If $ Is No Object in US + HI, Best Place 4 Begin'r Lessons?

[BigR]

if you want to start right now, this is the only way to do it:

Miami @ Crandon or Matheson hammocks now thru March.

OBX all of April to May 15th.

Corpus May 15th to end June.

Hood River July thru end August. (cabarete is also good or better).

Brazil Sept to November.

Back to Miami.

All year wind.

Rinse and repeat............................

P.S. the way I have this itinerary is because I know being cold will really reduce your time of actually wanting to be out on the water

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[macgruber]

I learned on Maui from Aqua Sports who had a 3 day 9-10 hour lesson for $600 3 years ago. I ended able to stay upwind and with an IKO card. I had 20 ish hours of trainer experience and 20 years of windsurfing. Wakeboarding probably would of helped even more. I had good 10-12m wind but it only blows about half the time until April. If it doesn't blow you're still in Hawaii
What about La Ventana? I know it's not shallow water, but except for the first day, or hard-to-relaunch giant kites, I think deeper water can be safer when you're teabagging or jumping.

[SSK]

As EDT said, if you want to go soon by far your best option and closest option is Baja. Although you said US, La Ventana or Los Bariles is pretty darn short flight from SoCal into Cabo or La Paz. A lot closer than OBX and even Texas. Flights are around 300 dollars for you. Some of the SoCalers fly out of TJ direct into La Paz, and then only 45 minute drive to La Ventana. Water is warm. It blows hard every single day, and it is a great time. Pretty cheap to eat and stay. The water is deep so the learning will not be as easy as other places, but the wind is so consistent and there is a lot of wide open beaches. Better for you anyways, because being in SoCal you are not going to have a lot of shallow water options anyways. So might as well learn to body drag early. Like EDT said, you will be surrounded by tons of other SoCal folk. Far far better option than going to Florida with marginal wind, a far flight, and expensive. It blow from now through March. Although OBX and SPI are good, the wind in Baja is even far more consistent than those two places.

[Oldpeople]

I think the most important thing is a place with REALLY SMOOTH WATER. You will learn and progress so much faster. And by smooth I mean really smooth, very little to no chop.
For my 2 cents I would catch a Copa flight out of LAX and fly down to San Andres. (about $700 round trip). in December, January and February consistent 15kts, great flat warm clear water and 80's all day and night.. In March you will miss some days. Great school, not expensive. Saw a former wake boarder start and in three hours was riding in both directions. And because he was a wakeboarder he thought to go the opposite direction he had to ride toe side so he water started and rode off toe side. All in the first hour. I can't think of a better spot to learn. PS except right at christmass to new years its uncrowded. Only a couple of riders out at at time.

[bnthere]

looking forward to riding with you ....


http://www.prokitesouthpadre.com

[unchartedkitesession]

Kite Beach, Cabarete, Dominican Republic... been here a month, wind every day, warm, tropical water, killer local food, life is good...and one of the best places to learn to kite...

www.unchartedkitesessions.com for the advanced riders...

Lots of Gebi

[noel]

Hello everyone. Looking for advice on where, with whom, and why thus, to start my learning into this sport. I welcome all subjective opinions as it will add to my own research.

I have been waiting patiently to be in a financial and time available position to start. Now I am!

I'm a professional mariner, recreational competive sailor, ex-collegiate and junior sailor in Southern California, surfer (mainly long boarding) and amateur shaper. I give this background to help your suggestions.

Also I'm 6'1" 180 lbs. and no injuries or physical issues...yet.

I'm currently living in Southern California.

Thanks for any help you can give. It's much appreciated.

If your looking to go now, nothing beats the warmest spot in the country except maybe Hawaii or Puerto Rico is South Florida and the Keys. Good wind this year has made it better. It get better as we get closer to spring. Shallow flat water for miles. Best time of year here is Nov. thru May.

If your gonna wait a bit longer, save some cash and head to SPI, Texas. Great conditions but can get cold this time of year. Another suggestion would be Puerto Rico. Good Luck!

Noel
www.othersideboardsports.com
Islamorada, Florida Keys

[Jamie-NYC]

If money is no object the best location I have seen for learning is Long Bay Turks & Caicos. Lessons and lodging are expensive, but there are many miles of waist deep or shallower turquoise waters with a soft sandy bottom. It is where I first took lessons, and I have just returned from another 5 days there. Winds this time of year are spotty but improving, but I would argue are just fine for learning, since you need to spend time with a kite before a board, and light wind hones kite technique more quickly than heavy wind. I will give a shout to OtherSide Boardsports, with whom I have not kited, but with whom I have had very positive experiences in the past - and Islamorada is great. I have not been to Real Watersports, but if I were starting out, I would think that would be the place where one would get the most consistently high level instruction, and the conditions are great (shallow flat water, good wind, great facility).

After the several lessons on TCI when I was starting out, I headed to Cabarete a month later. I would not recommend Cabarete for beginner lessons - it is chaos, with hundreds (and sometimes 1000+) kites on the water in a limited area, with deep water, a breaking reef, and sloppy chop. I would also say that my experience with lessons there was awful - I was basically handed a kite and sent out on the water, and told to bend my knees more. I twice had other novices wrap their lines around mine while I was in the water with kite at 12, with one of those experiences leading to a long swim attached to a flagged out mess of lines and flapping kite. Cabarete is cheap (though credit card fraud made it more expensive for me) and very, very windy, and there are lots of kiters there from all over the world with whom to share experiences, but it is unforgiving for the inexperienced. Having said that, I am headed there again in three weeks - the choice of friends with whom i am traveling (this time I take lists of cash, plastic goes unused).

[Do-it]

If money isn't an issue I could take the time to show you a few things. I'm sure we could figure out a way to get you in and out of the duck hunting boat. We could shoot some birds in early morning, kiteboard on the windy days and skydive when it's not, gator hunt in the evenings. It will be a blast. Hell, I'll even hook you up with my wifes's twin sister. What do you say? Price is negotiable.

[Flyboy]

it is chaos, with hundreds (and sometimes 1000+) kites on the water in a limited area

1000+ kites?! I hope you're joking?

It IS pretty insane at Cabarete, both at Kite Beach & Bozo, but I would say 100 - 150 kiters is the most I've seen. It's actually a pretty big area (other than the immediate area at Kite Beach). However, the area close to shore where the beginners are body-dragging/trying to get up on the board is just totally nuts. I just got back from trying to teach my daughter to kitesurf there - it was fairly harrowing at times, although, in the end we did have some success.

The local schools do seem to have developed an effective system for teaching there & it would probably be a reasonable place to learn if not for the complete lack of any kite etiquette along the shoreline.