KITEBOARDING IN TURKS AND CAICOS. 3 REASONS WHY ITS THE BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD TO LEARN KITESURFING

Over the last 20 years of Kiteboarding we’ve travelled, taught, and lived in some of the best kitesurfing locations on the planet.

In the most recent years, we’ve have been very lucky to be coaching more advanced kitesurfing students who have happily told us about all the places in the world that they have kited that we haven’t, yet.

However, if you are thinking of learning to kiteboard then without question (in our professional opinion) Kiteboarding in Turks and Caicos is (drum roll please) THE best place on the planet to learn. 

So with all that in mind, I think its fair to say that we have a good idea as to what spots rock and what spots do not.

And we can safely say that Kiteboarding in Turks and Caicos is, for sure world class and one of the best kiting locations on earth.

Now that’s a bold statement so here’s 3 of many reasons why …

1. Shallow water

Turks and Caicos is also known as Provo or TCI. The Turks and Caicos islands have one of the largest barrier reefs in the world which along with many mangrove forests, creates an 80 square kilometre, waist deep, crystal clear, warm, swimming pool in the sea.

We’re going to repeat that as that’s so important…

Turks and Caicos has an 80 square kilometre area of obstruction free, waist deep, warm, crystal clear water.

Learning to kite in shallow water takes out all the stress of your lessons because no matter what happens, your feet will touch the sandy bottom and you will be able to stand up at any moment.

This is a huge benefit for so many reasons. Safety is of course number one!

Closely followed by your speed of progression and of course it’s so much more FUN when you are progressing at a decent pace.

Most places where you can learn kitesurfing around the world do not have an abundance of shallow water (if any) and if they do then generally they become busy locations especially if they have regular wind.

Now we’re not saying that you cant have a great lesson from a professional instructor in a busy, deep water location, it just takes more time and more effort.

For example – When you fall off in deep water you have to relaunch your kite and while this is pretty easy, you are being blown downwind and away from where you started meaning you will be doing a lot of walking back upwind.

The chances are that you will fall off your board. This means that in deep water, you will be some distance away from your board which you will have to rescue, and this means even more distance travelled downwind and an even longer walk back.

This loss of time and energy distrups your flow of learning as well as takes up a large part of your lesson time.

With shallow water, when you crash (and you will crash!) you simply stand up, relaunch your kite in a matter of seconds, walk a few meters to get your board and then immediately try again, all with your instructor standing only a few meters away from you, encouraging you, calmly offering you tips with no shouting or even having to wear lots of restrictive safety equipment.

It’s all extremely civilised, safe and most importantly it really is even more fun learning in a vast area of shallow water.

2. Empty beaches

Busy locations can also be stressful and cost you valuable time and energy when you are learning to Kitesurf.

This is mainly because of the unpredictability of other people who are learning. Collisions happen reguarly at busy beaches and while most of the time its just tangled kite lines it’s still time consuming.

Also it’s fair to say that most learner kitesurfers are quite rightly apprehensive and do not want to crash their kite into anyone else.

This is where Kiteboarding in Turks and Caicos really shines as there is enough space for literally thousands of kitesurfers.

But the greatest irony is that there will probably never be too many kiteboarders in Turks and Caicos.

Why? Several reasons but mainly because Turks and Caicos is not cheap.

Ok so it is possible to come kiteboarding in Turks and Caicos and not break the bank to badly but it is definitely more pricey than other locations which keeps the crowds well away.

On top of that there are only a few direct flights for people coming to learn kiteboarding in Turks and Caicos so it’s not the easiest place in the world to get to.

Now who ever though that expensive and not easily accessible  would ever be a good thing!?

When it comes to having plenty of space to learn, kiteboarding in Turks and Caicos is as good as it gets.

It’s hard to believe that when you arrive and stand on the famous Long bay beach looking out over the endless turquoise blue water that you could walk to the horizon and another 4 kilometres further on.

3. Reliable wind

There is nothing worse than booking up a kitesurfing holiday only to be let down by the wind.

Ok so nowhere on the planet is 100% reliable and even Kiteboarding in Turks and Caicos is not guaranteed on every single day of your trip but the consistency of the trade winds give you an incredibly high wind probability.

The windy season in Turks and Caicos is almost year round running from December all the way through to September. A 10 month season!

On top of great wind stats, the quality of the wind is also super important. Gusty, inconsistent wind is frustraighting. Strong wind can also be stressful.

So when learning kiteboarding in Turks and Caicos, the chances are that you will be blessed by some of the most consistent trade winds on the planet. Most wind days are between 12 and 20kts which is simply perfect for learning.

Ok lets assume the absolute worst case scenario that you are really unlucky and you don’t get at least 70-80% wind days on your trip. Sad face 🙁

Fear not, as there are so many other world class activities to do on the islands.

Firstly (if you hadn’t quite got the message yet) there are endless empty, picture perfect beaches with water so clear and so blue it’s hard to believe.

The pristine and unpopulated natural ecosystems are teaming with wildlife such as Turtles, dolphins and even Whales.

Activities on a no wind day that won’t break the bank include supping through the mangrove forests, world class snorkelling even amazing Kayaking too.

Add to that an arguably perfect climate and all of a sudden a rare no wind day is actually a welcome break and opportunity to take a gazillion photos that are guaranteed to make all your friends jealous.

So to conclude, if you are serious about learning to kiteboard, overlook the price and the extra effort it takes to come kiteboarding in Turks and Caicos because in this case you really do get what you pay for.