People who have jumped struggle to describe it. People who have not jumped want to know exactly what they are signing up for. This is an attempt to close that gap honestly, without overselling it and without pretending it is easy.

Here is what a 216 metre bungy jump off Bloukrans Bridge actually feels like, from the moment you arrive to the moment your feet are back on solid ground.

Before you get anywhere near the edge

You check in, you get weighed, and someone writes a number on your hand. That number decides which cord you jump on. It is a small moment but it is the first point where the whole thing stops being abstract.

Then you are fitted with a full body harness. The crew work quickly and talk to you while they do it. Most people find this stretch surprisingly calm. The bridge is still a long way off and there is nothing to do except follow instructions.

The walk out is the hardest part

Almost everyone says this. Getting to the jump platform means walking the SkyWalk, a catwalk suspended underneath the arch of the bridge with the gorge open beneath your feet.

It takes a few minutes. You are secured the whole way, but you can see straight down, and the height stops being a number and becomes something your body understands. This is where nerves peak for most people. Not on the edge, but on the walk.

There is loud music playing on the platform when you arrive. That is not decoration. It keeps the mood up and stops people spiralling into their own heads while they wait.

The edge

The crew sit you down, wrap your ankles, check everything, then check it again. You stand, and they shuffle you forward to the lip of the platform.

This is the moment nobody can prepare you for. Your toes are over the edge, there is 216 metres of open air below you, and every instinct you have is screaming at you to step back. That feeling is not a warning about the equipment. It is just what a human brain does when it is asked to do something it was built to avoid.

Then they count. Five, four, three, two, one, bungy.

The single best piece of advice anyone can give you is to go on the count. Do not negotiate with yourself. The people who hesitate are the ones who find it hardest, because every second standing there gives the fear more room.

The freefall

About four seconds. It does not feel like four seconds.

The first instant is pure sensation. There is no stomach drop like a rollercoaster because there is no track and no restraint, just air. Most people describe the beginning as strangely silent, then the wind arrives and it gets loud.

Then something unexpected happens. Somewhere in the middle of the fall, the panic stops. There is nothing left to decide, nothing to hold onto, and the brain gives up trying to fight it. A lot of people say this is the clearest they have ever felt. The gorge walls are moving past, the river is coming up, and you are simply falling.

The rebound

The cord takes up smoothly. This surprises people who expect a jolt. It stretches over a long distance and slows you gradually, so it feels less like being caught and more like being lifted.

Then you go back up, and that second rise is where the noise usually starts. Shouting, laughing, swearing, all of it. There are a few more rebounds, each smaller than the last, until you are hanging upside down in the middle of the gorge with the river below you and the bridge a long way above.

Hanging, then coming back up

There are a few quiet seconds down there before the recovery. It is worth using them. You are suspended in the middle of a gorge in the Tsitsikamma with nothing around you, and it is the only view of its kind you will get.

A crew member is then lowered to you and you are winched back to the bridge together. The retrieval is unhurried and controlled. By the time you are back on the platform you are usually talking far too fast.

Afterwards

Legs are unreliable for about ten minutes. Most people are elated, some are shaky, a few are quiet. All of it is normal.

What almost everyone reports is that the version they had built up in their head for weeks was worse than the reality. The anticipation is the hard part. The jump itself lasts seconds and then it belongs to you permanently.

Two things people wish they had known

• The walk out is worse than the jump. If you can handle the SkyWalk, you can handle the rest.
• You will want the photos and video. Nobody has ever regretted having them and plenty of people regret skipping them.

Ready to find out for yourself

If you are still weighing it up, the honest answer is that reading about it only gets you so far. Have a look at what to expect on the day, or read how the safety system works if that is what is holding you back.

Most people who come to Bloukrans do not just do the bungy. The Full Adventure Package combines the 216 metre bungy, the SkyWalk across the arch and the Zipline back across the gorge into a single visit. If you are driving all this way, do the whole thing.