Learn to kitesurf
Kitesurfing is quicker to learn than most people think: a few lessons and you are up on the board. The order does matter, though, because a kite is not a toy. Here is how to go about it, and these are the places where learning comes easiest.
Can you teach yourself to kitesurf?
We strongly advise against it. A kite pulls hard enough to lift you off the beach, and your first metres are always full of mistakes. At a kite school you learn to set up safely, steer the kite, body drag and water start in two to four lessons, using the school's gear and with an instructor who steps in before things go wrong. After that you can practise on your own.
Which Dutch kite spots are best for beginners?
Spots with shallow, flat water and plenty of room: Workum (It Soal) and Makkum on the IJsselmeer, the Brouwersdam and the Grevelingenmeer (Kabbelaarsbank) in the Delta, and Vrouwenpolder in Zeeland. You can often still stand where you practise, and without waves you learn faster. Always choose onshore or side-onshore wind.
How much wind do you need to kitesurf as a beginner?
Somewhere between 12 and 20 knots, depending on your weight and kite size. Too little wind means swimming, too much wind means getting overpowered; neither teaches you much. For beginners Windulu deliberately uses a lower skill constant, so the go/no-go advice and the kite size stay on the cautious side.
What does learning to kitesurf cost?
Expect a few hundred euros for a course of two to four half-day sessions at a school, gear included. A beginner set of your own (kite, bar, board, harness and wetsuit) then often costs less second-hand than a new set; many kiters start second-hand and upgrade later.
Beginner-friendly spots at a glance
Flat, shallow water and room, that is what it comes down to. Check the current wind and the go/no-go advice for each spot: Workum (It Soal), Makkum, Brouwersdam, Grevelingen (Kabbelaarsbank) and Vrouwenpolder. You will find more spots per area on the region pages: IJsselmeer, Delta and Zeeland.
Safety first
The most important rule is non-negotiable: never sail in offshore wind, because it blows you away from the coast and out onto open water. Set your weight, level and kites on Windulu; the advice for each spot takes that into account and automatically marks offshore wind as no-go. You can read how that works on the method page, and the kite size calculator shows you which size suits your weight and wind.