The best place to take a week of kiteboarding lessons?

[fctown]

Hi,
We are planning a vacation in the second half of August. Our family - two adults in their forties and two daughters 18 and 20 - want to start kitesurfing.

So far we just played with a stunt kite.

We would like to take a week of the total immersion kiteboarding lessons not further than 4-6 hours flight from California.

Does anybody have any suggestion for such a place? All schools I saw on the web offer very introductory lessons while we are looking for 5-6 days of instruction to bring us to the level where we can start enjoying sport on our own.

Thanks for all your input,
-Alex

[toyletbowl]

Alex,

I'm highly biased, and recommend Realkiteboarding in hatteras. http://www.realkiteboarding.com. They have all different camps for multiple days. All they do is kiteboard and have the most learning friendly environment I've seen. Flat water with great winds and no crowds. Totally wide open space to learn and ride. The coaches are all top notch riders and super knowledgeable. I've been all over the states to ride and by far my favorite is hatteras.

The cool thing about this place is it caters to the beginners as well as the experts and everyone in between.

I'm heading there for 2 weeks to ride the beginning of April and will send back a report.

[KiteVol]

I know that RealKiteboarding has I believe 5 day "Kite Camps." I think it's called "Zero to Hero" if I'm correct..trygiving them a call.

I Had a few lessons from them and was very happy. Plus Hatteras is argueably the best place for beginners..Flat, waist high water for miles...Very beginner friendly.

http://www.realkiteboarding.com


KV

[KiteVol]

Bob,

When are going? I am tentatively going (I will know for sure next week) April 8th to the 11th. Can't stay away from work too long.

KV

[toyletbowl]

KV,

I'm going from the 31st-13/14th of April. 2 full weeks. I have a condo right on the water in Avon from the 3rd through the 10th. Before and after that...not sure where we're staying. Myself and a friend are driving out and meeting up with family and other friends coming in the first weekend (3rd-?). We should hook up to find a place if you're coming and need to keep costs down.

Sure...I just find out that Shannon Best is coming to Hatteras right after we leave. Oh well, I'll have to catch the August time I guess.

PM me if you want and we can work out the details. Wasn't that your Jimmy? Very nice....

[KiteVol]

When I know everything is set I will PM you. I currently reserved a place on the soundside for me and my friend but I still have to speak w/ the wife


I'll PM soon Yep..that's my Jimmy..right from Matt's hands to mine..Now if I can only ride


KV

[KRIS]

Hi there
Unfortunately my offer goes beyond the 4-6 hours fly but for sure envolves something more than just a domestic holidays.
Here in Fortaleza BRASIl we have all
Perfect winds 16-22 kts side shore
warm water
sea water lagoons
sweet water lagoons
the most amazing beaches you´ve ever dreamed
hundreds of kms of empty beaches
really friendly people
a different culture
no terrorism at all!
check our sites: http://www.kitefortaleza.com
http://www.kiteboardcumbuco.com.br
Good luck with your choice.

[chemosavi]

Unfortunately to date there is no school there but SAN FELIPE, northern Baja sea of cortez 5 hrs driving from LA, has some of the best learning conditions of any place I've been so far, 10 to 15 knots STEADY side onshore, north or south, 15 to 25 knots when Santa Anna's blow. The beach is huge, 50 miles or so long, there is a shallow lagoon by Nuevo Mazatlan Camp, that is PERFECT at high tide, flat water and waist deep, any wind direction. It's a secret waiting to be discovered, overwhelmed (by southern Californians) more like it when the word gets out. Once you have a few lessons under your belt this is an excellent, SAFE place to kite with your daughters. After you get good here you can venture down to Ventana for friskier conditions. Maybe you could bribe an instructor or kiter from LA to accompany your family for a week. If I wasn't so busy that time of year I would consider teaching you myself as I had a lot of fun teaching another friend to kite there.

[slingshotucf]

Check out KSTE.net the Puerto Rico camp is awsome. There's a write up about the camp in corekiteboarding.com and on this forum under La Pagura. It offers flat water riding, warm sun and 15-30 knots of wind. Flights are cheap to Puerto Rico. I went for 2 weeks last Summer and it was great.

[rune]

Where in Europe wold be the best place for lessons?