Key takeaways
- There is a maximum weight and a minimum one, and both exist for the same reason.
- With parental consent required below eighteen. Check the operator listing for the current figure.
- Back and neck problems, heart conditions and pregnancy among them.
- And a number is written on your hand. That number sets the cord, so guessing is not an option.
Why weight decides everything
A bungy cord is chosen and set for the person using it. Too little cord for a heavy jumper and the deceleration is violent; too much for a light one and the arc goes further than intended, which at a site with a river underneath is the difference between a dry jump and an unplanned swim, and at the extreme is worse than that.
So the operator works from a measured weight rather than a stated one, and the number goes on the back of your hand in marker pen where the crew at the platform can read it.
This is also why there is a minimum as well as a maximum. A very light jumper on the lightest available cord still has a rig designed around a range, and below that range the maths stops working.
It is worth stating plainly that this is engineering rather than bureaucracy. The cord is a consumable component with a rated load and a known stretch, and the entire safety case of a bungy jump rests on matching it correctly to the person attached. Everything else at the site is procedure built around getting that one number right.
The limits themselves
There is an upper weight limit and a lower one, and there is a minimum age with parental consent required for anyone under eighteen. The exact figures are the operator’s and they are stated on the booking page.
Check them before you travel rather than at the bridge. It is twenty minutes out of Queenstown and a wasted trip is an avoidable annoyance.
If you are close to a limit at either end, contact the operator through the booking rather than hoping. They deal with this constantly and would much rather answer in advance.
Health conditions
The standard exclusions apply and they are not arbitrary. Back and neck problems, because the deceleration puts a real load through the spine even in a well-set jump. Heart conditions, because of what adrenaline does. High blood pressure. Recent surgery. Pregnancy.
Epilepsy, dislocation-prone joints and certain eye conditions including retinal problems are also usually excluded, for reasons that become obvious once stated.
If you have a condition you are unsure about, ask the operator and, where relevant, ask a doctor. Nobody at a bungy site is in a position to make a medical judgement for you.
The general principle behind the list is worth understanding, because it explains cases that are not on it. A bungy jump combines a very large adrenaline surge with a rapid deceleration and a period spent inverted. Any condition made worse by any of those three is likely to be an exclusion, and if you can identify which of the three your own condition interacts with you will usually be able to predict the answer before you ask.
The scales and the marker pen at the weigh-in
Age, and jumping with children
There is a minimum age and it is firm. Below eighteen, a parent or guardian has to consent, which in practice means being present.
Whether a child who meets the minimum should jump is a family decision rather than an operational one. What is worth knowing is that the crew will not talk anybody into it and will not treat a change of mind at the edge as a problem.
Younger children can watch, and the viewing area over the gorge is genuinely good, which makes the site workable for a family where only some of them are jumping.
The weigh-in
It happens on arrival, in front of everybody, on scales. Some people find this the most uncomfortable part of the day and it is over in ten seconds.
The number written on your hand is in kilograms and it is used at the platform to select and set the cord. Do not wash it off, and do not attempt to be helpful by adjusting it.
It also determines the water touch, which is why an accurate figure matters if you want to end up at a particular depth.
There is a small piece of etiquette here that first-timers do not know. The number on your hand is read aloud at the platform as the cord is selected, and it is read by somebody who says several hundred numbers a day and attaches no meaning to any of them. Nobody in the queue is listening and nobody cares.
Glasses, contacts and loose items
Glasses come off. They will not stay on, and the retrieval of spectacles from a glacier-fed river is not a service the operator offers.
Contact lenses are generally fine. Jewellery, watches, phones and anything in a pocket go into a locker or to somebody in your group.
Wear something you can move in and that will not come loose. This is not a moment for a hat.
If you are unsure
Ask before booking. The limits are all knowable in advance and the operator answers questions through the platform, which is a far better use of five minutes than a wasted journey.
And if the answer turns out to be no, the viewing area is free and watching from the bridge is a genuinely good hour.
People come to this bridge to look as well as to jump, and nobody at the site treats a spectator as a lesser visitor.
