I've witnessed good practices from action sports branch of instructors and esc Exmouth
Anyone who'll take you and a few mates as a group lesson imho should be left alone

Its not the school its the instructor.

Depending on your location. North of river Action sports, south of river West Oz boardsports at safety bay. Location wise, the beach looks more learner friendly at safety bay.

i dont recommend soulkite

Thanks to those who posted a reply or PM'd me some info. I thought I'd post an update here, so that if anyone else has the same dilemma, then this could perhaps be of use :) Ok, so here is what I have learned...

I have now pulled the trigger on lessons and am so far 2 hours into it :) Great fun.

I was recommended Christian (kitebud.com) by a few people, and it seems that he is the overwhelming crowd favorite. The only reason I didn't go with him was that a mate of mine and I decided to have a crack at this together and we went with a school that could give us 2 instructors at the same time (not being instructed together, just the same time on the same beach). I was also unable to do much research on lessons through Christian's website (kitebud) with no info on price per hour etc.. Not a big deal, but I did do a fair bit of research online before I started calling around.

Other than Christian, the schools that I received positive feedback from were; WestOz, WA Surf and Action Sports (North of the River). I'm sure there are plenty of other good experiences out there, so consider these guys a part of a bigger list

I live north of the river, so Rockingham isn't the most convenient, but I did eventually decide to make the longer trip down there, as everyone I have spoken to has said it is pretty much the best place to learn. I won't say who I went with, as I'm only 1x2 hour lesson into it and I have no reason to think that these guys are any better or worse than the other school down here. I am however, very happy with my choice so far.

I was attracted by the offers that many schools are making, of "get the value of your lessons off the cost of equipment" or "special price for our students", but I wouldn't recommend to anyone that this be a part of their decision process, as it is pretty much a scam, or to be more fair (that was way harsh) - doesn't really work the way you would initially (naively) want it to. All the stores will generally sell you a package at the best price they can and the special deal is only off full RRP, with their existing packages that is offered to everyone being a better deal already.

Cheers