Has anyone jumped from the Mostar bridge?
Posted by macgruff@reddit | AskBalkans | View on Reddit | 17 comments
Hi Guys, per title, ... I am a yankee, aka American and we have this great European centric Travel TV show producer, who has been doing shows on every European country since the 90's and he's still rocking and rolling with his show today. His name is Rick Steves and airs his shows on PBS. His message is very good, i.e., don't be "that guy"; don't be the dirty, rude and loud American. Try to find what is local, and cool, and really learn about the locality and people and community you go visit.
My question revolves around one of his shows he did visiting Croatia, B&H and Serbia. In particular it was really cool seeing people cooling off by jumping off the Mostar bridge.
Has anyone actually made that jump? Would love to hear your stories!
Early-Show2886@reddit
Before the war, it was a tourist attraction. And you could always tell exactly who was Muslim Man and who wasn't, because their circumcised penises always stood out clearly beneath their tight, short swim trunks. It was all very erotic.
ExtremeProfession@reddit
Half of nominally "Muslim" men didn't get circumcized before the war...
kerelberel@reddit
After the war, it remains a tourist attraction. And you can still sneak a peek if you want to.
Early-Show2886@reddit
Ne, Ḱe im go ostavam toa na Zapadnoevropejcite ili na onie od anglosaksonskite zemji.
exhiale@reddit
Jumping is permitted if you are certified. The certification can be done at the local divers club and costs 30€. Maybe it is more now. The divers teach you how to do the jump safely from a smaller platform, and they give the go/no-go on whether you are permitted to jump.
That being said, the jump is still pretty dangerous if you are not experienced.
The guys from the divers club are the ones that jump most often - there is a yearly competition. They also often earn money by collecting 50€ from tourists who want to see them jump. People pool money, and they jump.
Pretty rare for the average joe from Mostar to have done the jump though.
We've had people get gravely injured and die from the jump, so it is not to be taken lightly - but also nothing that can't be done with the proper training.
CmdrJemison@reddit
I once saw someone on reddit saying "yo these people just scam money from tourists they don't work for the city. How is this even legal?"
And someone told him "Bro, Bosnia is one of the most free and unregulated markets of the world."
ExtremeProfession@reddit
They don't work for the city but they're protected by the city as a heritage art.
SuspiciousShock8294@reddit
I dunno man. I've been to Mostar more times than i can remember... And every time that there is a fuss around/on and under the bridge, and a crowd of people gathered to see a guy that is "about to do the jump", they never actually go through with it. They just keep standing on the side holding on to the railing, while their friends go around collecting more donations from tourists eager to see the jump. That goes for a while until people grow tired of waiting gradually, and go on with their day and the guy just turns back to the bridge and doesn't ever jump.
CmdrJemison@reddit
I mean... I'm not judging.
WayAdmirable150@reddit
I had time, so have seen atleast 4-5 jumps during few hours.
Drama-Gloomy@reddit
The neretva is the coldest river in the world haha they do jump though.
brickne3@reddit
I saw somebody actually jump while we were sitting in a restaurant with a view of the bridge. It was a hot summer day though so probably one of the most likely days of the year to see it. I couldn't say how common it is, but we were only there for maybe an hour and a half tops?
WayAdmirable150@reddit
I had an opportunity to see how it goes. Three guys had to jump from near by jumping deck. The instructor did a facepalm ever jump. Only 1 out of three could jump.
CmdrJemison@reddit
"Local divers club".. I heard Bosnia is one of the most free markets in the world were even some regular folks can collect a fee for bridge usage.
BigDummy1286@reddit
Was in Mostar in 2023 and it was wild to see.
Negative_Purchase773@reddit
The local diving club certifies you to jump, there’s a platform near by where you practice before making the jump. They teach you not to flail around and to pucker your butthole before impact. It can go seriously wrong if you just went and jumped, not only because of the height, but the temperature of the Neretva. If you survive the jump but didn’t get certified prior, the local diving club will beat you like a child lol. I’ve seen it happen.
PasicT@reddit
Jumping without prior experience and training is literally suicidal, jumpers train for years to be able to make it. We had a Chinese tourist jump a few years ago and he died from the fall.