This is the most common question students ask before taking kiteboarding lessons in Cabarete, Dominican Republic.

The short answer: Around 4-5 days of training about 2 hour per day

The long answer: The time it takes to learn kiteboarding depends on many factors.

Fitness & Other Sports Experience

• Wakeboarders & race car drivers can learn annoyingly quickly, but really the more active you are the easier it will be. One frustrating caveat for windsurfers – you guys need to retrain your muscles toward pushing away, instead of pulling (as you do with the boom) which can take some time.

Age

• Irritating but true. younger = easier.  Now, I believe your chronological age (years lived) can be different than your biological age. So for all those young at heart, and staying young with lifestyle, rejoice!

Dedication

• An important one. This is totally within your control – doesn’t matter what you’ve done before or how many trips around the sun you’ve made. It’s up to you to choose the right mindset for learning. You can choose to put in the focused effort: preparing by watching my videos, showing up for your lesson rested, hydrated, not hungover etc. Small moments add up, like taking the time to debrief with your coach. And most important, keeping your mind straight during those moments when it gets hard. 

Natural Ability

• You’ll know if you’ve got this within a few minutes of flying the kite. Some people, for whatever reason, are just better at keeping the kite in the air.

Your Definition of “I learned kiteboarding”

• When you say: “I Learned Kiteboarding,” what does that mean? Standing up on the board? Sliding a few meters? Riding out and back? Staying upwind? Jumping? I recommend approaching the learning journey with a sense of zeal and feeling the sense of pride an accomplishment of being a person who is learning kiteboarding….there is always more to learn. 

Luck with the Wind

• Yes, a lot of it will come down to luck. Good wind (steady speed, consistent direction, and many days in a row) makes things exponentially better. In my professional experience this rarely happens – so if you’re struggling with no wind, light wind, gusty wind, shifty wind or just plain bad wind then give yourself a break….

And there you have it! The quick and dirty and the more detailed explanation of how long it takes to learn kiteboarding. To keep the conversation going and post your own question to me, join my Facebook Group: Awesome Kiteboarders.

One last thought – the time you spend learning kiteboarding might be the best time you spend this year. So get down to Cabarete for kiteboarding lessons soon!