Le$$ons??

[Glenn]

I just don't get why lessons are so expensive. All I hear is how important lessons are, but jeeze I can't think of any other sport or activity which costs more to learn.

Maybe I've just been looking at the wrong sites. Can anyone steer me towards an affordable place to get decent lessons in the South Eastern US?

thanks,
Glenn

[greg meintjes]

What is your idea of affordable, 100, 200, 400 or 500 dollars, I do not know what prices you have been quoted, My lessons are a total of about 10 hours over two to three days depending on conditions etc , they are done off a boat in the shallow water off of Key West, my prices are 450 dollars for the complete lesson and then the student can take additional course if they feel they need them. After you take into account insurance, equipment , and boat costs, plus the time spent teaching, I do not think it is to expensive.

Whatever your budget is, I hope you get to do lessons as they will definately benefit you if you want to learn to kite.

Greg http://www.keywestkiteboarding.com/

[conchxpress]

Greg gives you 10 hours for 450. Simple math $45./hour.

SUP basic lessons: $99. /1.5 hours = $66/hr
Surfing lessons: $65./hour

Now which discipline do you think requires the most support equipment. And which do you think is the one, which without lessons can get you into the most trouble? You guessed it kiteboarding.

Bottom line: Don't be a cheapskate about your safety, no matter how good an athlete you think you are.

[ricki]

There are lots of action sports in line with and more costly than kitesurfing. That isn't the point, far from it. Do you have a medical insurance deductible, if so, how much is it? How does that compare to the cost of kiting instruction? Add in possible lost time from work, fun (like kiting and other activities), cost of PT, medication ... etc..

Destroying or seriously damaging costly kite gear is also fairly easy to do if you aren't sufficient skilled to be using it.

Accidents happen, quality pro instruction reduces the odds of such accidents. Worry less about cost and more about finding the best instruction you can. It is worth it speaking from hard personal experience.

[jetpack]

Kite - $1200
Harness - $110
Board - $500

Proper Instruction - PRICELESS



Sure the instruction $$ stung a bit. While taking lessons it was immediate
seeing how the lack of instruction could lead to some very serious consequences.

I took SCUBA lessons in 97' - Roughly half the price. Probably the same
cost as KS instruction today for PADI certification.

In 2000 I was into Hang gliding. Foot and tow launch. Cost about $1200
to solo. Then I had to go buy my own gear. About $4000.

Wanna fly a plane? That will run you about $3,000 just to solo, $8,000 for
private pilot license. Rental cost and rental insurance will run about $120/hr.

I know of no other water activity in the same vein as Kitesurfing, that has
the cheapest per/hour costs anywhere! Not to spend the energy, time,
effort and money towards quality instruction says a lot about a persons
mindset when it comes to theirs & others safety.

The instructors that do this aren't retiring anytime soon, they aren't driving
around in porches and they certainly have full time jobs. The good ones do
this cause love it and they know how important it is.

Proper instruction is VERY important to peoples personal safety and for the
image of kitesurfing itself. Glenn I don't know you, but let's assume you
have a teenager wanting to try SCUBA, SAILING, HANG GLIDING, ROCK
CLIMBING or some other "extreme" sport.

Wouldn't you want them to get the best and safest instruction possible
regardless of the cost? We should want the same things for ourselves.
Considering the possible outcome without good instruction, it's too risky

No one would say that getting instruction is a garauntee for a complete safe
kiting career, but without it, someone stands a good chance of VERY serious
injury. These aren't kid kites. These are BIG ADULT kites that can hurt
if used improperly.

My brother-in-law now wants me to teach him just cause I can ride around
the water. I started in March. NO WAY. I gave him WSW number and told
him just cause I can ride a little doesn't mean I could teach.

Too much at stake not to pay up for quality lessons. Hell, if you do it for 10
years, the cost for lessons is about .12 cents a day.

Sorry for the long rant on this. It's the future daddy in me. Too much at
stake not to pay up for qaulity lessons. I figure

T

[Steve-O]

Hey Glenn,

One way to keep your lesson cost down is to bring some skills to the table before you start paying the big bucks on hourly lessons.

Do you have great kite skills and a solid understanding of how wind works with a kite? Solve that problem by spending a ton of time flying and mastering a trainer kite. These are inexpensive and can save you in the end by requiring you to take less instruction.

Can you ride a wakeboard? Go to a cable park and get some board skills. It is very inexpensive to get hours of experience using a cable system and getting your board skills up to speed. Not to mention the staff that work these parks are more than willing to give you advice for free.

Walk into a lesson with good kite skills and good board skills and you should be up and riding in less time than you think and spending less $$$

Walk in with no experience, and the time it will take will be much longer and ultimately more expensive for you.

Don't forget to train the brain, the most important asset in kiteboarding. Making smart decisions takes knowledge, so a good ground school going over the theory and fundamentals is a must.

