By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A new sky diving excursion yesterday said it plans to “put The Bahamas on the map” by establishing drop zones on every island by the end of 2024.

Vans Johnson, Sky Dive Bahamas chief executive, told Tribune Business that this ambition - if achieved - will make The Bahamas the country with the most sky diving drop zones as the nearest competitor is Switzerland with five.

“For the last 12 weeks of the year, we will have the ‘12 island boogie’, meaning that every week sky divers from around the world will target one island, from Acklins to Abaco. What that does is that it is a semi-promotion for all of the islands for the year,” Mr Johnson said.

“Take, for instance, like how we are opening up this year. I’m selling tickets to Acklins, but not everyone wants to go to Acklins right away. But if I have a one week boogie in Acklins, where everybody gathered there for that one week, then every year Acklins could have their sky dive festival and then Eleuthera can have their sky dive festival and so on and so forth.”

Sky Dive Bahamas is awaiting approval of its licence by the Civil Aviation Department (CAD), and is planning its first jump and excursion for November 1 with a trip from New Providence to Exuma. “We’re just waiting on permission from the CAD and, once we pull that trigger, we’re diving,” Mr Johnson said.

Sky Dive Bahamas already has leased its plane, with instructors also in place for the initial jump. The company is “in the red for $150,000” but, because of the delays in approvals and licensing, a $20,000 investment has ballooned due to plane rental costs, costs to keep instructors engaged and other operating expenses.

Mr Johnson said: “We are new and we are going to have a different atmosphere. The other thing is that we have more to offer than any other island or Caribbean nation, and even America. We have 700 islands to offer for sky diving.

“Right now we’re running an excursion from Nassau to Exuma, and that’s just our beginning. That’s our initial stages. Every week after we open we’re going to be doing an excursion on a different island. We’ve got Eleuthera up and running. We’ve got Abaco up and running. These are places that have already been approved by property owners to land on their property.”

Other islands are asking to sign up now, too, Mr Johnson said, with “a lot of enthusiasm” for what Sky Dive Bahamas has to offer their communities. Sky Dive Bahamas is also setting up ground tours and excursions for people that book a sky dive experience so they can see what the various islands have to offer.