BayAreaKiteboarding.com

Going into my 2nd season of kiting, I would recommend the following:

1. Hook up with Kitopia lessons at Sherman Island. I did a lesson with them and I learned the Sherman Island area, what to do, what NOT to do, etc. They can also give you input on potential gear purchases when you are doing a lesson with them. They are a great resource. (unsolicited recommendation).

2. Really plan on driving out of your way to go to SAFE areas for learning the first several times out (or even 1st season). Think Alameda.

3. Kind of like used cars - The sweet spot is probably 1-2 year old gear. Get brand new lines and bar.

Everything went friggen great!!! Had so much fun! Ended up going to san mateo for the jetski lesson cuz no wind at Alameda! Wind was strong and I am light so we used a 6 or 7m I forget. Learned a whooooole lot of stuff!! Excited to get out there practice my upwinding! Thanks all for the replies! Oh BTW not soliciting but wdnt thru boardsportschools, soooo friendly , most new sports treat newbs poorly but this sport everyone seems to be willing to help!

Welcome to the sport dude. As everyone said, get prepared to spend a lot of $$ and get semi addicted.

Regarding gear: There is a very large range of stuff for sale, at varying quality levels at price points. I see a lot of stuff for sale that really isn't a good value, yet it moves anyway, because until you know the sport it's hard to tell what a good value is. This happenned to me when I got into and consequently overpaid.

My advice on gear is to buy used stuff that is as recent as you can afford, and no older than 2-3 model years. Kite design changed rapidly and I don't think you want something from 08. Try to buy all kites of one brand/model so that just a single bar can work with all of them. As a rule of thumb, for a starting pair of kites - opriobably an 8 and a 10 given your weight - I wouldn't pay more than $1200, including bar. And that should be for gear that's recent and in good shape.