Mt Cook 13,000ft Skydive

Overview

The operator calls this 'the most beautiful drop zone in the world', and from 13,000 feet it's hard to build a counter-argument: Aoraki/Mt. Cook standing over the national park, Lakes Ohau, Pukaki and Tekapo doing their unreal turquoise thing, and you falling toward all of it at terminal velocity.

The extra altitude over the 10,000ft jump buys the thing that matters: up to 45 seconds of freefall, which in skydiving time is a full storyline. The 10-to-15 minute scenic flight up is a highlight in itself, and the three-to-five minutes under canopy afterwards is the calm epilogue where you finally get to point at things.

You jump paired with an experienced tandem master from a team that's completed nearly 100,000 jumps, reassuring maths. Max six per load, two to three hours all up, photo packages from NZ$199 if you want the proof.