Jumping Out of a Perfectly Good Airplane: 25 Years of Skydive Cape Town
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Featuring Mark Bellingan, owner of Skydive Cape Town and South Africa's National Safety and Training Officer for parachuting
On this episode of The Real South African, Geniene sits down with Mark Bellingan, who's been skydiving since 1982 and has run Skydive Cape Town for the past 25 years. Alongside running the company, Mark also oversees safety and training standards for parachuting nationally — a role that means every skydiving operation in the country has to work through the Civil Aviation Authority and the Parachute Association before they're allowed to fly.
Skydive Cape Town operates out of Malmesbury on the West Coast, deliberately positioned outside Cape Town International's flight paths so tandem jumps don't interfere with commercial air traffic. Geniene shares her own white-knuckle tandem jump story from years ago — including the moment she watched the plane nose-dive away after the jumpers exited (turns out that's just how the propeller engine restarts) — and the two swap notes on why keeping your eyes open during a jump, rather than squeezing them shut, is the only way to actually experience it.
Mark makes the case for tandem jumps as the ideal entry point: no gear to remember, no decisions to make mid-air, just trusting an experienced instructor while you take it all in. About 35% of people who go on to get their full skydiving licence started with a tandem jump first. Bookings are flexible — no upfront payment, since conditions depend entirely on wind — and the company will take bookings up to an hour before a flight.
The standout story of the episode: the oldest person to jump with Skydive Cape Town did her first tandem at 95, came back for another at 97, and returned for a free jump on her 100th birthday — then went on to do a gyrocopter flight, shark diving, a canopy tour, and a 4x4 trip in the same visit. As Mark puts it, there's no age where it's suddenly "too late."
Find them: skydivecapetown.co.za
On this episode of The Real South African, Geniene sits down with Mark Bellingan, who's been skydiving since 1982 and has run Skydive Cape Town for the past 25 years. Alongside running the company, Mark also oversees safety and training standards for parachuting nationally — a role that means every skydiving operation in the country has to work through the Civil Aviation Authority and the Parachute Association before they're allowed to fly.
Skydive Cape Town operates out of Malmesbury on the West Coast, deliberately positioned outside Cape Town International's flight paths so tandem jumps don't interfere with commercial air traffic. Geniene shares her own white-knuckle tandem jump story from years ago — including the moment she watched the plane nose-dive away after the jumpers exited (turns out that's just how the propeller engine restarts) — and the two swap notes on why keeping your eyes open during a jump, rather than squeezing them shut, is the only way to actually experience it.
Mark makes the case for tandem jumps as the ideal entry point: no gear to remember, no decisions to make mid-air, just trusting an experienced instructor while you take it all in. About 35% of people who go on to get their full skydiving licence started with a tandem jump first. Bookings are flexible — no upfront payment, since conditions depend entirely on wind — and the company will take bookings up to an hour before a flight.
The standout story of the episode: the oldest person to jump with Skydive Cape Town did her first tandem at 95, came back for another at 97, and returned for a free jump on her 100th birthday — then went on to do a gyrocopter flight, shark diving, a canopy tour, and a 4x4 trip in the same visit. As Mark puts it, there's no age where it's suddenly "too late."
Find them: skydivecapetown.co.za
