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Kitesurfing Instructors Wanted for Puerto Rico 5 Star Resort

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Goodwinds
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Kitesurfing Instructors Wanted for Puerto Rico 5 Star Resort

Postby Goodwinds » Fri Aug 29, 2014 5:48 pm

Experienced Instructors needed for 5 Star Resort in the Caribbean

by Karla Barrera
(Puerto Rico)

Imagine yourself in a water sports center with world class wind and wave conditions, nestled in a 5 star resort where flat water and access to perfect waves with side shore wind are only a 30 second kite away. This is Goodwinds; the Caribbean's Premier Kitesurf School and Watersports center based in Dorado Beach Resort, Puerto Rico!

Goodwinds is looking for passionate, responsible, experienced and friendly kiteboarding instructors and watersports instructors for employment starting late November / early December, 2014. Also, as part of a 5 Star Resort, the ideal kitesurfing instructor will be service oriented and very professional.

Our Watersports program has a complete offering of various sports. Our kitesurfing program is our most complete offering but we also specialize in sailing, paddle boarding, windsurfing and surfing. Thus, experience teaching any of these other watersports will also be desirable. To offer the best safety and service on the water we use jet ski and boat support for our lessons. Having a boaters certification and experience using this equipment is also a requirement for any applicant.

Puerto Rico is a US territory and offers many of the advantages of the United States, while still providing the tropical island feel. We have warm waters and wind year round. Also great surfing and wave kiting spots. In the evenings there is great nightlife to enjoy.

QUALIFICATIONS/ EXPERIENCE:

--CPR & First Aid
--IKO or PASA kite instructor certifications a plus
--Boat driving skills, and boat safety certification
--Fluency in English is required. (Proficiency in Spanish not necessary but also a plus).
-- US Citizenship REQUIRED

To apply, or for more information please contact us at

watersports@doradobeach.com

For more information on our location and school Please Check:

http://www.kitegoodwinds.com/pages/video-gallery
http://www.doradobeach.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9qaWxKexOQ
http://vimeo.com/94273052

Ripshade04
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Re: Kitesurfing Instructors Wanted for Puerto Rico 5 Star Re

Postby Ripshade04 » Fri Aug 29, 2014 6:44 pm

I used to work for these employers and had a horrible experience. Their names are Phil & Karla. Steer clear!

They put myself and a number of friends (coworkers) with students into number of compromising and dangerous situations.

We wound up in employee housing without running water and that was our last straw so we left. There was another couple still living in employee housing without electricity for a number of weeks.

They'll make empty promises to get you down there. Have you go through the IKO certification, and then when you arrive nickel and dime you out of pay.

IKO - You might want to check on this school too. I know first hand when I was there, they were breaking a number of your policies.

These people screwed over a number of instructors and have a higher than normal turnover rate. I imagine that's why they're posting on here.

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Re: Kitesurfing Instructors Wanted for Puerto Rico 5 Star Re

Postby nikalaitzian » Fri Aug 29, 2014 8:09 pm

IKO my ass !!!

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Dimitri M
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Re: Kitesurfing Instructors Wanted for Puerto Rico 5 Star Re

Postby Dimitri M » Fri Aug 29, 2014 9:40 pm

I don't know much about IKO or the story between Mr. Ripshade04 and the owners of GOODWINDS.
All I know is that this past winter my son Cameron and I decided to take a boy's trip to Puerto Rico to test the new SURF kite.
We kite all over the island and end up in Dorado Beach where we met Phil and Karla the owners of GOODWINDS plus their instructors such as my good friend Andy Hurdman who I did not know was working there with few other instructors I met.
We end up in Dorado Beach by mistake and decided to stay the remain of our trip because it was so good. These guys were great with us and this is the reason why we are coming back this winter to GOODWINDS because of the great service we had plus the amazing conditions.
The only thing they asked me was not to show much about their paradise when my son Cameron and I left Puerto Rico. Sorry guys but could not resist you guys have a great place.

See you soon.

