Has anyone tried kite surfing? Or windsurfing? I am going down south soon and we are planning a ‘mancation’ of sorts and my friends want to go to an area where we can try out kite surfing. I want to know how safe a sport it is for a bunch of newbie, albeit fit ones, and some possible areas where we can get a few lessons too along the way.

You didn't mention south where???? Australia, by the way, has a lot of great spots for trying out the sport. You can find schools in almost all major cities, apart from may be the Northern Territory. Gold Coast would probably get a mention in almost all lists Australian. We are having probably the coolest sumer in decades but still when the sun comes out, the weather is also great for any activity related to water

Words of the wise.......It is always a good idea before doing anything that involves a risk of injury or damage to get some type of insurance cover. Especially for 'newbies' regardless of their fitness levels....hehe....

Insurance? :D I would assume anyone going for kite surfing would be taking lessons first but insurance is an interesting idea :P

How about destinations in Thailand for kiteboarding, by the way, thats an interesting place to be as well. Australia is just too far down :P

Hehe…I asked for destinations guys, I got more free lessons and advice than tips on destinations. Anyhow, I am looking at brochures of Phuket or Koh Samui, actually, I haven't looked, I just got them so until we make up our minds I'm open to suggestions here ;)

Its important to realize while kite surfing that you are going to be at a distance from people and you do at times need to communicate. Whether you are in Australia or Thailand the universal signals remain true to their name – Universal. Ok, still to be used amongst the human kind but you do get the point :P one should learn them before starting off. It helped me.

I thought there were excellent kiteboarding destinations in the West too. Catch some fun in Brazil for example after getting the insurance :P

You've got to try Paracuru, Brazil. Its not a huge area, about 5 minutes walk from the huts to the launching area and there are quite a few kite surfers around too so when you’re relaxing and just talking about your kite, the other person is likely to understand what you’re talking about too ;).

South Gippsland if you are looking towards Australia. Inverloch and Sandy Point are two good spots actually. The water is calm there and the wind directions change so you can have a lot of fun with the flying. Unlike what newbies expect, its the most fun to do kite surfing in calm waters so you don’t have to worry about the waves and just enjoy your flight.

Still going for Brazil, try Prea, the beach is developing too, there are not too many people around but in December January you'll get a nice 20 knot breeze and then reggae music entertainment during the night in the restaurants. Interestingly, they are not just the same sort of restaurants; if you visit two different ones you will enjoy two different themes.