FAQ – Kite Camps

The student-to-instructor ratio for the courses depends on your needs and learning goals. If there’s still a lot of confusion about certain topics—meaning you still need a lot of guidance—classes will be in small groups with a maximum of 1–2 students per instructor. If the goal is to practice specific procedures until they become second nature, classes will be in larger groups with 3–5 students per instructor. When learning certain maneuvers, a one-on-one private session is the only way to go, while in other situations it’s completely unnecessary. If, for any reason, you feel you’re not receiving enough attention during a camp, please speak with your instructor or the camp director.

Every facility we use has a well-functioning emergency response system. As long as you fully follow the teaching staff’s instructions during the program, nothing can or will happen to you. Should an incident occur nonetheless, the necessary steps will be taken immediately. Be sure to check with your credit card company before your trip, or ask our tour operator about travel insurance. 

The absolute worst-case scenario at a kite camp is a complete lull. At least, that’s what you think at first! But when there’s finally only a very light breeze, you won’t believe how little wind you actually need to still kite, have fun, and even learn important techniques! Most importantly, though, you’ll have time to focus on key topics that are (unfortunately) often neglected in regular kite courses. Usually, though, we don’t have to worry about wind lulls. The kiting spot and the timing of the camp are carefully selected and planned based on years of experience. For almost all destinations, there are also several alternative spots. This increases your chances of getting out on the water every day and allows you to discover new spots. However, if Mother Nature isn’t in the mood to cooperate, it can be a little frustrating at times. In any case, we’ll make the best of it, show you all the tricks from our kite instructors, and ensure unforgettable adventures—such as a motorboat island tour along the Sicilian coast, racing quad bikes through Vietnamese or Egyptian sand dunes, cliff jumping in a Greek cove, and much more! If you’re still not satisfied, please get in touch with us. We’re sure to find a solution! Safety First Tip: Book 2 weeks right away— the Windproof Package

Our wind guarantee for courses at Lake Neusiedl states that if a course is canceled due to wind or weather conditions, you can make it up at a later date. If there are fewer than 6 days of wind during your 14-day kitesurfing trip—which includes two 6-day kitesurfing camps—you’ll receive credit that can be redeemed at any time at our kitesurfing school on Lake Neusiedl and has no expiration date:

● only 5 days of wind = 5 hours of rental (Value: €195)
● only 4 days of wind = 5 hours of rental + 2 Upwind Services (Value: €285)
● only 3 days of wind = 1 private lesson + 2 Upwind Services (Value: €315)
● only 2 days of wind = 1 private lesson + 5 hours of rental (Value: €420)
● less than 2 days of wind = 2 private lessons + 5 hours of rental + 2 Upwind Services (Value: €735)

You’ll receive these credits in digital form, and they can only be redeemed at our kitesurfing school in Podersdorf!
Rental: Rent all your kitesurfing gear for free—kite, bar, board, wetsuit, and harness
Upwind Service: Staff from the kitesurfing school will launch your kite and take you about 3 km against the onshore wind
Private Lesson: Just you and your kitesurfing instructor. During each 3-hour session, you can ask your coach anything you want. All kitesurfing equipment and boat service are included

The Windproof Package includes a 6-day course + 7 days of equipment rental. Let’s say you want to learn a backroll (a rotational jump), but during the first week, the wind is too strong and gusty for that skill. The wind forecast predicts conditions suitable for 12m² kites almost every day the following week—perfect conditions for your goals. This means you can simply reschedule your lessons from the first week to the next and go kiting on your own in the meantime. 

Sure! We even offer a 10% discount on the camp price here. However, we always recommend using our equipment, unless you’re already well-equipped with gear ranging from 7 m² to 15 m². It’s frustrating when you try to save money but end up having to rent kites or boards by the hour anyway because your gear might be too small or too big. Furthermore, it definitely makes sense to try out different models and brands on a regular basis. 

When planning and organizing the program, the camp directors and their team of instructors will, of course, focus entirely on kitesurfing. But you’ll always have the option to plan your own daily schedule. You can also suggest activities to do locally to the group. It’s basically just like going on a trip with your best friends. 

Spot guiding (and, of course, kite lessons) is what makes the key difference between a kite trip with friends and our kite camps. Your team of instructors and camp leaders are 100% familiar with each destination. So you won’t have to learn the hard way—for example, by settling for just the third-best pizza on the island or the sixth-best moussaka in Theologus. We’ll guide you safely and enjoyably through our favorite spots, so that after one of our camps, you’ll be able to easily organize your next trip on your own. 

