Like the first day of preschool, no tandem skydive would be complete without stomach butterflies, a hand to hold, and lots of screaming. Revisit these formative years with today's Groupon: for $120, you get a tandem jump at Xtreme Skydivers in Altha, just north of Panama City (a $299.99 value).

Xtreme Skydivers yokes each leapster to an experienced instructor who guides them through the ups and downs of tandem sky-scaling, and ensures that parachutes deploy at the right time for safe landings. Thrill seekers don jump suits, tie their teachers to their backs, and hop aboard an 18-person Grand Caravan airplane that shuttles them 14,500 feet into the sky. When conditions permit, the teacher-student tandem tumbles through cloud caves, screams hello to beachgoers, and adds emoticons to skywriting before landing delicately on a soft bed of sand.