Lessons

Hi everyone,

So I'm planning on starting kitesurfing, and the next thing is to figure out what to look for in a kitesurfing school.

Some questions:
- what level of "certification" should I look for in a school?
- is it important to get an "AKSA tag" after the classes (I've seen this advertised)
- what are the independent regulating bodies in Aus are there and do they regulate/recommend schools?
- most schools offer a 6hr course and at the end you can kite surf at a basic level.

And of course, any other tips, or things to ask are most welcome.

Cheers

Hi j235 ,

Welcome to kiting !!!

My advise for what its worth :
1. buy or borrow a training kite ( 1.5 - 2m )and use it for a month or so before your lessons ..
2. go down to your local kite spot and what how it all happens . Particularly launching and landing. Do this quite a few times before your lessons. Talk to the locals about lessons and goods spots to learn. Generally hang out and watch.
3. I would try to find a spot to learn that is near to where you live and you are prob going to kite at ... Pretty good spot at Applecross foreshore. Last season was Sole Kite , Sea Breeze kite school . generally I think that looked like they knew what they were doing.
4. Make sure you use a qualified school
5. Arrange lessons for the very start of the season .. around beginning Nov so you have the whole season to learn.. If you start in Nov and you are riding upwind by Jan then you are doing pretty well. If you want to make an early start then head up to Exmouth in Oct ( Sept?) . The season starts early up there and there is a really good kite school there.. great place to learn..

Remember that lessons are really designed to teach you how not to injure or kill yourself or anyone else... so safety first :)

Ha ha Dusta.. I thought the Sole kite thing may stir someone up:)

hey at the end of the day I kite there heaps and from what I have seen they are resonable. They generally keep to the north end of the beach and generally help out when peeps are in trouble when they can.. Im sure there are some example of where they are cowboys.. Yes they are a bunch of euro 18 year olds who do some silly stuff ( eg tricks close to shore) in-between lesson but from what I have seen when they are taking lesson they seem to be reasonable . .. Given the high numbers of guys wanting to learn this growing sport Im pretty sure that we need to rely on blowin instructors as there are very few locals that are qualified or willing to teach ...

disclaimer : I have no affiliation with solekite or any other school.. anything I have said can not be used in a court of law :)

j235, I suggest that you brush up on your French or Italian language before taking your lesson .. might be helpful :) enjoy !!!!! and be safe.

had a look at that over the weekend dusta, looks like they've extended the wall further north . hardly any beach yet and I doubt they will grass that area before the new wall. so the whole launch area its going to be smaller and more conjested. last year it felt like it was the worse year i seen at meleivle with the amounts of kites in trees, people getting draged up the beach not pulling safety etc.

i have to say tho soulkite do keep well north of that spot i would say there is more solo teaching further south thats the problem,...

back to your topic tho j235 i would definately get the aksa tag as it give you peice of mind if anything happens and you should be right after 4 hours, just make sure you go into the lessons having good kite skills by using a 2 line foil kite. i wouldnt worry about get a four line, u can always tie the two line to some sort of bar to get the same feeling.