- Packing
- There is no dedicated packer. On the 27th, after my 1 jump close to the last load, I left my rig and AUD 12. But it wasn’t packed and left there overnight.
- The next morning (28th), I paid another person AUD 15 for the pack job
- The other packer says I should pack myself, but it’s difficult to pack a 210 main canopy into a 190 container. The container is stiff and the canopy is slippery as everything is new. Even she struggled when she packed more than I did. I paid AUD 20 and put my rig back into my luggage
- I lost my interest in jumping when packing became a chore
- Accommodation
- If I do it again, I would pick a different accommodation. With a heater, a TV that I can put my Google Chromecast, wifi, and a reliable water heater
- I am not used to the cold, under-pack, thus not the best experience. For the locals, they camp comfortably in their tent or van as the temperature is not a problem
- Landing zone
- I don’t want to dirty my new canopy with the shit. This makes the jump less pleasurable
- The turnaround is slow due to the distance between the office and the airport
- Food
- As a solo, it’s difficult to cook yourself. So I chose to eat out since it’s a holiday
- I eat at Sandpiper Tavern & Pizzeria as their pizza is ok and reasonably priced (<= AUD 28). The other items are not valued in my opinion. I can get a fish & chip in Singapore for SGD 7, so I wouldn’t pay AUD 30
