IKO Kiteboarding Lessons Kite Beach Cabarete
### Now you can get lessons with We Love Kiteboarding’s Team Captain Luis Angel LeFrance ###
Luis Angel LeFrance, 18, as part of our We Love Kiteboarding Foundation – Pay It Forward Program – has successfully completed the IKO instructor course, is certified Level 1 – and is now accepting bookings for lessons!
Get 10-hours of lessons with Luis for $550 USD – and support his professional career development!
Not only is Luis a certified instructor, he is also a Dominican kiteboarding champion – he is a kite wizard – and a super nice guy, the perfect ambassador for both lessons and your trip to Kite Beach, Cabarete!
### For Kite Beach Cabarete accommodation and property management contact info – see below! ###
Kite Beach Cabarete on the North shore of the Dominican Republic is a kiteboarding paradise of community and legacy. Although the warm water is deep and choppy Kite Beach is definitely a beginner’s spot. There are lots of kite schools with instructors of the highest caliber, pumping out exceptional beginners, non-stop, all year round! And, it is fair to say, once you have learned to ride on Kite Beach you are probably ready to ride anywhere else in the world!
Home to many World Champions, living legends of today, Kite Beach has an incredibly rich history in the sport. Originally popular for windsurfers in the 80’s and 90’s, the 200+ windy days each year made this a hotspot for the original pioneers of kiteboarding who returned to Cabarete, year after year, to practice their skills and develop their brand & trade.
Kite schools opened, students flew in, and older equipment was often handed down to the local kids that grew up working on the beach. With equipment, and non-stop wind, these kids grew up to become professionally sponsored riders, many World Champions – Adeuri, Kelvin, Ariel Corniel, Posito Martinez, Carlito Martinez, Luis Alberto Cruz, Carlos David, Nisael Gomez, Andri Ramirez, Lorenzo Calcaño, Brayan Betance, and many more.
Now, these local legends, if not still competing professionally, manage and teach at kite schools, and pass it on, helping to encourage the next generation of kite pros behind them.
Not only is Kite Beach full of talent there is an incredibly strong community mixing locals and expats, sharing love for kite sessions, sunsets, happy hour, DJs, nightlife – everyone here blessed with life full of potential, and a potential full of life!
Intermediate
Deep Water
Many Schools
Many Amenities
Kite Beach is big and spacious, offering lots of room to launch and land kites. Do to the popularity of the beach this location can get very busy. Students and beginners enter the water near the point. Anyone who ends up downwind should exit near Optimal (now called Competition) kite school. Beyond Optimal/Competition the beach is lined with a very long, large rock bed which can be dangerous if not negotiated properly when exiting the water.
About The Diagram Below:
Beginners, note the entry point and exit 1. After exit 1 the rock bed begins to line the beach. For riders of all levels, if you fail to exit at 1 you will want to exit at 2 or 3 – both little areas where there are no rocks along the beach. All riders are highly advised to walk the beach and assess the exit points before you start riding on Kite Beach. If you have to self-rescue, exiting at 1 may not be possible, in which case you need to know ahead of time what the landmarks are for exits 2 and 3. Hint: there is a little white house on the hill at exit 2 and there are two concrete slabs standing in the beach at exit 3. But, don’t take my word for it, do your own boots on the ground!
Update 2023: Exit 3 is not really safe anymore. There used to be much more sand at this spot, but this year it is looking very much only like rocks. So, if you can’t get out at exit 2 go for exit 4!
Do your own research, walk the beach, have a hard look!
Exit 4 (not shown) is further along the beach, where the rocks come to an end. This is a much safer exit as there is nothing but sand for quite a distance. However, keep in mind shore-break waves tend to be big here.
Again, walk the beach, and know your exits!
About 150 meters from the beach is the reef which breaks the approaching waves. This reef-break is what makes Kite Beach so popular. There are no big waves between the reef and the beach. The reef-break creates a beautiful zone, with big waves and spacious flats, for advanced kitesurfing, kite foiling, SUPsurfing and wing-foiling. Enjoy!
### KITE CLUB HAS REOPENED UNDER A NEW NAME AND NEW MANAGEMENT ###
For more than 20 years Kite Club Cabarete (OLD WEBSITE LINK – NOT VALID ANYMORE) has been the heartbeat of Kite Beach.
The Kite Club school, equipment and instructors are of the highest caliber and the bar, restaurant and patio lounge areas have long been the central hub for socialization, professional networking and full moon parties. There is always an eclectic mix of local Dominicans, expats, digital nomads and kite tourists. In one month you will make more friends at Kite Club than you make in one year back home!
In 2022, Kite Club was renovated significantly! They have rebuilt the bar & restaurant, rebuilt the school equipment room, rental lockers and bathrooms, rebuilt the main office and redesigned the grassy area too! There are lots of little lights on the new pathways and beautiful palms lining the entrance.
Along with this significant investment of time and money into Kite Club comes a new membership, available for daily, weekly, monthly and annual users.
For more info about getting lessons with We Love Kiteboarding on Kite Beach please Contact Us and checkout our Cabarete Blog, regularly updated with student success stories.
