Yes necessary
Its complicated...different sizes difderent wind scales amd.directions
One story..
Bought own rigs second hand three sizes five yr old kites
Nearly died getting towed into a jetty wall
Had two hours lessons italian instr..i taught him scuba he taught me K.no money involved just am exchange bytheway
Never really learnt anything until years later surrounding myself with a lot of kiters as I learnt remotely....and still.learning as we all are forever
Yes to buying second hand as u u will smash or.loose them anyway
Yes to three hours lessons
Yes to a taster lesson much like a 'discover scuba'
U can die from.this...its an.independant sport not like compulsory buddy up type scuba at 30m

GO DO A TASTER SESSION if u r not sure...dont do it on yr own whatever u do

A big can of worms at that...as the other lads said highly recommended because once u have a crack u will b hooked like the rest of us .. I taught myself because I was living remotely and there was no one within 1000 km that did lessons ..but I did watch hours of utube how to clips and bought the beginners how to vid ..if u decide to go this way make sure u find a massive beach with no one within coo wee that u could hurt.. Start by going down on low wind days and practicing setting up with someone to give u a hand to launch and land get to know where in the window the power is and body drag ,self rescue ,use ur quick release ..as everyone says it's not recommended but it can b done...watch a few kite mares as these r mostly experienced kiters and they will give u an idea of things that can go wrong ...its ur neck
Good luck ..

Lessons are definitely worth it! :) This is a dangerous sport if you dont know what you are doing. Think of all the money you will save in medical/physio bills, destroyed gear, lawsuits, and lost income. Get lessons from qualified instructors that teach and assess you in practical self-rescue, rehearsal of safety system use, upwind body dragging, board retrieval, and other essential skills such as how to assess conditions and identify and avoid hazards. If you don't get trained properly, you will endanger yourself and other kiters/beach users. If you are going to just get a kite and try to figure it out for yourself, please let us know where and when, so we can avoid getting taken out by you when you discover the power zone by accident and how not to fly a kite :) I am a brand newbie and spent lots on lessons (had a bout 6 in total), but they have been very worthwhile :) Please get lessons :)

Very experienced people die from kiting.

It's not a safe sport.

To quote my friend "In kiting **** happens." Basically, your trying to operate the controls of a ski boat on the end of 80ft of string. Works good when the strings are under tension but lack of kite flying skills and vagaries of wind mean those lines are going to get tangled, possibly around some part of you. Combine this with the fact that a tangled kite tends to default go to developing a huge amount of power and you will see why learning this sport on your own is such a dangerous idea.

There are some sports that are just too risky to teach yourself, kiting being one of them.

You really do need someone to show you, be it a qualified instructor or competent friend.

To try and teach yourself using say DVDs and YouTube is definitely going to end badly.

Their should probably be more discussion on how to choose an instructor and what to look for to get quality instruction. In my local area I don't see too many that I would feel comfortable in using but I must admit it's more about their attitude on the beach that I base this on. Starting 16 years ago I was self taught but you had to back then but even in those days I was well aware of the dangers and managed to stay safe. Having taught people when kite schools were just not around I think we did a OK job but I think structured teaching as they do now with better equipment means you just don't need to do it yourself and with so many people on the water these days you can become a real danger to others and get in the way. So I would recommend lesson are mandatory these days and unless your in a remote location the days of self taught are over.
My advice on picking an instructor would be to talk to a few and the ones that focus on safety, who have a structured way of explaining the teaching process and that are confidant and calm would be my pick. If you hear them talk about how quickly they get you on the board or you get that rushed feeling then maybe not. Look at the equipment to like radio communications and quality in the kites.

An off the wall example. Qualified phys ed teacher, got to level 2 IKO.. My daughter 9 years old wanted to learn a backflip. 3 months of nagging.
I cant do a backflip/back spring etc. I cant teach it.

She learnt a difficult move in one day. through an experienced coach

No you don't need leesons, but it comes at a price.

I tought myself, and proud of it. But I was lucky that all that happened was I got dragged up the beach and into a tree. Lucky it was an isolated spot otherwise I could have taken out everyone in my parth.

I don't suggest teaching your self, but you can do it. Just make sure there is no one else on the beach, so your the only one that gets ****ed up, because you will get ****ed up!

