Fastrack instructor course NZ
Become an IKO kitesurf instructor from absolute beginner in 12 weeks in New Zealand. Our fast track kiteboard instructor course is the perfect start to any gap year, enabling you to fund the rest of your travels doing something you love. Or take the leap and change your career and lifestyle.
If you have never kitesurfed before, or are a beginner but just can't get enough practice time in to really nail it, join us in NZ during the UK winter on a fast track kitesurf instructor course. We will take you from any level, and get you ready for the International Kiteboarding Organisation (IKO) kitesurf instructor course. The final week of your course will be the IKO instructor training course (ITC). So you can come to us as a beginner and leave as an IKO instructor. For complete beginners we offer a 12 week course, and for those who have already started kitesurfing we will look at where you are at, and devise a course to suit you.
The fast track kitesurf instructor course is ideal for:
- Gap year - qualify in NZ in your first three months, and fund the rest of your gap year travelling the world
- Career change - fed up with your current job, become a kitesurf instructor and change your life!
- Redundancy - invest in a different future, and live the dream
- Frustrated kite surfers - It's hard to get enough practice in the UK, trying to juggle the Great British weather with tides, work and home life, and can take a long time to get to the next level with your kitesurfing. Take some time out and join a fast track kitesurf instructor course in New Zealand.
Fast track IKO instructor course includes
Tuition/raining/coaching for an average of 20 hours a week - usually weekdays with weekends off to explore, relax or do more kitesurfing!!
Practical sessions will include:
- Coaching and instruction to get you from your level to that required for the IKO course
- Shadowing of instructor and beginner student sessions evolving into you taking the lead under our supervision
- Role play and scenario simulation
- Equipment repair and maintenance
- Initial coaching and training in specialist areas using equipment below
Access to a range of equipment including:
- The latest standard bow kites and twin tip boards for riding and teaching
- Plus try out:
- Race board
- Foil board
- Wave board
- Foil kites
- Landboard
- 4 line C- kites
- 2 line C- kites
And have a go at Wing foiling!
By trying all this equipment you get to understand and experience first hand where the sport has come from, and where it is heading to. You also get to try some of the specialist areas that you might want to concentrate more on in the future.
Theory will include:
- History of kiting and the industry
- Aerodynamics and kite flight theory
- Psychology of teaching
- Weather, wind and tides
- Risk assessment
- Lesson planning
- CV preparation and career advice
Kiting locations:
We are on a peninsula with a range of different locations and conditions. This means we can get out kite surfing in any wind direction, but also that you get to experience flat water, waves, open ocean, harbours, large bays, small coves. The course includes transfers to the best locations each day for your training.
Use of:
- Paddleboards and surfboards as available.
- Standard kitesurfing equipment at weekends and outside of scheduled training sessions.
Qualification elements included:
- IKO Assistant Instructor course
- IKO Level 1 instructor course
- IKO instructor membership and insurance for one year
- First aid course if required
Accommodation:
- Accommodation for the full duration of your course is included. You will be staying in one of our 5m bell tents or our converted shipping container, based on our 12 acre block of land leading directly onto Rangiputa Beach.
- Kite Camp has a large communal kitchen where you can prepare all your meals, and residents often club together to share the cooking. There's a great big table for everyone to sit around and the atmosphere in the evenings is great fun.
- We are off grid, and use solar power for lighting, and charging computers and phones. We have gas for cooking, refrigeration and hot water, and we use the sun for some of this too.
- It is a rustic, but fantastic experience, living close to nature in an amazing location.
Your tutors:
The course will be headed up by Zoe and Berny Maginn. We have both been kiting since 1999, and teaching since 2002. Berny is an IKO examiner, one of only 20 in the world, and we have ben training instructors for over ten years. Usually you only get to see an examiner for 5 days during an IKO instructor training course, but you will receive coaching and training from Berny throughout the duration of your course. So you really being given the very best foundation for being a great instructor.
Job opportunities:
We have a network of schools where we can place instructors who qualify with us, or provide introductions to. Our fast track students are in great demand as schools who have employed them in the past, have found them to be the best instructors out there. So you would be following in those footsteps!
We aim to bring together and pass on our own experience from over 20 years of kitesurfing and training, and give you first hand experience of a wide range of equipment in many different locations and conditions, that might take someone else a whole lifetime to accumulate - a whole lifetime’s worth of kitesurfing experience in one course!
Costs:
From a complete beginner it takes 12 weeks to reach a level where you are ready to undertake the IKO instructor training course (ITC), and to complete the ITC at as your last week.
If you already have some kitesurfing ability, then we may be able to shorten the course, to reflect the time you have already spent practicing.
Outlined below are guideline prices for the 12 week course including all of the above elements, and some examples of shorter courses if you already have some kitesurfing experience.
12 week course - NZ $13,980
8 week course - NZ $9,920
6 week course - NZ $7,980
We ask for a deposit to confirm your place at kite camp, with the balance due on arrival, or in instalments as arranged depending on the length of your stay.
Course dates
We run fast track kitesurf instructor courses / internships in New Zealand from November through to April each year. We can overlap courses, so you can often start and finish whenever you like during that time, and even go off for a bit of exploring in the middle. We just need to plan your actual IKO instructor course to fit at the end of your stay with us.
You can even start to learn with us in the UK and finish up in NZ, or vice versa.
Discounted equipment
There is no need to have your own equipment, as we will have a complete range for you to use during your course to suit all wind conditions. But we do offer equipment at trade prices if you buy gear at the beginning of your course, and use it during the course. This can result in some big savings.
What’s not included
Flights to New Zealand and onward travel to our local airport or bus station at Kaitaia. You can get flights from Auckland to Kaitaia from around $125. We can arrange pick up from the Kaitaia airport of bus station.
Food. We do weekly trips to the supermarket where you can stock up, and are often popping into town or the local shop if you need to get any extras through the week. You can also catch fish off the beach out front or from our little rowing boat, and pick some vegetables from the veggie patch if you happy to get involved in tending the garden. There is a good cafe within ten minutes, and lovely cafes and bars in Mangonui about half an hour away. We go for coffee every day and you are welcome to join us!
A crazy night life. We do have lots of people coming and going, jam nights, pizza nights, bbqs all sorts, but the nearest night clubs and pumping bars are in Paihia about an hour and a half away. Previous students have made the odd weekend trip away for a bit of overindulgence, returning with a few headaches but some good stories. But most people just enjoy the social side of life at kite camp, and many make life long friends from their time with us.
Transport during your free time. We are often able to give you lifts to places, and there are busses available for trips into town. Some previous students have chosen to hire or buy cars (which can often be sold for the same money at the end of your stay) to give you greater independence. Though many are happy just to hang out a the beach!
Cancellation policy
We will try and refund any deposits for cancellations made in advance of your stay, as long as we haven't turned away other bookings and then are unable to fill your place.
* All use of equipment outside of our specific supervised training, will be subject to a fair usage policy, with any reasonable cost of loss or damage to be covered by the user.
