I quote “Take to the skies….flying across the waves at breakneck speed…” yes yes that captures us quite well!

http://bk.asia-city.com/travel/article/travel-guide-pranburis-best-restaurant-hotels-and-thing-do

Many many thanks to James at BBR – http://www.brackleshamboardriders.co.uk/ – for very kindly giving me the GoPro. I guess he must have thought i was a great instructor when i was working for him! (little did he know…) but seriously – big thanks James, it’s very very appreciated.

So we had 18-25kts, 1-2m waves, and i was flying on my 7m. A little underpowered at times, but not half bad!

November-December is winter time in Thailand, so the North East monsoon winds kick in. We get 15-18kts pretty regular, and then some days 20-25kts. Nice!!

(Click the Play/Pause button to Play/Stop)

It’s off the hook!!!

Wow what a month! perfect blue skies and perfect SE thermal winds. Starts around midday, gets really good around 3, comes down after sunset. Last year was not great in feb but this year it’s totally different!
Everybody’s sore, needing days off from all the kiting. but we can’t stop!

A lot of success stories this month, including 10 year old Hugo:

(Click to see the album on picasa)

And the girls Pat, and Ammo:

The boys look on…

Click to see the March 2010 pictures>>

A strange month compared to last year – we had some good strong North Easterlies at the end of December but then for some crazy reason we got 10 days of South Easterly over christmas and new year. Weird! Then back to the normal N.Easterly for a bit, then straight into S.Easterly by the end of Jan.
Difficult to plan the lessons, but we got had some excellent students and all coped very well.
The Christmas and New year’s parties were great – fire out the back of the shop, guitars, good food. just what we like!

He’s up! And he’s down… And he’s up! And he’s down… Well that’s the way it goes when you’re learning. Andrew has great kite control and bags and bags of determination so he’ll get it pretty soon.
Another happy kiter!

A good question! The world is your oyster these days – there are kite schools everywhere. But like any watersport, it’s nicer to learn in warm water with less people around. The ideal spot would have small or no waves and shallow rock free water, would be near your accommodation and would have good winds. To help you choose, here are some facts about learning to Kiteboard in Thailand:

1. The wind is great in Thailand – but not everywhere all the time!
   You have to choose where to go depending on which month we’re in. And if you want to kite in sunshine and clear water, don’t come here in rainy season – mid-June until mid-October.
2. The sea temperature is 20-30 in winter and 25-30 in summer. It’s pretty warm all year round!
3. Winter gets clouds and strong winds, summer clear skies and hot sunshine
   In November the North Easterlies switch on and run steady until mid January. Regular 15kts and often 20+ but all in the morning. February to June the South Westerly thermal winds create an almost perfect spot – 15-20kts, sunshine, wind in the afternoon so you can get up late!
4. It’s cheap to learn here, and cheap to buy equipment.
   But don’t choose your instructor based on price – talk to him/her first! A bad instructor will take twice as long to get you riding so ends up being twice the price. And cheap equipment will not be as good – so it will take you longer to learn and when you sell it you won’t get as much back for it. If you’re scared you might not like kitesurfing – don’t worry!
5. Thai food – mmmmmmm!!!!
6. Accommodation is cheap in Thailand.
   As everywhere, rooms overlooking the beach are expensive, those set back a bit are cheaper. Thailand has a massive tourist industry – there’s always plenty of choice!
7. You can be up and riding comfortably in a week.
   The Full Beginner’s course takes 3 days, and if you keep practising the rest of the week you’ll have it cracked.
8. Thailand is a hub for world flights – it’s easy to get here.
   Pranburi is 3hours from the airport – you could be on the water in 3hrs20mins!
9. There are plenty of no wind activities:
   Kayaks, Jetskis, Banana boat, ATV Tours, Mountain Biking, Sightseeing Tours, Shopping in Hua Hin. Or just relaxing on the beach!
10. Thailand is very much discovered – but Kiteboarding is not – yet!
    So instead of 300 kitesurfers crowding onto a beach we have 30. Perfect…

www.airstylerskiteschool.com

ok ok the website is not quite done yet – i’m making a ‘super duper hero’ of a website. Well trying to…
But we have wind, and sun, and clear water, and still nobody on the beach!

So I got to play a little yesterday…