Best lessons I've ever had. Peter knows his stuff! Competitive pricing too!…read more Peter is truly a master of his craft. He can pinpoint exactly what you're doing wrong and give you the perfect advice on how to fix it. With his coaching, I went from being unable to ride to working on transitions. If we had taken a before & after video for my progress, people would not believe it was the same day. Truly impressed with the instruction I received. Peter also had fantastic recommendations for equipment to purchase. I used my own kite and rented a board for the lesson. Really glad that I did! I plan on buying a "door board" soon. There are a few options to go with in this area--and I'm so glad I chose this one. Peter cares about his students & the quality of instruction shows. Definitely book with KiteNow; you won't be disappointed!

"Peter got me on a board in 2 days" that is what I will say to anyone who asks me about Kitenow…read more Peter is a great person and the method in his teaching is systematic that you progress from one point to another with simplicity that you don't even think about it. Today was my first ride after the lessons and I still hear him in my head directing me and advising me on what to do. This is a place and instructor that I would definitely recommend to others.

Owner of the establishment is respectful and very informative, will definitely book a lesson in the…read morenext coming weeks. He gave raw knowledge of kite surfing fundamentals along with do's and don'ts.

My boyfriend and I took a 4 hour introductory group lesson with John Arthur and he was awesome! He…read moredoes a nice job explaining the basics and really wants to teach you to succeed. He explains mistakes other teachers make, and makes safety a top priority. He is also available by email to answer any subsequent questions you have after taking a lesson with him (I've already emailed him with a kite question and he responded promptly). There were a total of 4 students in the group. We were all completely new to kite surfing, and the wind was pretty bad (he says sometimes he will reschedule a class due to wind conditions), but this is San Diego and apparently the wind conditions here are some of the worst in the world. "If you can kite surf here, you can kite surf anywhere." He gave us some tips and then we took turns flying trainer kites until we could keep them in the air for a decent amount of time and even make some infinite signs and dives before crashing. He then drew us a diagram of the different wind zones including the launch zones and the power zone, and explained how to fly the kite upwind and in low wind conditions, and how to turn right and left. He told us each what size kite and harness to buy. He had two 9m kites with short lines, which we then learned how to inflate, hook up to lines, launch, fly, depower or "kill", land and put away. He taught 2 kinds of launches (side and watery), and unhooked then hooked flying skills. Since there were four of us, he put us in pairs and spent his time going back and forth between the groups. If you a beginner and not "gifted" like we were, being left to your own devices with a kite like this in these kind of wind conditions was both exhausting and frustrating, thus I'd recommend the $115 private 2 hour lesson over the $179 4 hour group lesson. I don't think any of us got unassisted launching down (though the other group might have managed it when I wasn't watching them), which was probably partly due to the rapidly changing wind conditions. He actually went over the 4 hours by about 30 mins, so we felt he went the extra mile, but I think everyone was pretty exhausted after that much kite time (my current fitness level could be better, I admit!). He gave us some kite surfing magazines at the end which had lots of good pointers and pictures to get us stoked to keep working at it. This sport takes time and dedication: it won't be as easy to pick up as it looks. He says to focus on the kite, not the board: master the kite, and you will master the sport, focus on the board and you will fail. That makes complete sense to me. You can't be looking up at the kite while you ride, it must be a subconscious extension of yourself. One of the magazines recommended buying a trainer kite (I saw a 1.7m complete $59 on ewg.org/amazon) and mastering that before spending your money on a lesson, which I wish we'd done in hindsight. The lesson for 2 people is a LOT more expensive than a training kite and I think our time and money would've been better spent if we'd had basic flying skills down. My boyfriend doesn't agree, however. He feels that buying a training kite without learning the basic skills that John taught us might be frustrating to the novice and deter people from trying a lesson, which is also a good point, so take my advice and use it to do what you feel most comfortable with =).

Got my son's first kite here. He is so happy! The owners were helpful with showing me how to do the…read morekite knot too. We will be back when it's time to upgrade my son's kite.

Vic is amazing. I've been flying his 'Fighter' since I was a kid with my father (45 years ago at…read moreleast). We bought them from him at Mission Bay decades ago. While cleaning up my garage, I came across 3 of them still in the tubes, but really needing some TLC. I took them to Kite Country not even realizing it was Vic's place. He reconditioned them all at a ridiculously good price, and it was great catching up with him!

