There are really two ways to look at this question: to rent or to have your own? There are three options here.
Buying
If your budget allows for purchasing your own equipment then the answer is very simple – buy it! But before you do, ask yourself a question: How often are you planning to kitesurf? If your schedule is very busy and you have only a few openings for Kitesurfing on your calendar during a year then maybe you are better off renting the gear or taking classes and clinics with an instructor as you go. If you choose to buy your gear, here is a word of caution: this may be a surprise for you, but you may end up owning two to three kites and maybe two boards for different wind conditions, and more than one harness and for different seasons. Every kite size is designed for a specific wind range, and as you will be getting better and better at kitesurfing your skills will allow you to ride in a broader range of conditions, which will automatically result in the desire to have kites and boards of various sizes. And if you go traveling with this entire load of gear the price for oversized and overweight luggage will add up to it as well.
The trickiest part about buying a new kite has to do with the kind of kite. There are several kinds on the market, we discuss them HERE, and before you commit a specific model it’s a good idea to give it a try first. This why we recommend saving the shopping for later after you develop your likes and preferences of gear types. But, back to the question, typically a beginner package that includes kite, board, and harness, start from around $1,500. Is now a good time to mention that kitesurfing is not the cheapest sport on this planet? Well, it’s not.
Renting
The option of renting has two ways to go about it. One is to just rent the equipment, which comes with a lot of liabilities, especially for the kite itself, because it’s very easy to damage the kite and the rental place will most likely require some level of experience from you. Out of the three items, the kite is the most expensive to rent because it is the most expensive to start with and it is very fragile. Usually, the price floats around $100 per day for a kite, depends on the location, and goes down (per day) when you rent for several consecutive days. Harness and board are a lot cheaper since they cost less and are virtually indestructible. Oftentimes they would even include a harness for free when you rent entire package. Here is an example of rental rates from “Real Watersports” in Cape Hatteras:
Taking lessons
This leads to the ultimate starting point: take a kitesurfing lesson. This is one very good investment because your instructor will give you the kite of the proper size, suitable for the given wind conditions. Also, if you sign with a kitesurfing school, they will likely have a selection of different models to choose from. And even if you break their kite, usually the liability is included in the price of the lesson, although you should double-check the fine print to make sure that you will not have to pay for broken gear. As to the price, it depends on the location. Caribbeans are probably the cheapest for this. You can find lessons from $50 per session. The best part about this option of taking a class is that you need zero experience, read: great option to start with!
So, what is it going to be for you, do you think? Lessons, rentals, or buying?
