Kitesurfing Lessons, School in Scotland

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Kitesurfing is one of the fastest growing water sports next to standup paddleboarding. Due to its accessibility and versatility anyone can learn how to kite. You can make your riding nice and chilled by just cruising along and enjoying the scenery. Or you can go for the massive jumps and freestyle moves. It’s all up to you. And it’s much safer than you might think too.

Kitesurfing has come a long way in the last decade. Especially on the safety side where you can release the whole power off the kite when you don’t feel comfortable or you know you’re getting into trouble. Kites are also far more predictable, more stable and in the air and, what’s important on the beginning of your journey, much easier to fly.

You have to remember however, that it is still an extreme sport. And as such you should always approach it with respect and your first steps should be taken under an eye of an experienced kitesurfing instructor. Kites are very powerful and if you don’t know how to handle them things can get very hairy very fast.

Our kitesurfing school in Scotland employs only IKO-qualified instructors. IKO stands for International Kiteboarding Organisation. Their role is to make sure that all instructors are teaching kitesurfing in a safe way, following all right procedures and therefore producing safe and confident newcomers to the sport. Also, it helps us as instructors to teach effectively, helping our students to quickly progress to a level when they can safely practice on their own.

Kitesurfing is a life-changing sport. It really is. It shifts some of the priorities in your life. It helps you to stay fit as you are constantly working out without even noticing. You make different dietary choices, you move more to stay fit and instead of browsing movies on Netflix you’re searching for wind forecasts. There are a lot of kitesurfers who changed their whole lives to be able to kitesurf more and picked up on many other water sports soon after.

Kitesurfing is also very addictive. Once you start you can’t stop. No matter the weather, when the wind blows you just want to get out there and play. It might make you a weirdo in your friends eyes but as XYZ said, “it’s the feeling only a surfer knows”. But it’s a good type of addiction – it literally gives you wings, boosts your energy levels and drives you out of home whenever the trees are moving.

Kitesurfing Lessons Scotland, Kitesurfing School Edinburgh, Fife, Dundee, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Troon

“Only a surfer knows the feeling”, Billabong

It’s also an extremely varied sport. We’ve got kitesurfers in Scotland ranging from 12 to over 70 year-olds. It’s not all about going as huge as you can. For some it’s a way of escaping from the daily grind – no mobiles, texts or Facebook notifications. For some it’s a form of meditation, for others an adrenaline-injection when you go up 10 meters or more. It’s entirely up to you how you want to surf – you can make it a relaxing ride or a full-on extreme ride, boosting big and trying out new tricks.

With the right conditions you will be making your first boardstarts and runs after a 2 day course with the right instructors. Of course everyone learns at a different pace and remembering my struggles when I’ve moved on from windsurfing I remember my learning curve quite well. To be entirely honest my coordination sucks until my muscle memory picks something up and kicks in. So I know all about the frustration when starting something new. But I also know how to help! And so do our instructors.

Our kitesurfing lessons around Edinburgh are typically taking place in Longniddry – the capitol’s main kitesurfing beach when the winds are coming from the West. It’s only 20 minutes drive from the city centre and on a low tide it’s a great place to practice.

Kitesurfing lessons in Fife and Dundee are typically held either in Monifieth or Leven, depending on the wind direction. Both are great beaches to learn with quite shallow waters and few hazards.

When we run kitesurfing lessons around Aberdeen we normally go to Arbroath or we organise kitesurfing lessons in Nairn, Highlands with accommodation. It’s one of the best spots in Scotland with spectacular scenery and shallow waters helping with progress.