Skydiving vs. Bungee Jumping: Which Is Right for You?

Key Takeaways
Skydiving and bungee jumping both deliver an adrenaline rush, but they differ dramatically in altitude, duration, equipment, skill, and overall experience. Bungee jumping delivers a fast, intense drop from a fixed structure, while skydiving offers a longer, multi-phase adventure that includes freefall, parachute flight, and hands-on guidance from an instructor. Both are thrilling in their own right, but skydiving provides a more immersive journey with greater opportunities for progression.

Skydiving vs. bungee jumping – what’s the difference? Skydiving involves jumping from a plane and experiencing freefall before deploying a parachute, while bungee jumping involves jumping from a high structure with an elastic cord attached at the ankles. Both of them include a jump, a fall, and a shot of adrenaline, but that’s about where the similarities end. 

Let’s explore the topic of bungee jumping vs skydiving so you can decide which adventure is best for you!

What’s the Difference Between Skydiving and Bungee Jumping?

It might surprise you to learn that there are actually more differences between skydiving and bungee jumping than there are similarities. Both are considered extreme sports, and they both involve jumping from heights to achieve freedom and an adrenaline rush. But everything from the gear and process to the skill level and culture sets them apart from each other. 

• Equipment – Bungee jumping is executed from a static object, so the gear mostly consists of the bungee cord and connection points. Skydiving gear is much more complex, including an airplane for starters, as well as helmets, goggles, altimeters, jumpsuits, parachutes, computers, and harnesses.
  
• Falling Sensation – Most people think that jumping out of an airplane comes with the butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling you get on a roller coaster hill, but that’s not actually the case. Exiting from a moving airplane means that you don’t fall into “dead” air, and your brain doesn’t register a fall. Bungee jumping, on the other hand, is a jump from an unmoving object into dead air and is almost solely focused on triggering the fall response!
  
• Instructor Interaction – Because of the transactional, one-and-done nature of bungee jumping, the sport requires a much lower level of instructor guidance. They also don’t come with you on your jump. Skydiving instructors not only gear you up, but they also teach you about body position and landing techniques, and come with you on your adventure!
  
• Skill Level – It’s true that both first-time experiences are highly introductory, but skydiving as a sport requires a pretty advanced level of skill and commitment to growth. Bungee jumping is the same thing time after time and doesn’t present many development opportunities. Skydiving requires intense attention to learned skills on every jump, and presents the opportunity for licensing, competition, and personal growth.
  
• Duration – Everyone wants their adventure to last as long as possible, and skydiving really delivers here. The jump portion of the skydive lasts about 5 to 10 minutes, but if you include the airplane ride (which is absolutely an adventure itself!), you get closer to 30 to 45 minutes. By comparison, bungee jumping only lasts a few minutes, only as long as it takes you to jump off the edge and settle at the bottom of the cord.
  
• Altitude – By nature of the sport, skydiving takes place from a much higher altitude than bungee jumping does. Bungee jumping only requires enough altitude to accommodate the length of the fall and the bungee cord stretch. Skydiving happens miles above the earth and includes different phases: airplane ride, exit and freefall, parachute ride, and landing.
  
• Emergency Procedures – Skydiving has a long history of research and development when it comes to building a safety culture. Skydiving gear and jumper procedures have fail-safes built in so that skydivers can react to potential emergencies. Bungee jumping relies solely on math and the durability of bungee cords for a successful jump. 

Which Sport Feels More Extreme?

Now that we understand the differences between skydiving and bungee jumping in practice, we can focus on the main question at hand: Is skydiving or bungee jumping scarier? Fear is an intensely personal experience, and each individual will find some things more scary than the next.

But there are a few things that contribute to the fear factor and extreme nature of these two sports. The initial leap of a bungee jump is certainly extreme and a bit frightening. But once that moment has passed, the rush element quickly drops off. 

Skydiving, on the other hand, has a flow that sustains the adrenaline throughout the entire experience. The exit, the freefall, the parachute ride, the landing; each moment is unique and keeps your blood pumping.

Even though skydiving is arguably more extreme, it also feels more secure and, thus, less scary. You have your instructor with you the entire time, and you know the gear is regularly inspected and maintained. You’re also so high up that the altitude doesn’t trigger people with a fear of heights! 

Skydiving vs. Bungee Jumping: Safety Comparison

Another big question in the comparison discussion is: Is bungee jumping safer than parachuting? When it comes to bungee jumping vs skydiving safety, the numbers are about the same. Both sports have a relatively low fatality rate of one death per 500,000 jumps. This is thanks to research, training, and the commitment to safety culture in extreme sports.

Having said that, incidents do happen. Has a bungee jump ever broken? Has a parachute failed to open properly? Yes and yes. However, skydiving does have more backup emergency procedures to rely on if something does go wrong, such as jumping with two parachutes (a main and a reserve) and an Automatic Activation Device (AAD), which deploys the parachute if the instructor doesn’t.

Cost & Accessibility

Sometimes it comes down to cost – extreme sports can be expensive! Skydiving prices are pretty consistent across the industry, with tandems typically ranging from $250 to $300, and you can often find discounts and deals to bring the cost down. The average bungee jump starts around $150, but prices aren’t as consistent and can increase quite a bit depending on location, height, and other situational factors. At the end of the day, a worthwhile adventure is going to require some budgeting, and it’s important to remember that you get what you pay for! 

The best way to find out which you prefer is through experience! Book your tandem and begin your journey with Skydive New England. Blue skies!