Learning to Kitesurf in Cornwall with the Caribbean coloured water and the beautiful Cornish coastline along with the best kitesurfing schools and kitesurfing instructors in the country is an opportunity not to be missed for any adrenalin junky.

Kitesurfing in Cornwall

Explore South West has teamed up with the best kitesurfing schools in Cornwall. Due to the popularity of this relatively new sport, it is sometimes hard for pupils to find instructors to teach them. Explore South West has a kitesurfing database full of instructors available around Cornwall. If we can´t get you booked into a kitesurfing lesson, then no one can!

What is Kitesurfing?

Kitesurfing....Imagine accelerating from 0 mph to 20 mph in a couple of seconds, using nothing but the wind, jump 30 feet in the air and hover effortlessly for seconds and then calmly touch down again. Kitesurfing is a cross between windsurfing, wakeboarding, snowboarding, paragliding and skateboarding. It is a pure sport that relies on two elements, air and water.

It is a common misconception that kitesurfing requires strength. This is not so. Whilst kitesurfing, the kitesurf harness takes most of the strain. The arms do most of the work, but once you are an accomplished rider, it is possible for even the weakest kitesurfer to ride for hours on end.

Learn to Kitesurf in Cornwall

Why not learn how to kitesurf in Cornwalls breathtaking scenery with the most experienced instructors in the U.K.? Cornwall has been known as the best place to kitesurf in Britain since kitesurfing came to the Cornish shores in the late 1990´s. Watergate bay opened the 1st Kitesurfing School in 1997 which opened the flood gates for budding kiters to learn their sport

If you are interested in giving kitesurfing a go, but are not sure if the sport is definitely for you, then the intro session is an ideal and fun way to experience the activity without having to commit to a full International Kitesurfing Organisation course. It is not possible, nor safe, to get on a board in such a short space of time but this course will give you a taste of what the sport is all about.

During the 2 hour course you will be taught the basics of kite flying, get to use the kitesurfing equipment and towards the end of the lesson you will get the choice to either fly the kite while hooked into a harness, or use the kite to pull you through the water ? body dragging! *



Explore South West is able to take groups of up to 12, so why not go the whole hog and take the 2 day course!

2 Day IKO Beginners

The full beginners course is spread over three days and will get you to a level where you are safe to practice on your own, but some people choose to complete the first two days of this course and complete the final day at a later date if they enjoy it. Each day is approximately five hours long, four hours tuition and a break for lunch*. No previous experience is required but any background in powerkiting, wake boarding, windsurfing, sailing or surfing will definitely help you progress further during the course.

This course aims to covers level 1 and part of level 2 of the IKO (International Kiteboarding Organisation) standards and gain you your IKO kiteboarder card for the level you attain, similar to the PADI scheme for diving**. The course runs through basic flying, set up, pack down, self rescue techniques, water re launching, basic weather, wind and tide knowledge, body-dragging and un-hooked board-starting.

By the end of the course if you have successfully completed all the necessary skills, our aim is to get you up and riding for the first time and hopefully so hooked that you come back to complete the rest of level 2 and learn to ride and adjust the power while hooked into the power loop. The only thing we do recommend is not to have too bigger break before you finish the course so that you do not forget everything and slow the progress of others when you return.

*the course duration does not include getting changed /unchanged and organising equipment, because of this, students must allow more than five hours each day to complete the course. If weather/tide conditions are not favourable we may also have to delay the start time.

**Not all students will successfully achieve all the course aims as it is dependant on the individual?s own ability.

Explore South West can now also offer advanced lessons, and strapless lessons for those who want to push themselves to their limits.

Kitesurfing or kiteboarding is now a massive sport in Cornwall and the demand just keeps getting bigger and bigger. It is the type of sport which you need to have lessons to make sure that you know how to kite safely.

Kitesurfing looks and is an easy sport to get to grips with, but what is widely underestimated is the power of a kitesurfing kite. A kite with enough power to lift a kiter out of the water has as much power as a 90hp motorboat engine. The only difference is that the kites power is instantaneous where as a motor boat takes time to get up to speed.

New technologies in kite manufacture and design have now made kitesurfing even easier to learn and infinitely safer. Modern Bow, or Hybrid kites now have 100% depower once the control bar is pushed away. As well as this, modern kites are now easy to relaunch after crashing and handle gusty conditions with ease. It has never been easier or safer to learn to kitesurf.