Had lessons 3 years ago years ago with west oz they were pretty good, but wa surf have a pretty good rep too!
Depends on instructors, meet them have a chat and go with your gut feel.

Heya,

i got lessons in safety bay towards the end of last season. I had a great time, the instructors are super friendly and always happy to help out.


They had plenty of good advice and all lessons are done 1 on 1, so you get all the attention :) and they have no prob being in the water with you so no need for any fancy head gear with a radio.

They are also really flexible with times. I got my gear from them, i have found that they are actually a bit expensive, but i did not know any better back then.

At that stage i was struggling a bit for transport and got stranded, i missed the bus :( but luckily on of them was kind enough to offer me a ride into the city!!

cheers

yeah i went with them last year there pritty good, gear is abit more expensive but i didnt know better or care at the time just wanted my own gear, i have noticed now that they stock slingshot gear, they didnt at the time i was there just north gear, yeah give them a look

destine said...

and they have no prob being in the water with you so no need for any fancy head gear with a radio.

Really... is that what they told you. So your saying when you got up for the first time and started baring off down wind out of control they just kept up by swimming beside you installing all that confidence and info to progress to being able to go upwind.

It's a fact that instead of using the best tools and coaching technique available for a quality lesson they would rather preach that they don't need it.

As mentioned already it comes down to who your instructor is. There not just 2 schools, Elemental and AKS are other options.

Another consideration is that Safety Bay is onshore and shoalwater is cross shore in a summer breeze.

destine said...

Guess i got lucky, i got the slingshot octane the day they started selling it, they had just tested it the day before.

No luck in that, you just got an over priced kite that they stock. It was either going to be that or a North.

I had some lessons a little earlier this year with west Oz and found them great! and i thought their gear was reasonably priced, especially now with the superseeded models.

On the subject of the radios, they are a big help.

WA surf : Very nice and helpfull instructors,..but gear is VERY expensive and to rent gear is a complete ripoff

When i took lessons with WASurf I just booked them all with the same instructor. Did you ask? I had a great experiance but it's interesting to hear other peoples feedback but positive and negative.

Interesting point with the "Unlimited Free Lessons" thing. I suppose I never tried to get extra lessons but it was part of the agreement so i don't see why you shouldn't be entitled. What stage are you at? Were you up and riding confidently? Were you happy to be out on your own or do you think you needed the extra instruction?

perthnewbie said...



Anyway, the biggest issue is that their "unlimited lessons" are not for real. Once you pay for the gear (which is overpriced) and have 3 lessons they tell you that you need to practice on your own and won't give you more lessons.

That is true of my experience as well. I needed more lessons but I didn't know that at the time, being a learner and all. I went and practiced on my own and got abused by the locals in my area. So I booked my "extra" lessons. When I turned up they had double booked me. During that lesson I was twice launched in the air and landed face first on the sand and got dragged through the spinifex. No one came to help, so I decided that this was a normal occurrence. (I'm fairly sure it's not.) The next lesson I booked, no one even showed up or returned my calls.

Also in my case they seemed to put the emphasis on getting you up on your feet and riding, missing out on a lot of the safety info. If you want a "kite experience" this is OK, but if you actually want to take up the sport, safety should be one of the most important things you take away.

In my case, I think they were on the negligent side. To be fair, my instructor was a newbie himself. But really, safety should have been higher on the agenda. It's also really important for the sport at the moment. "Newbie kiter takes out innocent beachgoer" is not something any of us want to see in the paper.

That aside, they are nice people, and have since changed management. Maybe the new fella has changed things. He did give me a free plug one afternoon when the original popped out somewhere out to sea.

When i was down at safety bay still trying to get up and going last summer, one of the guys came over to help me out and told me what i was doing wrong- and id never paid them anything...and they have always been very helpful with launching etc...i think their team are a big part of why safety bay has such an awesome friendly culture...

Just had my frist lesson with WASurf and found them excellent.

Unfortunately my instructor is heading overseas before my next lesson but he introduced me to the guy taking me next time and told him where I was at etc. which I thought was good.

I liked the first lesson alot as although they stuck to the safety stuff pretty hard (for obvious reasons) they also saw that I knew how to fly the trainer and had good wind knowledge so progressed me fwd as needed.

Also said I will get a discount on just just a kite rather than a full package which is fantastic as I already have a board and harness.

So although i have no idea what is the norm, I enjoyed myself alot and learnt alot so can't ask much more!!!

RF