It's a great day to fly a kite guys! - Kitesurfing in Turkey

Akyaka - Turkey 2017

When I first started surfing (waves back than) in 2004 in Portugal and felt the rush of adrenalin that comes with it, I got addicted immediately. Having just a board between you and the wave and riding it felt so natural, so intense... Of course it was also the hardest thing I ever did. I could only go surfing once a year and had over the years just a tiny progress...

You don't always have the best looks on the board:) Bali - Indonesia 2007

Then I discovered kitesurfing in 2015... In Gökçeada, Turkey. This time, it was not just you and your board and the sea. You had to wear and use 7 different equipment pieces, and I didn't like that much in the beginning. It took me 2-3 lessons on the shore and at the see to learn to control the kite and understand the wind. At last I had my board in one hand, my kite 25m above me in the other hand, my eyes on Volkan - my teacher - giving me encouraging looks, hands a little shaky... Andd of course I was pulled by my kite and fell down, many times. It took me about 6-7 hours to stand on my board. On my 8.-9. hour, I was actually controlling the force of wind in my advantage and riding! It was 100 times easier to make progress in comparison to wave surfing! And the feeling was incredible.

This was the first time I was controlling such a force with my own hands, and it felt so big, so much bigger than me. I had this huge kite (sometimes 9 or 12, but sometimes 14 even 15 sq meters! depending on the wind) 25 meters high in the air and I was tied to it with my harness, using it to manipulate the wind to move me! Sometimes getting smacked by it, sometimes getting rewarded... It amazed me.

Kos - Greece 2016

Today, 2 years after the very first time kitesurfing, I had the chance to try out 6 different spots and spent about 25-30 hours in the sea - sometimes struggling, sometimes having a little nervous breakdown (for example your kite falls down and you can't get it up in the air again for a long long time..), but sometimes actually kitesurfing. 20-30 hours is actually in average the time you need to spent kitesurfing (or at least trying) in order to understand it really, get the feeling of the wind, your board, get in control of your kite and ride longer distances.. I'm sure some only need 15 hours till they get it wright, well I needed a little longer. Had many injuries. And I'm still loving it:)

Urla - Turkey 2016

So here are some quick tips for beginners:

1. After your first 10-15 lessons, if you're still loving it, buy your own equipment. Renting gets too expensive at the end. I ordered my set last year (9 m / 12 m slingshot) from USA. I bought a new kiteset, but from the year before, and I got 2 kites for the price of 1 almost. You can of course always buy second hand at first. I can write a more detailed story about that if anyones interested.

2. Choose an onshore wind spot for learning. Sideshore meant for me lots of walking with the kite in one hand and the board the other, since I wasn't be able the ride upwind as a beginner and ended up far away from the spot.

3. Waves will make it very difficult in the beginning for you, so if you can avoid them and find a spot in a bay, the water is only knee-high, no waves and the wind comes from the sea, perfect:) But no worries, I loved it even thought I started in Gökçeada with lots of waves. I just want to frame out the best circumstances for beginners.

I also have so funny videos actually with little accidents etc., such a pity we can't post here any. It's not always a happy ending, it can get frustrating, but is always a challenge, lots of fun and a great deal of adrenalin rush...

Hope to see you in the water soon:)