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South Padre
Kiteboarding
brought to you by
Air Padre
  Visit Air Padre Kiteboarding
Air Padre Kiteboarding was first a kiteboarding school which has grown and now offers kiteboarding
lessons flat water), kitesurfing
lessons in the surf), kite
repairs, and kiteboarding equipment
sales on South
Padre Island along the Texas Gulf Coast. Kiteboarding lessons are expensive and we have put together this site to help future kiteboarders get into the sport efficiently and safely. When you take a kiteboarding lesson, our boat support coupled with radio helmets consistently gives our students the leading edge when it comes to thorough and efficient learning. If you go with a lower cost school that does not offer boat support, be prepared to spend some of the lesson time walking back upwind.
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Kitesurfing dangers
As you can imagine, even though kitesurfing is a very fun
sport and a lot of work has been done to make it as safe as
possible, there are still some dangers associated with it.
How to control the kite
Kitesurfing is not an easy sport and it takes a lot of
training and practice to learn how to control the kite.
Where can I go on kitesurfing vacation?
If you've been kitesurfing for a while, you might find
yourself getting tired of kitesurfing in the same place over
and over.
Buying a kite: secondhand or new?
Buying a kite is typically a very confusing process,
especially if you are a beginner and it is your first kite.
South Padre Island is a barrier island in the Gulf of
Mexico in deep south Texas on the border of Mexico. The
Island is about 30 miles long, running north and south and
only 1/2 mile across at it's widest point. About 2,000
residents live on SPI year round yet the Island receives at
least 1/2 million visitors throughout any given year.
South Padre Island boasts the cleanest and most scenic
beach in Texas and that is what draws all kinds of crowds
all year long. Summer is family vacation. Winter is 'Winter
Texans'. Fall and Spring are a magnet for the windsports
enthusiasts and March is a popular time for spring break
destinations.
On the eco side, South Padre Island is the home to Sea
Turtle Inc., a company dedicated to the preservation,
rehabilitation and regeneration of sea turtles in the wild,
all of which are endangered. Bird watching is also a popular
draw and currently there is a World Birding Center under
construction on the Island. The Laguna Madre Bay as well as
the Gulf are home to families of dolphins and the SPI
Dolphin Research and Nature Center has been tracking and
studying them for years.
South Padre Island offers some of the best kiteboarding
weather in the United States. We have warmer water later
into the winter and earlier in the spring than almost any
other state. The average day time wind speed is 17 knots,
perfect for learning. Learning almost anything is easier in
moderate wind with a larger kite, the pull is more
consistent and a larger kites are easier to control than
small zippy kites. The bay never gets big swell because it
is shallow. Being an arid climate the chances of getting
rained out are quite low, we average just over 20 inches (50
cm) of rain per year. |
