Top 5 Skydiving Bucket List Ideas

TL;DR
Skydiving bucket lists help jumpers stay motivated and track their progression, from first-time experiences to advanced achievements. Beginners often focus on milestones like completing a tandem jump, earning their A License, and trying basic formations or scenic jumps. Intermediate skydivers expand their goals with bigger group jumps, unique experiences like night or hot air balloon jumps, and traveling to new dropzones. Advanced jumpers aim for specialized skills and leadership roles, such as camera flying, HALO jumps, organizing dives, and earning instructional ratings.

From skill-building jumps to novelty skydives, skydiving bucket list ideas come in all shapes and sizes. We’ve got you covered with skydiving experiences for beginners, intermediate, and experienced jumpers. Let’s get into it! 

Why Every Skydiver Needs A Skydive Bucket List 

Skydivers naturally have a mindset centered on progression, and bucket lists help people set actionable and measurable goals. They’re encouraging, without placing unnecessary stress on the bucket list creator – there’s a lot of time to check everything off the list! 

Bucket lists hold jumpers accountable during their progression, and they keep things fun. Plus, you can compete with your friends on who has the most jumps per year, who’s done a beach landing, and more! 

Bucket List Skydiving: Beginner 

People who have yet to skydive and those who have just started their progression fall into this category. First things first…

Complete Your First Tandem Skydive

Your first jump is something you’ll remember forever! People with thousands of skydives reminisce about their first jump. The combination of pure elation, excitement, and gratitude for the experience is unlike anything else. 

Share Your Video & Photos With the World

Capture every moment of your first jump with professional video and photos. Relive it long after your feet touch the ground and share it far and wide with friends, family, and enthusiastic strangers in awe of your accomplishment!

Earn Your A License

The next step on the bucket list for those who loved their first jump is the A License. The United States Parachute Association (USPA) is one of the governing bodies for skydivers, worldwide. The USPA issues four skydiving licenses, A through D, with each one being progressively more difficult to achieve. Earning each license is a common bucket list goal for many skydivers! The A License proves someone has awareness in the sky and can responsibly skydive with others. 

Join Your First Formation

A formation skydive (commonly called FS) is a jump done in the belly-to-earth position with two or more people. Formation skydiving requires solid belly skills, relative flying abilities, and the wherewithal to adjust your flying style to fall alongside other people. It’s a hard task to tackle, and completing your first successful formation in freefall is a fun achievement! 

Do A Sunset Skydive

Better yet, do a sunset high-pull. What’s that? A high-pull is a skydive done from a normal altitude, but instead of entering freefall, the skydiver deploys their parachute almost immediately after exit! This gives them ample time to play under their parachute and soak up the views – it’s especially stunning during a sunset and with friends! 

Bucket List Skydiving: Intermediate 

Skydivers at this stage have earned their A License and are building experience, typically somewhere in the 25-200 jump range. At this point, progression shifts from learning the basics to expanding skills, exploring new environments, and jumping with larger, more dynamic groups.

Do A Big-Way Skydive

Instead of doing a formation skydive with three or four of your friends, step it up a notch! Bump that number up to 20, 30 or even 100! Hundreds of people can do jumps together and create formations in the sky. There are special skills camps where qualified instructors teach beginners to participate in big-way jumps. These jumps require extensive levels of situational awareness and composure in the sky, which is why a bit more experience is required. 

Do A Beach Landing  

Doing a jump where you land on the sandy beach is a bucket list item for almost every skydiver! These jumps require knowing what to do in the event of a water landing, and precise canopy flying skills – you need to be able to land in tighter areas with less margin for error. Beach jumps are incredibly beautiful and fun! 

Travel To A New Dropzone

Whether it’s right down the road or across the ocean, meeting new skydivers is exciting! Many people say they start skydiving for the thrill but keep skydiving for the family they gain through the sport. Traveling to a new dropzone can broaden your skydiving horizons and give you the opportunity to jump from new aircraft, meet new people, and land in new areas! 

Attend Your First Boogie

Boogies are skydiving-centered events hosted at dropzones that give participants the chance to jump with qualified organizers, do specialty jumps, and meet new people. Boogies are like big skydiving parties! Many of them are focused on certain groups, like veterans, SIS (Sisters in Skydiving), young jumpers, and more. 

Do A Hot Air Balloon Jump 

Yes, you can jump from a hot air balloon! Hot air balloon skydives are a common bucket list item, because they’re beautiful and peaceful. No hate for our trusty planes, but they’re loud! Hot air balloon skydives don’t require yelling to be heard – just a whisper! There’s something calming about standing on the edge of the basket with your friend, locking eyes and saying, “Ready?” And then jumping together!

Bucket List Skydiving: Advanced 

Advanced skydivers have a strong foundation in both freefall and canopy control, often with 200+ jumps and significant time in the sport. This level is defined by specialization, leadership, and pushing personal limits through technical disciplines, instructional roles, and high-performance jumps.

Jump With A Camera 

Logging at least 200 jumps is strongly recommended (and required here at Skydive Orange) before wearing a camera while skydiving. Many people wear cameras to capture their friends in freefall, and others train to fly with tandem skydivers as a videographer! 

Do A HALO Jump

HALO stands for High Altitude Low Opening. Does this mean a skydiver is opening their parachute exceptionally low? Nope! During a HALO jump, a skydiver opens at a pretty normal altitude, it’s just low compared to the extreme height they jump from – usually around 17,500 feet or above. Supplemental oxygen is required for HALO jumps, making them intimidating for some and thrilling for others! 

Organize a Jump

Organizing a skydive means that you’re leading a group jump during freefall, while flying the parachute, or both. Other jumpers look to you to tell them what to do! Organizing a jump is a milestone achievement for skydivers aspiring to teach others. 

Get Your Coach Or AFF Rating

The Coach rating and the Accelerated Freefall (AFF) Instructor rating are very different, but they both require teaching students. Some skydivers progress throughout the sport with no desire to teach, while others feel a passion about giving back to the sport in this way. Learning to instruct others is an incredibly challenging but fruitful endeavor. 

Be On A Record Jump 

Whether it’s a big way, an all-women’s jump, or something silly (like SANS!), do it! Skydiving records are a great way to travel to new dropzones and meet people you may not typically jump with. Records have various categories and can be achieved at state, national, or international levels. 

Frequently Asked Questions About Skydiving Bucket Lists

• What are the best skydiving bucket list ideas? It depends on your personal goals in the sport – if you want to learn to fly a wingsuit, mastering that could be on your bucket list. Some people may want to become a skilled videographer or tandem instructor, it just depends! 
• How many jumps do you need to wingsuit? At least 250 skydives are required before learning how to fly a wingsuit. 
• What is the hardest skydiving discipline? Different people pick up different skills at different paces – the hardest discipline to master depends on who you ask. 
• What’s the most scenic place to skydive? Places with unique landscapes, like oceans, fjords, and luscious greenery are all especially memorable places to skydive. 
• How long does it take to complete a skydiving bucket list? It can take a lifetime – it’s called a bucket list for a reason, right? 
• Can beginners make a skydiving bucket list? Absolutely! Creating a bucket list early-on can be a great tool for intentional progression. 

Each jumper’s skydiving bucket list looks different, because each skydiver has different goals! Are you ready to kickstart yours? Book your first skydive today and join our community! Blue skies!