Optimal/Competition – Home of Olympic World Champions (Kelvin & Adeuri Corniel) and Cabarete Kite Point are also excellent schools offering some of the best instructors in the world!
Another great school on Kite Beach is Mahalo Kite School – which aside from offering IKO certified instructors and lessons also brings everyone together for good vibes with their popular weekend parties on the beachfront dance floor.
Kite Beach is perfect for beginner IKO Level 1, intermediate IKO level 2, independent IKO Level 3 and advanced IKO Level 4 lessons.
If you want to go PRO and get unhooked, or learn kite loops, big air, board-offs, boogie-loops, whatever, Contact Us, we will connect you with one of the locals riders, the best in the world, and customize your lesson for your goals, for your success.
Read 2022 Kite Beach Cabarete student success stories with Andre Schilha, Charlotte Graham, Adrian SInger, Nicole Lyness and Eloi Marijon!
### Foundation Update – Sponsors, Partners and new Program ###
We Love Kiteboarding has a strong philanthropic footprint on Kite Beach, Cabarete.
In recent years, we have come a long way to establish We Love Kiteboarding as a foundation for local Dominican boys and girls, to assist them with access to professional lessons, equipment, competitions, volunteering initiatives and professional career development. We now have sponsors and official partnerships with the International Kiteboarding Organization (IKO), Inspire DR, Spleene Kiteboarding, Reef Kite Academy and the DROpen.
Every year we are fundraising for local Dominican kids, helping them to achieve their goals for school, kiteboarding and professional instructor certification. The kids can often be found selling We Love Kiteboarding t-shirts, the proceeds of which go into a fund to help pay for their needs and wants – Chromebooks, mobile device purchase, support and repair, kite competitions, kite trips, kite repairs, and, of course, pizza!
We are always looking for donations, if you have an unused Chromebook, computer, mobile device, or old kite equipment, please let us know – bring it with you to Cabarete when you visit, give it a local kid and make a difference in their life.
In March, 2022, we entered all the kids in the DROpen kiteboarding competition, which is the most prestigious kiteboarding competition in the Dominican Republic, and our team WON! Charly Renelus, 12, Luis LeFrance 17, and Sheleph Macce, 14, placed 1st, 2nd, 4th in the Junior Class. Ezequiel Crisostomo, 17, Cristofer Lolo, 12 and Luis LeFrance, 17, placed 1st, 2nd, 3rd in the Semi-Pro Class.
The real win for our team on this day was being able to compete alongside their local hometown heroes, Luis Cruz, Lorenzo Calcaño, Joselito Del Rosario and many more, all sponsored, professional riders, competing in the Pro Class. Read more about this incredible story of success and inspiration here!
We also raised more than $2500 in donations to send our team to the Salinas Kitefest competition in July, 2022, and the DROpen competition in Las Terrenas, in August, 2022!
Learn more about and join us in our fundraising efforts on Facebook and Instagram.
And, yesssssss, we love KITE PHOTOGRAPHY too! Check out the gallery with tons of amazing photos capturing the legendary high-flying action you’re going to see, every windy day, on Kite Beach, Cabarete! All photos are All-Rights-Reserved Keiron Smith & We Love Kiteboarding. All photos shot with Sony DSLRs and lens.
All Cabarete property managers use AirBnB.com to list accommodations. Rates improve the longer you stay, and some of the best kept secrets will be revealed after you arrive and get to know the community.
In the map below you can see Kite Beach compared to Cabarete Bay. If you want to stay on, or close to, Kite Beach then you have many options.
Beachfront accommodation is much more expensive than accommodation across the street (see map below).
On the beach, look for accommodation in Agualina, Kite Beach Hotel and Caba Reef. The best budget accommodation on the beach is Kite Beach Inn (not listed on the map).
Across the street, the most popular budget accommodation includes Kite House, Mango House and Big Blue.
There are tons of other accommodation around Cabarete. The map is really for those who want to stay very close to Kite Beach.
We recommend the following local property owners. If you book your accommodation with one of the following please let them know you found them through the We Love Kiteboarding community network (website) – as bookings often result in a small commission that will be donated to the We Love Kiteboarding Junior Team fundraising projects!
Contact info for accommodation across the street:
- Kite House – Maike 12 apartments www.khcabarete.com (WhatsApp +1 849 884-0317)
- Mango House – Samuela 20 AirBnB apartments (WhatsApp +39 347 959 7161)
- Mango House area – Posito Martinez (Facebook Messenger)
- Mango House area – Kelvin Corniel – 1 AirBnB apartment (Facebook Messenger)
Contact info for accommodation on the beach:
- Caba Reef – Andreas Lagopoulos (4 AirBnB apartments)
Puerto Plata (POP) is the nearest airport to Cabarete. The flight from Toronto is approximately 4 hours. The taxi from POP to Cabarete is about 30 minutes, the cost is $30-35 USD.
Ideal wind directions: E, NE
If you are interested in coming to Kite Beach, Cabarete, if you are looking for lessons, accommodations, professional networking – send us an email, or connect with us on Facebook or Instagram.
And, don’t forget, even with all this to offer, minutes away from Kite Beach, by moto, you can get catch the swell and get professional surfing lessons at the legendary Encuentro Beach!