Well I’m new to kite boarding this year. Been learning the hard way in shopping and in learning to kite, but I have really been enjoying the sport for the most part and I’m an addict already.

As frustrating as it can be to get the right gear and get started in this sport I’d like to shout out to the OR team and say thanks for helping me finally get a good kite that is just a blast to fly.

At any rate I was just wondering if any one here has suggestions on some good places to go down south to get kite lessons and learn to be a competent rider…..I almost got up on my board finally on Saturday but not enough power. Then Monday I got tossed around lake Ontario like a little rag doll….obviously my 14 m Diablo was too much, I was amazed I could control it like I did though…was just way too much in the power zone and I for once didn’t bring my 7m LF which I don’t like to use anyway and probably would have been too light..

Point is I think I am running out of time to learn and get my first ride in, was super cold on Monday too….I’ve done countless hours of training with my 3m ozone flow trainer kite and took a lesson in TO, but the unpredictable winds and the distance to get to TO from my place is really challenging…So I started to look down south to see if I could find some good places that I can really put a solid week or maybe two in and get some good training… I’m so damn close but am just missing the ideal conditions I think to push me over the edge….places for beginners here are minimal and the ones we do have are often pretty wavy, a long hike to get to and turbulent.

Any one have any suggestions…I have been looking at Brazil which is kind of expensive and the Dominican which looks much less expensive and has more all inclusive options…..I did like the look of some of the lagoons in Brazil though….less sharks maybe? hahaha It also looks a little more peaceful and not as busy.

any thoughts?

Thanks

Hey Freespirit,
I’m a little biased, but Brazil is the shit.  Windy EVERY day, warm weather, warm water, sharks are not a concern, cheap (except for Cumbuco, Paracuru is much nicer in my opinion) and super chill.  The flight is more than some closer destinations, but if you are good eating like the locals, it’s cheap once you get there… food and drink.
Lagoons and wave spots and cheap cold drinks on the beach everywhere… well at least every 15 to 20 km.

I’m biased because after exploring the coast 5 years ago, we bought land and built a house in Paracuru (http://www.kitesource.ca/content/brazil) and go every year!

Good wind wherever you end up,

Cape Hatteras, North Carolina perhaps ?  A week-long trip in the fall ( September or early October ) should give you many windy days to hone your riding skills. House rentals in Hatteras used to be cheap in the fall, dunno if that still holds, as it’s a pretty popular spot for wind junkies, both kite and sailboard…

Having been to Kite Beach,Cabarete, DR I am biased against this spot for learning.  Too crouded and the water is very choppy with soo many riders on the water.  Kites getting tangled all over the place.  Pretty sketchy.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Cabarete- it’s a vibrant little town.  But there are better places to hone your skills.

Never been, but Brazil is high on the list for sure.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. Really appreciate it. I think I am narrowing down to brazil and doing some research on all the places to go.

The trip on kitesource.ca is a little steep for my blood this year…been dumping cash into this sport already lol Looks like an amazing trip though Jeff. I may have to book next year!

In doing all this research I’ve noticed some really good sites with low search engine ranks. Have you guys (OR/kitesource) ever tried or considered doing any pay per click advertising with Google and or MS Adcenter? I just did a bit of poking around and there are over half a million people a month globally that search for “kiteboardiing kite” for example and 110,000 searches are local to my area. Those numbers are just for google too… I didn’t bother looking through MS Adcenter, which handles advertising on yahoo and Bing so you get more traffic there and it’s often cheaper…..The competition rating on google is also very low so it should be super cheap to advertise on either of them, didn’t bother logging in to see the average cost per click. Point being is neither of you come up right now and PPC advertising can change that.

If you haven’t done them before I think you could find a coupon from MS adcenter for 50 bucks to try it out and you can definitely find at least a 100 dollar coupon for google to start out…You can call google and they will set up a campaign for you, MS will do the same but they usually want a budget of 500 dollars a month.

Anyway no disrespect meant…..Your house is fine the way it is, maybe it’s not needed but it was just a thought…currently the two best ranked sites I found for most key words was bestkiteboarding and pbkiteboarding where I took my lesson. You probably want to give your retailers an edge, but doing a few PPC blasts when for example new kites are coming out wouldn’t be a bad idea. Done properly and it’s guaranteed to increase sales. 80-90% of people search online before buying, get in their faces!!!!

just some thoughts
Thanks again

Yeah, our season is starting to slow down, and I’m thinking about some winter travel. Barbados maybe?

So true that Brazil is sweet with warm consistent winds, but be ready for some long flights.  We have been heading down to South Padre Island in the Fall for a few years now and that has been quite good.  No gaurenteed winds, but usually 3 to 5 days a week.  Great learning/improving set up.  Not enough OR on the water down there, so come on down and get the ratio up!

What’s the best way to travel the world?
I’m thinking of travelling the world for a year.

I love snowboarding and kite surfing and would like to do a lot more of both.

How much money do you think it will take?

And where are the best places to go?

Thanks!