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Where to Skydive

Where to Skydive in California: The Real Drop Zones, From Monterey Bay to the Eastern Sierra

Real California skydiving drop zones, from Monterey Bay to the Eastern Sierra, plus how to check an instructor and waiver before you book.

By Up Is Jump TeamUpdated October 14, 20268 min read

You've probably watched a friend's skydiving video, a coastline tilting under a grinning face, and thought, "Where was that, and could I do it?" In California, the honest answer is a short list of real airports. On the coast, there is Skydive Monterey Bay in Marina and Skydive Santa Barbara in Lompoc. Inland, there are Skydive Perris and Skydive Elsinore in Southern California, and Skydive Mt. Whitney in the Eastern Sierra. Lake Tahoe's drop zone is in Nevada, and the national parks are off-limits. This guide covers what each place offers and how to choose one safely.

California Got an Early Start

Parachuting in California goes back much further than most people guess. In 1911, Grant Morton jumped from a Wright Model B airplane over Venice Beach. Skydiving as a business came later. The first commercial civilian skydiving center in the United States opened in 1959 in Orange, Massachusetts, founded by Jacques-André Istel and Lew Sanborn.

California followed quickly, and one drop zone from that era still runs today. Before getting to it, start where most first-timers want to go: the coast.

The Coast: Monterey Bay and Santa Barbara

Skydive Monterey Bay, Marina

Skydive Monterey Bay flies out of Marina Municipal Airport at 721 Neeson Road in Marina. Its Super King Air 200 can climb to 18,000 feet, which is among the highest jump altitudes you'll see offered to the public.

All landings happen at the airport drop zone, not on Marina State Beach. Jumps that high also bring a legal requirement. In an unpressurized aircraft, federal rules require that everyone on board be given supplemental oxygen above a cabin altitude of 15,000 feet. On an 18,000-foot jump, expect oxygen to be part of the ride up.

Skydive Santa Barbara, Lompoc

Despite the name, Skydive Santa Barbara is not next to Santa Barbara's airport. It works from Hangar 1 at Lompoc Airport, 1801 North H Street, about 45 miles northwest of Santa Barbara Airport. Skydivers land on the airfield, not on the beach. If you're driving up from Santa Barbara, plan for the trip to Lompoc.

Inland Southern California: Perris and Lake Elsinore

Inland Riverside County has two of the best-known drop zones in the country, about a half-hour apart.

Skydive Perris

Skydive Perris is built for skydivers who want to keep improving. It has a vertical wind tunnel on site for training freefall skills. Its fleet includes Short Brothers SC7 Skyvans and De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otters, large jump planes that carry big groups to altitude at once. A first-time tandem student can jump here alongside people training for competition.

Skydive Elsinore

Skydive Elsinore operates from Skylark Field in Lake Elsinore. The first jumps there took place in March 1958, and it opened under Skylark Aviation in 1959. The drop zone describes itself as the longest-running continuously operating skydiving drop zone in North America.

The Mountains: Eastern Sierra and Lake Tahoe

Mountain jumps are where many older guides go wrong.

  • Mammoth Lakes has no operating civilian drop zone.
  • The Eastern Sierra is served mainly by Skydive Mt. Whitney in Lone Pine, which runs tandem skydives by appointment. Book ahead rather than showing up.
  • Lake Tahoe has a drop zone, Skydive Lake Tahoe, but it is at Minden-Tahoe Airport in Minden, Nevada, across the state line. It works well for a Tahoe trip. It just isn't a California jump.

Where You Can't Jump in California

Some of California's most striking scenery is closed to skydivers.

National parks

Federal regulations (36 CFR § 2.17(a)(3)) ban delivering or retrieving a person by parachute in National Park System lands without a written permit, except in a life-safety emergency. That rule covers Joshua Tree and Yosemite. You may see desert scenery from a nearby airport, but you won't be landing inside the park.

Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley

Skydive West Coast once flew Coachella Valley desert jumps out of Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport in Thermal and Banning Municipal Airport. It is now listed as permanently closed.

BASE jumping

Tandem BASE jumping is sometimes lumped in with California skydiving, but the best-known legal event is in another state. At Official Bridge Day in Fayette County, West Virginia, solo and tandem BASE jumpers leap 876 feet from the New River Gorge Bridge under special event permits.

After Your First Jump: Tunnels, Night Jumps, and Wingsuits

If one jump turns into a hobby, here is what comes next and what each step requires.

Indoor skydiving

Indoor skydiving needs no airplane. iFLY SF Bay runs a commercial vertical wind tunnel in Union City. In Southern California, Skydive Perris has its own tunnel next to the landing area. Tunnel time is a common way to practice body position between real jumps.

Night jumps

Night jumps are not for beginners. USPA Basic Safety Requirements say night jumpers need at least a USPA B license, which requires 50 jumps. FAA rules add an equipment requirement: anyone jumping between sunset and sunrise must show a light visible for at least 3 statute miles, from the moment the parachute opens until landing.

Wingsuits

Wingsuit flying comes later still. USPA requires a current skydiving license and at least 200 logged skydives before your first wingsuit jump.

How to Check a Drop Zone Before You Book

Scenery helps you narrow the list. The rules below help you decide where to trust your life.

Age

At USPA-affiliated drop zones, every jumper must be at least 18. Since a 2014 policy change, there have been no exceptions for parental consent.

Your tandem instructor

Under federal rule 14 CFR § 105.45, the person you're strapped to must:

  • Hold a master parachute license or a tandem instructor rating recognized by the FAA
  • Have at least 3 years of parachuting experience
  • Have logged at least 500 freefall jumps with a ram-air parachute

It's fair to ask about your instructor's rating. A federal case shows why. On September 30, 2024, a federal court in the Eastern District of California sentenced former skydiving instructor Robert Pooley to 24 months in prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He had run fraudulent tandem instructor rating courses using forged signatures.

The reserve parachute

A reserve parachute made of synthetic materials must have been packed by an FAA-certificated parachute rigger within 180 days before it is used.

What California law adds

California's AB 295, known as "Tyler's Law" (2017), makes skydiving owners and operators legally responsible for making sure their tandem instructors and riggers meet federal safety and certification standards.

The waiver

Read the waiver before you sign it, because it carries legal weight. In Hulsey v. Elsinore Parachute Center (1985), the California Court of Appeal held that sport parachuting is not an ultrahazardous activity. It also held that a clear waiver signed voluntarily before a jump can release an operator from ordinary negligence claims.

The overall risk

USPA recorded 9 civilian skydiving fatalities in the U.S. in 2024, out of about 3.88 million jumps. That was the lowest count since records began in 1961, a rate of 0.23 per 100,000 jumps. In 2025, USPA reported 16 fatalities across an estimated 3.47 million jumps. The risk is low but real, and the year-to-year change shows why careful operators matter.

Picking Your Jump

If you want the ocean, go to Marina for altitude or to Lompoc for the Central Coast. For a busy, full-service skydiving center, Perris and Elsinore are the Southern California anchors, and Elsinore adds more than six decades of history. For mountains, book Lone Pine in advance, or cross into Nevada for Tahoe. Wherever you choose, confirm your instructor's credentials and read the waiver before you board.

Sources (40)

Photo by rouwert on Pixabay.