Best of 2000: Best Skydiving

Air Adventures Skydiving Inc.
1590 Continental Street,
Otay Mesa
(800) 992-7003
www.airadventures.com

Most Air Adventures customers say they've never flung themselves from a plane at 13,000 feet and are seeking a once-in-a-lifetime thrill. Tandem leaps are popular, where an instructor remains harnessed to your side after you exit the plane and does most of the work. A $195 fee includes a 30-minute training class covering important hand signals and how to arch your body. Jumpers experience about one minute of freefall at 120 mph while hurtling toward a drop field in Otay Mesa. The Accelerated Freefall skydive runs $295 for the first jump, preceded by four to five hours of class instruction. Two instructors freefall alongside you, to check the tumble and make sure you deploy your chute successfully. Static-line jumps cost $160, including instruction, with the parachute cord attached to the plane and automatically deploying a few seconds after your leap.