Ask Lindsay Forman what it's like to take a free fall 5,000 feet from a plane at 120 miles per hour, and she'll say, “;The ultimate high!”;

Forman, the leisure sales manager for the Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas on Kauai, made her first tandem jump with Skydive Kauai in March.

To her, a free fall “;was like flying while the clouds are giving you a huge hug! You hear the wind blowing, and it's cold, like a really brisk winter day. You're gliding through the air and have a perfect view of the ocean and the island. It was breathtaking, exhilarating, inspiring—so many superlatives rolled into one adventure!”;

After meeting Dave Timko, Skydive Kauai's owner and president, at a Chamber of Commerce dinner in February, Forman decided to literally take the leap.

“;During the 30-minute plane ride before you jump, you're sitting by a window so you get a fantastic view of most of Kauai,”; she said. “;I went early in the morning, so as the sun was rising, so was the plane!”;

When they reached an altitude of 10,000 feet, Forman's jump buddy, Evan, opened the door, and out they went. Thirty seconds later, halfway back to earth, he opened the parachute, which jerked them to a sitting position.

“;Once that happens, you can relax and enjoy the descent,”; said Forman. “;You can't tell how fast you're going; it's seems like you're floating peacefully instead of falling. Evan let me hold the steering lines. When I pulled on the right one, we spun to the right. When I pulled on the left one, we spun to the left, which made for a really fun ride.”;

With the parachute slowing their descent, it took about six minutes for them to touch ground. “;My first thought after we landed was, I can't believe I just jumped out of a perfectly good working plane!”; said Forman. “;I had such a rush of adrenaline, I wanted to do sprints across the field!”;

  TIMKO UNDERSTANDS that feeling of elation. Hailing from Laguna Niguel, Calif., he first sky-dived in 1991 at the age of 18.

“;It was at the Perris Valley Skydiving Center in Southern California,”; he recalled. “;A friend asked if I wanted to do a tandem sky dive, and I said sure. From that moment on, I was hooked.”;

Two years later Timko was competing on the pro tour in Thailand, New Zealand, Holland and other exotic locales around the world.

He received his first national medal, a bronze, in 1996. The following year, he won his first national gold medal at the age of 23, making him one of the youngest national champions in America.

There are 18 categories in competitive formation sky diving, and Timko has received bronze, silver and/or gold medals in each of them. To date he has 8,000 jumps under his belt.

Although Timko retired from competitive sky diving in 2000, his love for the sport never waned, and he launched Skydive Kauai in January 2005.

“;Southwest Kauai is the prettiest place in the world that I've sky-dived, and I've been to 35 countries,”; said Timko. “;On the plane ride up, you see the dramatic coastline, including Waimea Canyon and Poipu Beach.”;

Interestingly, when you leave the plane, your stomach won't drop as it does when you're on a roller coaster or going down in an elevator.

“;That's because physics says you'll initially go in the direction and at the speed of the object that you're leaving,”; said Timko. “;With sky diving your first movement when you exit the plane is forward, not down. After the parachute opens, you feel like you're going down gradually—quietly sailing rather than falling.”;

People who have acrophobia have no cause for concern. “;You won't get vertigo,”; said Timko, “;because the view is so expansive, you're looking out rather than down at it.”;

In addition to him, Skydive Kauai's staff includes a pilot and two instructors. “;We take off at Port Allen Airport, and land back there in a grassy field,”; said Timko. “;We're extremely accurate with our landings, usually within 10 feet, due to the fact that all our instructors have completed well over 6,000 jumps. We're among the most experienced sky divers in the world. We also use the best gear available, and we consistently monitor and improve our performances.”;

According to Timko, Port Allen's consistent tradewinds and perennially sunny skies make it a great place to sky-dive. “;The weather is usually clear there, even if it's raining elsewhere on the island,”; he said. “;We do most of our sky diving in the morning and early afternoon, as the winds in Hawaii tend to pick up in the latter part of the day.”;

  SINCE ITS INCEPTION, Skydive Kauai has taken out 3,500 people, Timko estimates, including a woman who did a jump to celebrate her 92nd birthday.

The company also has arranged several marriage proposals.

“;One man laid out a sign that read 'Will You Marry Me?' in the landing area so his future bride could see it when she descended,”; said Timko. “;She said, 'Yes!'”;

Safety is Skydive Kauai's primary concern. Attached to all of its parachute equipment is an automatic activation device that will deploy the reserve parachute if necessary. “;We've never had to use that equipment, but it's nice to know it's there,”; said Timko.

Forman made her second jump with Skydive Kauai in August, and she can hardly wait to go again. “;Every time a friend or a family member tells me they're planning a visit to Kauai,”; she said, “;the first thing I say is, 'When are you going to be here so I can book a sky dive for us?'”;