A good question you have asked, but I pass it back to you.

What are you going to bring to the table???? Or is someone going to have to hold your hand every step of the way.

Good luck!

[troubleshooter]

Glenn,

Im sorry dude but you need to face the facts before you post this non-sense.

Are you just ticked because lessons are more than your budget allows or are you actually finding based on research that prices in a certain region are unfair.

SE US is a big place. Are you willing to travel 10 hours in any direction to learn or do you want a specific area?

Lets take some S Florida examples (and tehre are many more). Have you visited the sites of The Kite House (Key West), Seven (Middle Keys), Otherside (Middle Keys) , Above and Below (Lower Keys), Miami Kiteboarding (Miami), The Kite Shop (Miami), Jupiter Kitebarding (Jupiter) and many others that are Googled very easily. There lesson prices are posted. Call each of them and discuss packages and compare.

Your question should be what do you get for the price. You usually pay more if a boat or ski is involved. BUT, dont pay more just becuase they take you for a boat ride to a spot. Pay more if that boat stays running and will pick you up and drag you back up wind everytime or get your board for you.

Kitesurfing lessons are expensive but do some research and ask questions after. You will benefit so much more.

But one thing for sure. You need lessons. If not for you, for me.

[noel]

I agree with most of what TS says except for the part about paying for a boat that stays running and gets you back upwind. Especially if you want to try to get the minimum amount of lessons before going on your own. You need to learn on the first lesson how to bodydrag back to your board and how to walk backwards, upwind with your kite and board if in shallow water and how to self-rescue in deep and shallow water. If the school does not teach safety, how to set up the kite on the beach before launching and self rescue when you are done, all in the first lesson, then find another school. Boat support is nice but new kiters don't use common sence all the time in the beginning. Teaching them how far they should go downwind before getting in trouble is always a problem. If a sandbar is 200 ft. long and then it's over your head, common sence says to stop within 200 ft. and walk back upwind. Boats don't pick you up everytime you get too far downwind. Most newbies are haveing so much fun the first time up and riding that they don't think about the fact that the water just got deeper until their in over their heads.

[bigpimp'n]

Glenn, check your mail box, I sent u a PM.

[Glenn]

Thanks everyone for all the responses and good advice. I'm new here & didn't remember to "subscribe" to this thread, so it was good that "bigpimpin" PM'ed me about it.


I live near Boone, NC in the mountains. So, the nearest beaches are 5-6 hours from here. Thanks for ther names of other shops which give lessons, I'll check their websites for rates. Last spring I visited Ft Walton Beach, and the rates posted by the shop there wanted 300 per day for three days and $900 was out of my budget. It turned out to be too cold then anyway.

I liked Steve-O's advice about gaining as much skills before getting lessons, as I can. That is what I was thinking, and I'm glad to hear somebody else say to learn good basic kite skills and board skills seperately before spending time & money on lessons.

Some of you seemed to read my question as "Lessons are a big rip-off and I don't want to take em'."
But, that wasn't what I was saying or trying to ask.

I was trying to get advice about the best way to enter kiteboarding, and where I could find lessons for a "reasonable" price.

With zero "kite time" I realized that any lessons would begin with a lot of classroom/ground school type intro, and then hours of learning to launch, fly, & land the kite.

It seems like that would "consume" at least the first day or two, right?

So, I am planning to learn what basic equipment I need is and buy the smallest "real" kite to use as a trainer kite. It looks like a 4 meter is the smallest sized real kite. The "trainer" kites don't have the same lines or control bars, so seem to still leave you clueless about that important part of the gear. Sort of like trying to learn to drive a car using a go-cart!

Also, I know this is a bit of a tangent, but since I spend a lot of time on Lake Norman (big lake near Charlotte) in the summers I am thinking about trying to pull a catamaran with a bigger kite. That would be a way to get on the water with a kite, but not having to deal with the board. Also, since I'm an "old guy" (just 45) with a family, they can ride too. We can all take turns at the rudder and flying the kite. I figure the rope which normally clips onto your harness would be clipped onto the front of the boat. Also, I'd carry a trolling motor to get to the wind or to get back home.

That seems like a good plan for learning about the wind conditions, flying a kite, tacking to go upwind, etc. Plus I can carry a cooler & phone (just in case!!).


Can you guys steer me towards any good info about the bars & harnesses? The bars seem to come in a variety of sizes or spreads. Maybe a link, book, or video that is good which describes the equipment and basics of launching, landing, and general kite control?

I am not asking all of this so I can avoid taking lessons. I just want to be as prepared as I can when I do get to take my first lesson. I'd much rather be the student which the instructor is "wowed" by instead of the one who they feel sorry for...or rather I'd come on their day off!!


Thanks again for all the advice & tips so far.


Glenn