Questions Questions Questions.

The first thing you should do is GET A LESSON from a QUALIFIED INSTRUCTOR.

I know that most people will say:

"I am cool and smart and strong, I don't need to waste my money on some stupid lesson". <---dumb guy talking here

But what will happen is that you will rush out to the field or lake, pump the kite up, launch it up in the air and (if you got it all hooked up correctly in the first place) fly it around for about .5 seconds before it launches you off the ground, slams you in to the ground HARD, breaks your leg/arm/collar bone and then pounds the kite into a fence/tree/bush/road/rocks and destroys the kite. So, the money you THOUGHT you were saving by not taking a lesson turns into thousands of dollars on hospital bills, loss of work and severe pain, plus, another thousand dollars to replace your now destroyed kite and gear.

So....GET A LESSON FIRST and go the cheap and inexpensive route to kite surfing! A couple hundred dollars on a lesson (or two or three) is always cheaper than an ambulance ride to the emergency room.

Just my opinion.

I think Txhooter is right ... for liability reasons I assume, all the schools I've used in the past year have first checked my kite skills. That lasted about 10 minutes :D Nick here and KBA in Thailand were great - had me rig the kite (after the crew had pumped it up for me ) then launch assisted, I showed them I could fly it then we set out on the board. Nick here also used his video camera and a helmet radio to give advice - awesome!

There's been big discussions on kiteforum.com about this but IMO if you're one of us who can fly and control a power kite, I think there's a lot you can do by yourself (or with a DVD) with kitesurfing ... and a bit of common sense.

I bought a $100 kite to learn to pump, rig, launch, land, body drag, repair , pack etc ... I think stuff like that "we" can learn by ourselves or with a buddy we trust pointing out the details, using a DVD too check safety points and then get a lesson when we want to get up on a board. IMO again you need the feedback of someone pointing out "You're trying to go too far upwind too soon" etc.

It is, IMO (again!) about experience - out on the water, put the time in.

What I would recommend is to contact the individual instructors and talk with them. I fully agree that the "kiteboarding for dummies 10 step program" is kind of a waste if you already fly depowerable power kites and have flying experience. You obviously don't need to spend 3 hours flying a two line trainer kite on the beach.

Surf kites are depowerable systems, using a harness and controlling the power through the control bar by sliding it away or towards you. You also have the power adjuster strap which controls overall power output through the angle of attack. This type of setup can take some time to master if you have only flown stunt kites or standard fixed bridle power kites. Still, this is no reason you should waste your hard earned money spending an hour flying a two line trainer on the beach if you have already been flying four line power kites for years.

Talk to the instructors and let them know what your kiting skills and experience is. They should be more than willing to work with you on putting a lesson package together that will teach you the things you have not yet learned and get you up on the water faster. Most instructors don't like spending hours on the beach teaching someone to pull left or right and would prefer getting someone with some kiting experience, especially if they already know and respect the power these kites can produce.

If the instructor you are talking to insists on the 10 step program and wants you to spend 3 hours flying a two line trainer, I would recommend finding a different instructor.

Even though you stress to your instructor that you have plenty of kiting experience, I would expect them to insist you spend at least a couple minutes with them on setup and basic flying just so they can be assured that you actually know what you are talking about. Safety first always!

Looking at your profile listing, you put that you are in south Texas. I know of quite a few schools down around South Padre Island that will work with you. Get with Jeff Howard at Prokitesurf. Jeff is a total stand up guy and not only runs his shop, but has a school as well. Jeff is also an avid buggier and power kiter so he will fully understand your situation and should be able to work out a deal for you on lessons. He would also probably be the best information source for other schools and teachers that may be closer to you.

If lessons are totally not possible then I would suggest picking up a HQ Hyrdra 350. This is a trainer, but it is a water relaunchable trainer that you can use to learn more things like body dragging and getting back upwind to your board and water relaunching and it comes on a control bar that will help if you have spent most of your time on handles. Once you get that mastered then you can probably move on from there to a depowerable system. The Hydra costs a couple hundred bucks - so you will want to compare that cost against the lessons and decide which one will really end up being less expensive in the long run. Unless you plan on passing the Hydra to others to use or reselling it, after you move onto a full surf rig the Hydra will be pretty much useless to you.

Hope that helps.

Thank you everyone for all of the info.

@awindofchange
I was thinking about buying the Hydra but I think that lessons would be more worth the money seeing that they let me use a kite that i can (and probably will) ruin