Have you ever dreamed of skydiving? There’s a place in town that’s happy to help you make that dream a reality: Skydive Hollister.

They provide tandem jump experiences as well as solo jumps and fun jumps.

Asked what prompts a person to jump out of an airplane, co-owner Ronaldo Tkotz said, “Ultimately it’s always a celebration. Sometimes they are celebrating something specific like a birthday or some accomplishment or an anniversary. It’s rare when you see somebody coming to do a skydive by themselves. They are usually with somebody else, or they are usually with a group of people.”

Originally from Brazil, Tkotz came to Hollister in October 2017 and purchased Skydive Hollister (formerly Hollister Skydive) along with co-owner Vitor Tamarozi, who is also from Brazil. After starting a tech company back home in 2005 and cashing out, Tamarozi joined Tkotz in the skydiving venture full-time.

Tkotz and Tamarozi, both age 38, are skilled skydivers with a total of 44 years of experience between them.

“I started really young and haven’t stopped,” Tkotz said.

The duo initially planned to open their skydiving business in Florida, but building something from the ground up, with limited ground available, proved to be challenging. So when the place in Hollister became available, Tkotz and Tamarozi jumped at the chance to take it over.

Skydive Hollister spends considerable time instructing people to become solo skydivers, Tkotz said.

“Last year California had a total of 320 people get their A license, and we probably did about 30 of those,” he said.

But tandem jumps are what sustain the business. 

“Otherwise, we’d have to charge $50 for somebody to bring their own parachute and jump.”