John's description of the course:…read more Looking for San Diego CA Kiteboarding? I am an independent Kiteboarding Instructor who has been teaching for over 9 years. If you are in San Diego CA and are looking for lessons my program is called Kite Mastery! This is an intense kite flying course which starts with land training. This is a 3 part course and each part is 3 hours long (practicing by your self is required after each session). Developing your muscle memory takes time, usually hours of practice to truly get proficient. At the completion of this course you will have mastered all the kite flying skills necessary to fly in most condition. For those of you traveling to San Diego call me and I'll create a custom course to fit your time schedule. Fees are as follow: Land training (gear included) $600.00. Call or e-mail to find out about water training. Jckiteboarding@yahoo.com or John at 619-733-5300. When you are ready to purchase equipment visit calikites.com Brian will provide you with excellent service. brian@calikites.com or 619-223-5483 Our experience: My wife and I recently took kitesurfing lessons with John. John's dedication to teaching is exactly what it should be. At all times his concern was our learning and safety. We followed his guidance and had a great time learning how to maneuver the kite. Kitesurfing isn't as easy as it looks, but with John's course we were able to fully control the kite and remain safe even in strong gusty winds. We took about 2 weeks vacation to learn, and we needed all of it, playing with the kites almost every day. It can probably be done in less time, but with less training comes more risk. If we could make the decision over again, we would DEFINITELY do it the same way - John's style of instructing is exactly what we were looking for - someone who's relaxed, experienced, and most of all ...focused on our learning/safety.

John, the owner, is a great guy and a wealth of good advice on Kitesurfing, SUPing and surfing…read more Lots of inventory and always willing to source what anyone needs. I'm glad he's in our area

I have been here a few times and found the service excellent. It is a family owner run business and…read moreit shows. When it came to updating my new SUP I know I wanted to use this shop. Others I had visited in the area just came across as too cool for school and not always helpful to someone who needed the right advice and help. They let me demo a board for a few days with no pressure to buy. It worked! I bought a ridiculously expensive carbon SUP from these guys this week and I love it. I am glad they got the sale. They, John and his wife are really worth chatting to and good people. Their shop is quite easy to miss but when you go in, it is as an Aladdin's Cave of goodies with the help, knowledge and service you need to make the right purchase.

Wes Cantrell was a fantastic surfing instructor for our family of 5. The land instructions were…read moreclear and we all got up on various waves. Surf was firing too! Thanks again Wes for the instructions and new surf lingo we can take back East

Had a blast! I really thought that I wasn't going to be able to do it but I was able to get on the…read moreboard a bunch! Big thanks to Russell for doing such a great job teaching me!

Don't go here unless you want your intelligence insulted and your ethnicity made fun of. Owner is…read morenot a cool guy. Left in tears. Also, he has no idea what he's talking about. Tried to upsell shitty gear. Sleezy and gross.

Drove all the way from Chula Vista and the spot was closed. It was 230pm on a Tuesday.read more

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! We wend to EVERYBODY in the neighborhood and NOBODY…read morelet us rent their kayak at 3:30 pm Dec 9, except these guys. Awesome service and forever grateful to Nicolas - you saved our 1 year anniversary! Amazing service - quick clear instructions, very considerate, warned us about any possible problems explained how to row in the kayak as it was our first time and we had a tandem kayak. After he explained us how to put it in the water and not to roll over, we went and did it first try - no problems. We locked the wheels to the wooden fence so that nobody steels them (they are used to transport the kayak easier so that you don't have to carry it in your hands). We saw the sunset and peaked in the cave which was very exciting. Don't go inside the caves if you are renting on your own as the tides can be very unpredictable and you can roll over or hit the rocks - this is also illegal and only allowed during guided tours. Value point is amazing too. For a tandem it's 35$ (39.22$ with tax) and solo is 30$. All the guided tours were 80$+ and I don't really see the point them if you can go with these guys for only 35$. We did a full one hour but I am not sure how long you can usually go we came pretty late before the closing time. If you want to get the guided tours during the winter times the last ones usually depart at 2:30 so make sure you make it in time!

Great selection of gear and great rentals. Closest shop to the beach which is awesome to bring…read morestuff down to the beach. Been there since the 70s they have done a good job changing it.