Kiteboard Lessons … Safety First

Kite boarding is an EXTREME Sport!

Would you learn to skydive with an uncertified instructor?

No you wouldn’t … So don’t learn to kiteboard with anything less than Certified and Experienced  instruction.

How do you know your getting a SAFE and productive kiteboarding lesson?

Do’s & Don’ts : Kiteboard Lessons

The Do’s

  • Make sure your kiteboarding School is honest and transparent with their credentials.
  • Make sure they’re Certified … ask to see his instructor certification card and notice the date he became an instructor. If they are certified , they will have a valid card from the certification agency (IKO or PASA) . You can also look them up on the certification agencies web site, and view how long they’ve been teaching, and even how many hours of instruction they have taught.
  • Make sure they have a business license … ask to see his city business license.
  • Make sure he has insurance to teach kiteboarding as a school … insurance to teach for other schools is not insurance to teach as a school … don’t get scammed, ask to see his school insurance binder.
  • See if your instructor make you sign a waiver and medical statement with their name listed on the waiver? If not, find a real instructor.
  • Make sure your instructor provides and/or requires all essential safety equipment for your lesson? Helmets, CGA life jacket, kite leash, protection against the hazards, like booties and wetsuit?
  • Do make sure your instructor has an assortment of kite sizes and boards to match your needs and various wind conditions.

 

The Don’ts

  • Don’t take kiteboarding lessons with a particular instructor /school, because they are cheaper.
  • Don’t believe everything see … ask for proof.
  • Don’t forget, you are learning and Extreme sport.
  • Don’t let your instructor tie you to himself or another object with a rope, leash or other system ? They will be endangering you and they are obviously not a legitimate instructor. If they’re certified, they are violating safety standards and unsafe to teach this sport to anyone.
  • Don’t let your instructor use a board leash to tether you to the kiteboard? If so, they are violating well established safety standards … board leashes are band by all kite certification agencies.
  • Don’t let your instructor send you into or towards other riders or into other water users. Beginners must learn downwind of others.
  • Don’t settle for less that the best instructor and the safest lesson
  • Don’t endanger yourself or others, by learning unsafe practices from unsafe instructors.
  • Don’t waste you money on unsafe, inexperienced and/or illegitimate instruction.
  • Don’t forget: 1 good lesson is safer and more productive than a 100 bad lessons.
  • Don’t learn from friends or other kiters.

Bottom line:

Anyone can make a website that falsely states they know how to teach kiteboarding. For your own safety and/or the safety of your children … don’t blindly trust that … check them out. Asks questions and get proof.

Manta Water Sports is the only IKO & PASA certified lesson operator in San Diego. We are the only operation that is insured to teach kiteboarding as a school.

John Arthur (Founder and Chief Instructor) has been teaching this sport since 1999. He has thousands of lessons, and thousands of hours, teaching this sport safely. Be safe and wise with your money …. take your lessons from Manta Water Sports.

 

Your safety and the safety of others is our #1 objective … It should also be yours.

 

Links to Kite instructors around the world.

Note: Most instructors are not business owners who teach. Most are just part time instructors who occasionally work for a school.

IKO (International Kiteboarding Organization) www.IKOintl.com

PASA (Professional Air Sports Association) PASA.org

Manta Water Sports (IKO & PASA certified instructor) www.MantaWaterSports.com