There are so many reasons to want to travel to Portugal. The endless coastlines, amazing weather year round, the historic architecture, listening to the language and of course delicious cuisine. Getting lost in the colorful Portuguese culture is for sure on my travel bucket list. Of course anytime a skydiver is deciding to travel, we also start to think, “can I make this a skydiving trip?”. Well if you are heading to Portugal, the answer is YES! Check out this list of the top 7 drop zones for skydiving in Portugal. Now I have even more reasons to add this beautiful country to my future travels!
Skydive Algarve
Skydive Algarve is going to be the first drop zone we have on this list as it is the most popular and well known skydiving centre in Portugal. It is part of the Swallow Group, which also owns Skydive Spain, in Seville and Skydive Hibaldstow in the UK. This DZ is popular due to its amazing facilities, and well known for its fantastic boogies and skydiving camps. The drop zones often hosts camps by world renowned organizers like Tora Tora and Fly4Life. Skydive Algarve offers jump ticket packages, canopy courses, and both free fly and wingsuit coaching packages.
Skydive Algarve is open 365 days a year, with fantastic weather and views of the southern coast of Portugal. The facilities and aircraft at Skydive Algarve are superb, much like all the DZ’s in the Swallow Group. The aircrafts take you to an altitude of 15k every load. The Dornier G92 takes 15 jumpers to altitude 11 minutes, and the Cessna 208 Supervan takes 19 skydivers to altitude in 12 minutes. During boogies and events, other aircrafts are brought in to accommodate more jumpers. After making a safe landing in the grassy landing area, there is a large packing hanger, TV’s for debriefing and video editing stations. The facilities also include the SkyCafe, which is open every day, a skydiving shop, and a rigging loft with reserve packing and basic repair services.
Accommodation is made easy by the drop zone, just check their website for nearby affordable places to stay. Contact the drop zone for bookings and they can also book you a rental car if you want! The drop zone is located 10 minutes from the lively coastal town of Alvor. Check out Skydive Algarve’s website for great local food recommendations and things to do when you are not jumping!
Fly – Skydive Coimbra
Fly is a drop zone located in Central Portugal, close to the town of Coimbra. This is a weekend only drop zone and its operating Friday through Sundays. However, due to its location, the drop zone is fortunate to have great skydiving weather all year round. Skydive Coimbra operates a Cessna 182 that has a capacity of five people. During the climb up to altitude, making an excellent backdrop, is the western coast of Portugal. Although there is no accommodation or a restaurant at the drop zone, in the nearby town of Coimbra you will find everything you need.
Learning to skydive at Skydive Coimbra is an excellent choice. The drop zone offers both static line and AFF courses to earn your skydiving license. The prices on the license packages are very competitive. As well, afterwards the drop zone offers an amazing price on rental gear and pack jobs. So this is an awesome way to save some money to put towards your jumps, instead of spending so much renting gear and pack jobs each jump. This is a great incentive to learn at Skydive Coimbra. Not to mention they have a great big, grassy landing area!!
SkyFunCenter
SkyFunCenter is a drop zone located centrally and inland, close to the Spain border, near a town called Proença-a-Nova. Currently, the drop zone is only open on Saturdays and Sundays, with beautiful skydiving weather basically the whole year round. SkyFunCenter has a fleet of three aircraft available. A Cessna 206, which takes 6 people to 12,500k in 12 minutes. A Cessna 182 that can take 4 people to 12,500k in 18 minutes. And in the winter season a Supervan that goes to 15k in 12 minutes! Which is a perfect plane for the 16k tandems that are offered at the DZ. They also bring in additional aircrafts when events are happening at the drop zone.
SkyFunCenter has a massive hanger, which is located directly in front of the grassy landing area, and the runway is after the landing area. So you can pull up a chair and have perfect view of all the action going on. Also, this makes for a very short walk with your gear after landing on those hot summer days! Inside the massive hanger you will find lots of room for packing, the manifest/office and a skydiving shop.
Skydive Seven Algarve
At Skydive Seven, you can jump year round, 7 days a week and there is great jumping weather all year in Southern Portugal. Jumping from their Pilatus Porter, you will have a breath taking view of the coast. Afterwards landing in their huge, clean landing area. Skydive Seven is a USPA affiliated drop zone. There is access to team rooms, indoor packing, rigging loft, skydive shop and free WIFI. The drop zone offers jump ticket packages, and the jumps never expire. If you purchase a package of 50 jumps, you can get tickets for as low as €25! They also offer a wingsuit training course with wing suit hire.