Throughout the camp, the coaching staff will collect short video clips of you. This footage is usually recorded from a distance, so don’t expect high-quality footage. Whether you want to learn how to get on the board, turn or jibe, or pull off crazy tricks, watching footage of yourself is a real progress booster! On the 3rd or 4th day, we’ll analyze this footage together. Even if some of the clips are shaky or out of focus, your instructor will pause the video at just the right moment, break down your mistake, and on your next attempt on the water, you’ll feel like you’ve made huge progress—almost as if by magic. Every now and then, this process also results in some amazing footage, which we’d love to share with you, of course. 

Who doesn’t love that? After a tiring journey to a faraway country, you check into your room, bungalow, or whatever accommodation you’ve booked. A small welcome gift, labeled with your name, is waiting for you on your bed. It’s wrapped in fabric from ancient, historic kites that, sadly, were beyond saving. Hand-sewn into an A4-sized bag by our in-house repair expert Oli, the goodie bag is filled with love: a welcome letter, an emergency snack (Oat King), something practical for the beach (Lycra, T-shirt, or beach towel), and a €25 gift certificate for the Get High – Kitesurfing.at online shop. There is no minimum order value for this gift certificate.

It depends! In principle, renting equipment on your own on the first or last day is no problem. There are no additional costs for this. If you’re not yet able to kite on your own, you’ll have to wait until the first day of camp. If the wind forecast for your camp week looks uncertain at the start, we’ll of course do everything we can to hold lessons on your arrival or departure day if the wind is good. However, travel times on arrival and departure days are often quite different. The team of instructors has to make regular trips to the accommodations to welcome you and the others or see you off. Often, the team arrives at the same time as you, in which case it takes a little while for us to get everything ready (assembling boards, handing out goodie bags, setting up storage, etc.). The same applies to the day of departure. In these cases, you can go to our partner schools and rent equipment by the hour there. We usually host two one-week kite camps. The advantage of the first week is that you can still kite on the day of departure, though often not immediately after arrival. In the second week, it’s the other way around. It’s best to book both weeks right away—that way, you gain one extra day.

A workshop at our camps can take many different forms. It might be an entertaining presentation on interesting topics, such as a seminar on various kite and board shapes, or an advanced safety training session designed to prepare you for more challenging spots. Or it might be hands-on, such as untangling inverted lines or learning the drift start (launching the kite on your own without an assistant). For workshops on maneuvers and tricks, the instructors demonstrate the desired maneuvers while the camp director explains the key points and sequences of movements.
Here is a list of the most popular workshops at kite camps:

Calms – Light Wind
● Drift Start
● Advanced Safety Seminar
● Cross-Grip & Power Zone Start
● Safety System and Self-Rescue
● Line Inversions
○ Avoiding and Resolving Line Inversions

● Softkite Seminar
○ Setup & Levels – Check
○ Launching without a launch assistant
○ Launching upside down / relaunch
○ Stalls and how to use them effectively
○ Various exercises for kite control
- “Walking off” maneuvers (e.g., turn, jibe)

● Kite Shapes
○ Kite Features (bar forces at the tips, various valves, pulleys or fixed bridles, various attachment points for the steering lines, etc.)
○ Various shapes of tube kites, their flight characteristics, and their advantages in different disciplines
○ History and Evolution of Kites

● Twintip Seminar
○ Various Shapes
○ Materials Used and Construction Methods

● Foilboard lessons (9 knots and up)

Light Wind 10–14 Kn
● Riding in light wind
● “Letting the Kite Breathe” – Kite Control in Light Wind
● Loops
● Launching Upside Down with Tube Kites
● Launch and Landing Workshop
○ Proper and Safe Launching with a Launch Assistant
● Jumping with Large Kites

Wind 14 knots and up
● Stopping correctly and safely
● Tram Turn
● Slide/Pop Into Toeside
● Jibe from Toeside to Heelside
● Jibe from Heelside to Toeside
● Chop Hop / Gailey
● Basic Jump
● Transition Jump
● Back / Front Roll
● Jumping Loops
○ Loops for Transitions
○ Mega Loop
○ Underdive / Heli Loop

Our philosophy is: The more, the better! The more different kites and boards you use, the better you can develop yourown taste and style. This is the only way you’ll find out what you really want. At our camps, we offer kites and boards from Reedin, Airush, Cabrinha, Core, Naish, Flysurfer, Duotone (only in Hamata), Woodboard, and many more. For more detailed information about the gear, it’s best to contact our gear specialist, Daniel, directly.