COCOA BEACH, Fla. — Instead of looking at the surf, many Cocoa Beach visitors were looking at the sky on Saturday.

  • Skydiving Santas were at Cocoa Beach
  • About 100 Santas and elves jumped from planes
  • The group collected toys for Toys for Tots

About 100 Santas, and elves, jumped from planes at about 11 a.m. until the early after. At times, the weather wasn't cooperating.

But that didn't stop hundreds of spectators from lining up along the beach and pier to watch the skydiving Santas. Throughout the day, the Santas did multiple jumps as well as stunts.

One of the skydivers was Dan Darby, a competitive wingsuit pilot.

Darby said he wanted to be a skydiver since he was a kid. He said he was inspired by the Red Power Ranger more than 20 years ago, and after he turned 18, he was working toward his goal.

"I've done just shy of 3,000 skydives and 1,800 wingsuit jumps," Darby said.

Skydiving elf Beau Riebe joined in the festivities. Of the about 100 skydivers, most of them had a perfect landing. A few of them got their feet wet. And one landed in the water.

Throughout the day, the skydivers attempted to land on giant inflatables like Santa's sleigh and a rubber ducky.

"It's fun jumping into a beautiful place, fly over the water, land on the sand and dress up," Riebe said.

Celebrating its third year, Skydiving Santas encouraged attendees bring toy donations for the nonprofit Toys for Tots. To date, the organization has distributed about 548 million toys to kids in need.​

The event was hosted by Westgate Cocoa Beach Resorts, which owns Cocoa Beach Pier.