Learn to kitesurf

Why learn to kitesurf?

If you’re thinking about learning to kitesurf, you’re definitely making a wise decision. Why, you may ask? Well, you’ve certainly noticed how fun and exciting it seems and regarding that, there’s one thing most kitesurfers will tell you. “You’re absolutely right”. Not only is it an adrenaline-charged sport, but it provides you with a myriad of experiences including a gut puncturing feeling of freedom. Kitesurfing seems fun because it is fun. The sport can be enjoyed in a multitude of ways, whether you’re just looking to cruise through the crystal-clear waters or making the most out of your core muscles performing tricks and jumps that would titillate the devil himself. Meeting people is a plus, this sport pretty much requires the help of someone to properly launch and land the kite, therefore, even though it is possible to ride alone, it isn’t the best option for a handful of reasons. Kitesurfing with other people opens a large gate into a garden filled up with bouquets of possibilities. Not only is it safer and less harsh on your equipment, but you’ll also most likely find people with similar interests to you, allowing you to ride safer and in company. As you may say, “together, having fun is better”.

You’ll also travel a lot; kitesurfing has the potential to take you to some amazing places. Kite spots are usually mesmerizing in more than one way… you’ll find a kite spot all around the world. No matter how recondite it may seem, it’s bound to leave you breathless. Other than the obvious appeal that this idea makes you entertain, there’s a secondary, yet amazing possibility that arises from this. You can combine your dream kite trip with the perfect holiday for the people you love and don’t kite. The family certainly won’t mind waiting for you trapped between the beautiful sandy beaches and almost hypnotizing calm waters.

And it’s not over yet. Kitesurfing requires fitness, you’ll either become or stay fit due to the lengths it goes using a lot of your core muscles. Exercising is already great on its own, couple that with a sport so potentially intense and pleasurable, that it won’t even seem that you’re working out, instead, you’ll just be having a lot of fun!

How to learn kitesurfing?

So, you might be wondering, “how can I start enjoying such an incredible sport?”. Well, there are a few steps one should take, in order to do it most efficiently.
The first step is to make time for a holiday, a holiday where one week would be a good minimum time frame. There’s a reason for this, and that is that some days might be windless. Which takes us to our next step, figuring out where to go. These two steps are intrinsically connected since the presence of wind also depends on when you go to a determined place. The wind seasons are not the same everywhere all year long. If you’re planning on going to Europe, you should consider different months as opposed to, say, anywhere in the southern hemisphere. It depends, you need to choose the spot accordingly to the wind season! You can get this kind of information from other kitesurfers you might know, or simply by researching the extensive list of articles and databases available online on the matter.

If you’re not able to get a full week to spare to go kitesurfing, don’t despair. You can still go for 2/3 days and you may even be lucky enough to be close to kitesurf schools and or great spots already. Which is an entirely different subject; it’s very important to choose the spot carefully. If you’re a beginner, you’ll most likely want to find a spot with flat and relatively shallow waters, making them safe for any rider. The area of the spot is also important to consider, more space equals more safety and freedom of movement. For example, here at Kite Control Portugal, we are more than proud to be able to say that our spot has absolutely perfect conditions for both beginners and advanced riders. We have waves outside but flat water on the lagoon.

The last thing you should be aware of when you decide to venture into the kitesurfing world, it that you’ll need to be patient. Wind is never 100% guaranteed, holidays frequently turn sour when people are two days in with no wind, but you must always keep in mind that mother nature is ruler above all in these situations. Just be happy and make the most out of the situation enjoying your time as best as you can. Here at Kite Control Portugal, we offer a variety of secondary activities for such cases, like mountain biking, surfing, a panoply of places to visit and things to see around the area, etc.

And what after?

Ok, so you gathered up all your courage and thought to yourself you should learn to kitesurf. You went learning for a bit. Now what?
Just keep progressing, don’t wait too long, keep having fun as soon as possible. Or else, you’ll most likely forget what you learned and that wouldn’t at all be money well spent. The goal is to become independent, as soon as you’re independent you don’t need more lessons, you won’t need to spend more money learning, you’ll just need to buy your own equipment and you’ll be set. Which kind of takes us again to the thought of making “kite friends”. This is a natural process itself; however good kite schools try to create a community and facilitate people meeting each other. As was said before, having kite friends will help you in a bunch of different ways, and another of those ways is by helping you buy your own equipment.

You should buy your own equipment when you are independent, after getting the green light from the kite school. If you buy it before, you’ll be tempted to fly it unsupervised, which is definitely a no-no, you’re endangering your and other’s lives. After you do get permission, you can either buy new equipment, which can get you good deals with a kite school, or you can try used, which means cheaper but probably older, possibly with old safety systems, etc. It might be a difficult task to know what to buy, so either get tips from kite schools or trustworthy kite friends.
After that, you should be all set. Just go kiting with some of your equally passionate friends in good conditions, plus easy spots according to your level (your friends will certainly guide you in the right direction). Never go alone, this can’t be stressed enough.
This will help you progress further and further; you’ll start jumping, doing amazing tricks, and collecting great experiences and memories with a bunch of friends. Sounds good? We agree, so learn to kitesurf! 😊