The drop zone is located 10 minutes from the tourist town of Alvor. Here you will find heaps of night life, restaurants, accommodations and of course things to do when you are not skydiving….like the beach! There is no accommodation directly on the drop zone, however they do have a “Drop zone apartment”, which is located 5 minutes from the DZ. This is perfect if you are traveling with a group, and the apartment is equipped with everything to make your stay perfect. Check out their website for contact and reservations.
#Oneflightonetree is a social and environmental responsibility initiative that started in 2020 at Skydive Seven. It is part of the CO2 Emission Compensations Program. For every flight that is made at Skydive Seven will give rise to a new tree! Their goal is to have planted 20,000 new trees in the Algarve mountains by 2025.
Skydive Portugal
Skydive Portugal is located in Evora, which is about an hour East of Lisbon. With its central location, there is good weather to jump all year, and the drop zone is open 365 days a year. Skydive Portugal has two planes, a Cessna 208 Grand Caravan for 18 jumpers and a small 206 that takes 5 jumpers to altitude. There is a large hanger at the Skydive Portugal to accommodate both regular jumping activities and also boogies and events. Be sure to check out their social media and websites, as the DZ has training camps, fun events and also hosts night jumps!
The facilities are perfect for jumping and hosting events because there is so much nice space available. There is a relaxing area with bean bags, a cozy waiting room, there are bathrooms with showers and even a fitness area in the hanger! After your jump there is a large space for fun jumper packing. As well, you will find the perfect space for debriefing because the hanger has many media hubs with computers to use. Its a really nice feature the drop zone offers, as there rows of small cubicles and many computers, so everyone has a quite space to watch videos and debrief.
If you are looking for accommodations, check out the Skydive Portugal website. They have recommendations for nearby accommodations, and can help you book. Also check out their great food recommendations!
Skydive Europe
About an hour and a half south of Lisbon, located in Leiria is Skydive Europe. At this drop zone, you will find lots of landscape and nature making your skydiving time here really relaxing and chill. There is a large hanger with a perfect packing area, as it is installed with soft packing matts for everyone to use! Skydive Europe has a really nice jump plane, the PAC 750 XL. The drop zone is open 7 days a week, so you are able to stop by anytime to make a jump from their quick plane! The landing area is large and perfect for jumpers of all levels.
When you are not jumping, you can enjoy the relaxing area, with views of the landing action. Of course you can also check out all the nature around the property as well. The sunsets here are amazing, so its worth sticking around for an after jumping beer. The drop zone does not have accommodation, there is a hotel quite close by, which is very quite as it is with the drop zone out in the tranquil nature. Otherwise you can visit the town Figueira dos Cavaleros for more accommodation and food options.
Skydive Porto
This drop zone is located in the north of Portugal, with two locations. The first is near to a city called Braga. The second is located very close to the coast, also in the north, near the city of Porto. In the Porto location, you will have a view of the coast during your jump! Much like many of the DZ’s in the country, the weather is perfect for jumping more or less the whole year round. Skydive Porto has a large hanger with a video room, clean packing area, manifest and a small skydive shop. There are three planes currently operating with Skydive Porto. A Cessna 206 and a Cessna 182 run the whole year and climb to 12,500k. And in the winter season a Super Van that climbs to 15,000k in 12 minutes!
Although there is no accommodation at either the drop zone locations, they are located very close to so many areas that you can find places to stay. As well, for food and restaurants, the area is not so rural, so you are sure to find something close by. The drop zone in Braga is located right next to a motor karting facility, and a golf course. So you can have some non skydiving fun as well! As mentioned, the Porto location is quite close to the coast, so you can even enjoy some time on the beach when visiting!
Keep coming back
After learning more about these drop zones in Portugal, I am super eager to get to go skydiving in Portugal. I hope that you also have a new desire to check out skydiving in Portugal!
If there is more information you would like us to add about these great drop zones, let me know and I will update this article. If you like the article, please let me know, send me an email or a message on Instagram. I want to know about your experience and thoughts!
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