P.S. They are not even an EPIC DEALER/SCHOOL.
Attachments
At GOODWINDS with the owners.jpg
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12 year old son Cameron.jpg
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GOPR1112 9.jpg

Goodwinds
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Re: Kitesurfing Instructors Wanted for Puerto Rico 5 Star Re

Postby Goodwinds » Fri Aug 29, 2014 11:03 pm

Hi, my name is Karla Barrera, and I’m the Co-owner of Goodwinds.

I just wanted to post really quick in response to the negative post that was made by the user Ripshade04. Even, though, the poster did not state their name we are fully aware of who this person is. For ethical purposes, we’re not going to post this person’s full name and/or suggest that other Kitesurfing schools don’t hire him/her.

Without getting into all the details of the ‘drama’ that occurred with this employee (that worked for us for about two months over 2 years ago), we chose to terminate our working relationship with this individual.

Goodwinds at Dorado Beach, Puerto Rico is located within one of the most exclusive communities in the world. Our facility is located directly next to the prestigious 5-Star Ritz Carlton Reserve; a popular destination with many celebrities and notable visitors. Goodwinds was accepted to be a part of this prestigious resort after a very rigorous examination process that evaluated our safety guidelines, insurance requirements, teaching guidelines, and more. So if we didn’t take safety, quality of instruction, and overall student experience seriously we wouldn’t be able to do business here.

We care about our instructors & students and aside from FUN being a big priority, so is SAFETY, thus the accusations that we would WILLFULLY put our instructors and our students in dangerous situations is nothing short of ridiculous.

On a side note, we are NOT an IKO school. After many years of experience we have developed our own lesson program, that is influenced by what we believe are the best features of the IKO, US Sailing and PASA trainings. Thus, we merely mention that if a prospective instructor has IKO or PASA certification that it’s a plus.

If you are interested in joining our awesome team here at Goodwinds, we are more than happy to give you the contact information for some of our instructors to learn more about their experience as part of our team.

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Re: Kitesurfing Instructors Wanted for Puerto Rico 5 Star Re

Postby Ripshade04 » Sat Aug 30, 2014 3:50 am

The statements I made were true and honest.

We both know who's decision it was to end the working relationship. For the record I was there from October through January.

For the sake of both your instructors and students I hope you've gotten your act together.

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Re: Kitesurfing Instructors Wanted for Puerto Rico 5 Star Re

Postby CaptainArgh » Sun Aug 31, 2014 3:02 am

Certainly looks like a nice spot to kite!

Is there public access to the beach :) or restricted to resort guests? :(

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Re: Kitesurfing Instructors Wanted for Puerto Rico 5 Star Re

Postby dannybarnette » Sun Aug 31, 2014 4:59 pm

Ripshade04,

Hey man, my name is Danny Barnette, and I've been instructing kitesurfing for two years now. During the summers I teach at OceanAir Sports, one of the top premier kiteboarding school and watersports center on the east coast, stationed in Avon, Cape Hatteras NC. During the winters I teach in the caribbean, this past winter was at Goodwinds in Puerto Rico, for Phil and Karla.

Phil and Karla are good people, and Goodwinds is one of the top water sports centers in the Caribbean! Safety was always the top priority for our students, and followed closely behind was a fun, positive, and successful experience! Safety was always stressed... For one example, I remember an instance when one of our certain instructors stayed out on the water with his student during a rain squall and storm. Phil had to ride out onto the water on a jet ski to tell him to get in to shore and to safety. Once on land, Phil took this certain instructor aside and gave him a stern talking to about safety and not putting him and especially his students in that sort of situation again! The instructor learned from his mistake, took the correction, and didn't make that mistake again.

As to the living situation. I came to PR under a false pretense that the housing situation was better than it was. Arriving to the house, it wasn't very clean and we had a few problems with the fridge, washer, dryer, appliances etc. but after a few days of cleaning we got it back up to par. I wasn't stoked about the house or anything when I arrived, but it seemed that Phil was un aware of the poor condition that the house had fallen into. Losing running water would have been the last straw to break my back too, BUT, I probably would have contacted the water company/Phil or done something to fix the problem. Not sure what your circumstances were RIPSHADE04, and I'm not really interested in knowing them honestly.. And I don't mean that in a arrogant way, I just really hate drama.