No you don't need lessons but in this day and age you would be stupid not to have some.

This is a dangerous sport, If you look on the forum you will see that a Kiter tragically died in Brisbane only this week, keep looking and you will see other examples of experienced kiters who have had serious life changing accidents, search the Internet for "nics sore head" and you will find a blog from the family of a guy who had an accident at Altona in 2012 who now has a mental disability and is still being rehabilitated. An experienced guy at my local, Laurie, had an horrific accident which took 5 years before he returned to work, he has permanent physical and mental issues..... Everybody knows somebody...

This is is a great sport, for your own safety, the safety of others and to stop further restrictions being placed on our sport, have some good lessons..

Fetseun said..
So I may be opening a can of worms here. But caution thrown to the wind.

I'm complete newbie kite surfing and lessons seem to be expected, but I'm not keen on investing in lessons until I know it's for me.

Now it's not arrogance - to what is obviously a very involved sport and takes control and skills.

But I've always been self taught and enjoy the process of learning a new skill. And I don't want to commit $480 to a course that I might never follow up again.

So my question isn't whether getting instruction is worth it. Because I'm sure it is.

But I want to get a second hand rig and give it a try and see how I go. Is that reckless or is kite surfing like any other sport and just takes time and effort to improve.

How did most of you start? Mates, instruction or did you just get a rig and give it a try.

No. You do not need lessons. Ideally yes, but not necessary. However, you need a mature enough and respectable attitude to want to learn the sport fair-dinkum! If you're out there with your mates ****ing around, throwing kites all over the place and not giving a **** about the general public let alone your own safety - then YES - lessons are mandatory for those ****wits!

If you are going to self teach get one of those beginners videos. They help alot.

You still probably need someone to show you how to set it up and some basics.

It's faster and safer to have lessons rather than teach yourself. Go down to any beginners beach and objectively watch the people who are teaching themselves or learning with mates compared with those getting instruction. You'll learn more in a week of kiting instruction than you will in a month of self-teaching. So when thinking about paying for lessons, factor in what your time is worth.

Second, if you teach yourself or learn from a mate, you almost certainly won't have the right gear to learn on. You either have to buy gear that you aren't going to use for very long, or you will be trying to learn on equipment that isn't suitable. Think of learning to drive on a ****ty Kingswood ute which doesn't quite sync in first or a turbo HSV- you can do it, but the driving instructor's excel is probably a better place to start. If you buy the gear that you are going to use, you will potentially trash your new investment. with lessons, you are not only paying for the instructors expertise but also the use of their equipment (and the risk of trashing it), and if you do hurt yourself or someone else then you aren't going to be footing a liability suit.

once you factor in your time and the equipment costs, the lessons aren't that expensive. kiting is not a cheap sport, and if you can't afford the lessons then it might be worth considering putting it on hold, as safe modern kiting gear is going to cost you at least twice what the lessons would. As the red hot chilli peppers would say, 'go back to the valley man'.

As some of the other posters have noted, back in the day we learnt without lessons, because you couldn't get any. But pretty much everybody copped a beat down. If you learnt to kite on a 2 line it was a punishing experience. Things are safer now and you can potentially teach yourself, but you might spend a season getting to the same level as somebody else who has got lessons and got the right gear.

Poor equipment choices combined with no kite flying or accredited lessons . . . Great choice as u will be the one frustrated or worse hurt through these poor choices. Good for me one less idiot at my spot.
When advising people's on taking up the sport I always mention do you like the ocean. That said I highlight that sh.... does happen and getting accredited lessons, good gear choices and not being scared of floating around retrieving lines make this sport fantastic. . . .I think the advice is clear . . . . .no one at my spot again . . . Great day for boosting and trying to back roll

There's two huge advantages to lessons:
1. You learn to avoid the most obvious ways to kill yourself and others.
2. You get to destroy somebody else's gear in the process.

Realistically you don't learn to kiteboard in lessons. Kiteboarding is a skill sport and the only way to acquire skills is to practice, lots. Nobody is going to pay a school for all the hours of practice you need to learn the muscle memory from scratch.

Still, it's better to start off aware of the dangers and have some idea of how to start off.