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KITESURFING FAQ

answering questions you may have

Kite surfing classes in kalpitiya, Sri Lanka, Matt Kwantes, Setha Wadi, Surfing

question & Answer
collection

frequently asked questions
about kitesurfing

We provide all the gear you will need for your lesson, and it’s included in the price: harness, safety helmet, impact vest, surf booties. You may want to bring sunglasses, or a shade hat that can fit under your helmet. If you have a favourite pair of surf booties, you can bring those. (You’ll also need sunscreen.) Some students wish to wear long-sleeved or long-legged lycras (rashguards) against the sun. These are available locally or in our shop. One thing you won’t need here is a wetsuit!
Lessons are typically 2-3 hours long, plus the free Technical Sessions back at the Centre. Of course, if you get tired before the end of your lesson, we can stop. We don’t believe that there is any benefit to pushing you to the point of fatigue. If you feel good and want to run your lessons longer, we can also do that if time permits.
If you have experience with other, related sports– paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, wakeboarding, sailing, etc—it will definitely help you progress faster with things like understanding the wind, board skills, or being comfortable in a kiting environment. But don’t worry– if this is your first sea, wind or board sport, we can still get you there! And if you have some experience with kite lessons already, we can easily pick up where you left off, refresh your skills, fill in the gaps where necessary, and help you continue.
No, we provide all the kite-related equipment, it’s included in the lesson fee. You may want to bring (or buy) your own personal wear items like sunglasses, lycras, hat, etc. If you have your own kite equipment that you want to use, we can help you make sure it is tuned properly, and use it for your lesson where appropriate.
The majority of our lessons are single, private lessons. This is for safety reasons, as well as because we believe that best results come from individual attention. An exception to this is what we call “Partner Lessons,” which we offer at a cheaper per-person rate. Partner lessons are best for the first few hours of your kite lesson, where you share a kite and learn many of the basic procedures you’ll be using later in the lesson. Here we teach you how to work together and watch out for each other using the buddy system. It’s a little less intense than a single lesson, as it allows you to stand back for a few minutes at a time, and learn from watching your partner’s mistakes and successes.
As kitesurfing is considered an extreme sport, we are very careful about offering lessons to younger students. We can’t say a specific age, but we make a judgement on a case by case basis. Yes, younger and smaller kids can learn to kitesurf. It does, however, require a certain level of maturity to remember (and follow) safety practices, as well as a suggested minimum body weight (approx. 40 kilos), because of the kite’s power. Usually, when parents ask about lessons for their children, I respond with something like: “If you feel comfortable with me giving your child the keys to a 250cc motorbike, we can talk about lessons.” Sometimes it’s better for a kid to start with something simpler, like stand up paddling or beginner windsurfing.
Unfortunately, that does happen sometimes, in any kiting location. But don’t worry— we don’t lock people into prepaid packages, or charge for the lesson if we can’t teach because the wind is not suitable. (That could also mean that it’s too strong or gusty, which happens sometimes too.) We don’t believe that teaching in marginal wind is effective. Just relax, enjoy the pool or rest, and we’ll start back up when the wind does.

Yes, we do—to both our students and to other guests– if you are at a level where you are a safe and independent kiter. Please see this page.

It can be! An out-of-control kite can cause serious damage to the kiter, or to others nearby. But kitesurfing can be done safely, too. That’s why we teach risk management and good practices at every step of the way. As with any extreme sport, there is always a “random element” that must be allowed for. But nearly all the accidents, scary incidents, and injuries we’ve seen can be traced back to bad decisions, inadequate training, or improper procedures.

That’s a complicated question, and depends on many things. It depends on you the student, on the conditions you’re learning in, on your instructor, your equipment, and so forth. In general, it may take some days before you start to get your first short rides. After that, it takes time and experience until you are consistently staying upwind (can control which direction you can ride).

We suggest avoiding the idea of “getting up on the board” in as little time as possible. The only way to achieve this is by cutting corners on safety procedures and leaving out important points of self-sufficiency. We’d rather teach you to take good care of yourself out on the water first, develop good kite control, and then start with riding. Experience has taught us that in the long run, this takes less time anyway. And, it’s safer.

There’s no way around this one. You must be a competent swimmer, comfortable in deep water, for us to start your lesson. Unfortunately, we see too many instructors offering kite lessons to people who are not good swimmers. Even in a “shallow location,” you may find your head under water, or waves hitting your face. You’ll need to be able to deal with your gear in a potentially stressful situation without panicking. And even in a so-called “shallow location,” you may find yourself somewhere where your feet do not touch the bottom. It’s also unsafe to kite if the water is too shallow (less than waist-high). “A life vest or floatation device is not a substitute for swimming ability.”
You don’t need to be an Olympic athlete, but you must have a basic health level before starting to kitesurf. We check each of our students for health or medical conditions which may affect their lesson before starting. Like pretty much any other sport, kitesurfing can be strenuous when learning and requires a certain amount of strength and co-ordination.

Usually, the first day is “ground school,” so named because it’s all done on land. Here you learn the basics of judging your conditions, setting up and managing your kite, launching your kite from your helper’s hand into the air, and some important first skills of piloting your kite. We also teach you some emergency procedures, like the kite recovery. Please see “Phase One” of the kitesurfing syllabus on the lessons page for a more detailed list of the first things you’ll learn.

Setha Wadi Kite School, Kalpitiya

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  • Kalpitiya Road
  • Kalpitiya
  • Sri Lanka

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Sethawadi Kite Surfing School
Setha Wadi Kite School, Kalpitiya

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