From Andy Hurdman, a pioneer and legend in the kiteboarding community, to Phil, the boss and owner of GoodWinds, to the local boys, Freddy and Gabo, to myself, all the way from Hatteras, NC... All of the kitesurfing instructors at GoodWinds last winter really took pride in how we taught this amazing sport.. From the fundamentals, to the safety, to the fun and positive experience we always tried to give our students, I felt that GoodWinds had some good guys who knew how to teach kitesurfing well and proficiently.

And the conditions... Yewww!!! Around Christmas the wind will start blowing about every day for a couple months! Yeah you'll have your occasional Caribbean rain shower, but the wind will be right up minutes after. Waves... Did I say waves??? YES!!! Killer waves for kitesurfing and if there's no wind, go surfing!

I'm pretty sure I'll be in PR this winter working at Goodwinds! Will you? : )

Cheers,

Danny Barnette

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Re: Kitesurfing Instructors Wanted for Puerto Rico 5 Star Re

Postby andy hurdman » Thu Sep 04, 2014 10:37 pm

My name is Andy Hurdman and I currently work as a kitesurfing instructor at Goodwinds.

After many years running my own watersports business in Florida, I decided to experience teaching for a summer in Puerto Rico and contacted Goodwinds.
I had such an amazing experience during that time and fell in love with the island, and ended up relocating with my wife to Puerto Rico last winter.

Needless to say, we are extremely happy here and can vouch for the quality of Goodwinds school and the proffesionalism of the operation. I believe the location is amazing, the conditions are world class, and the operation that Karla and Phil have put together contribute to make Goodwinds one of the best places to work as a kitesurfing instructor.

Please do not allow a bad apple, like the previous poster, to deter you from possibly having one of the best experiences as a kitesurfing instructor in your life.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions at sutrafit@gmail.com

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Re: Kitesurfing Instructors Wanted for Puerto Rico 5 Star Re

Postby Goodwinds » Tue Sep 16, 2014 2:28 pm

CaptainArgh wrote:Certainly looks like a nice spot to kite!

Is there public access to the beach :) or restricted to resort guests? :(
To answer the question posted by CaptainArgh. All beaches in Puerto Rico are public so there is no restriction to public usage of the beach where Goodwinds is located the only problem is where do you park your car. The resort does restrict access to the property. You will be allowed access to the Dorado Beach resort property if you are a member, a guest of a member, a hotel guest or if you are paying for a service that the resort offers. These services include golf, dinner reservations, spa appointments and lessons/gear rentals at Goodwinds. If you do not plan to stay at the resort or book any of the services there is a public beach parking on the East end of the Saldinara bay which is the area where we kite. The only problem with the East end of the beach is that it is very wind shadowed so you would have to walk about a 1/4 mile down the beach to where the wind fills in. Once you have launched you can kite a short distance down wind to our facility.

If you are interested in staying at the resort there are several options. The Ritz which starts at $800 - $1800 a night for a single room depending on the season, Plantation Residence $800 - $1800 for a 3 bedroom or you can search VRBO.com to find a house in the Dorado Beach East neighborhood. Renting a house is the most economical if you have a large family or group but make sure the house either comes with a golf cart or you arrange to rent one.

Here are a few links

http://www.doradobeach.com/story/overview/
http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Propertie ... efault.htm
http://www.doradobeachclubs.com
http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/ca ... 2014-09-30

Some options outside of the resort are the Embassy suits, the Hyatt, or search VRBO.com for a house. Probably the best option outside of the resort is to rent a house in the Breñs neighborhood. You can find houses that sleep 8+ from $400 a night. Breñas is not technically part of the resort but the resort is accessible by golf cart from this area which is a huge plus again make sure the house you rent either comes with a golf cart or you arrange to rent one. Another plus about Breñas is that one of the best surf breaks is right in front of this neighborhood.

I hope this helps paint a picture of the lay of the land here. If you have any questions about making a trip to the Dorado area feel free to PM me.

Goodwinds!


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