Power Kite Forum - BEGINNERS MALIBU KITESURFING IS NOT FOR YOU (OPINION)

Dear kiteboarders,

I had the awful experience of buying a 10 hour lesson pack from an incredibly unprofessional and unsafe business. The name Malibu kitesurfing. Richard Mena, although some of you may know him, is not a certified IKO instructor, and has no regard for informing his students of the pitfalls of kite boarding before he sends them out on the water. My experience : I was a competitive Snowboarder for 10 years and tried kite boarding before but i figured it was time to complete my training so i could get the whole story.

Intro: walk up to richard : time 4PM "I TOLD YOU TO BE HERE AT 4:30."
i was thinking ok this guy is a bit of a hardass but so what , nobody could be as hard as my old coaches. I am 30, and nobody has ever met me and immediately yelled at me ( a complete stranger) for being early and HAVING PREPAID FOR A SERVICE. The guy was just sitting in his truck like a typical fryhead.

My sister standing next to me...... Richard: so you wanna learn that safety bullsH** or do you just want to get out on the water".

at this point i was thinking man , I already prepaid this fool, too late to back out. That was a huge mistake i should have because this fool almost got me killed by not giving me the whole story. So we proceeded on a complete ride of disorganized lessons ( 3 hours over two sessions, because he cancelled on me twice) . Finally got out onto the water in malibu but the wind was dead but enough to fly a trainer that i had bought. This fool instead of taking my scheduled lesson time to give me tips with the trainer, decides to strip down to his speedo and sun himself, snd later he informs that I OWE HIM FOR THE TIME HE HAD TO WAIT that e wasn't teaching me. This is garbage, i had paid for lessons but this guy wasn't acting professional or even attempting to work for the money i had already given him. I was so angry but i wanted to learn so i didnt think twice because i thought i would get my money's worth later.... what a mistake.

I eventually made it out to the water that afternoon and popped right up and already understood how to kite upwind because of my tacking experience from sailing. I didnt have a full understanding though of kite behavior. This was not a good plan to take me to a beach that was 20 feet wide from a fence right in front of HOUSES. Malibu is NOT A BEGINNER SPOT. anyways after being out on the water alone for 15 minutes, he motioned me to come in. so i did, easily, i got to the shallows and slowed the kite down and tried to step off the board. tripped and spun for 5 feet. Not a problem but apparently it was to him. Mind you no information about the dangers on the beach!!.....

" WHAT THE F$$# are you DOING I NEVER TOLD YOU TO DO THAT!!! but good job on the water.... " BUT DONT EVER F*****ING DO THAT AGAIN.

At this point i had had enough, " I yelled back at him, "ARE WE DONE HERE." This surprised him obviously the guy never had somebody talk back to him for his poor teaching. He got kind of embarressed and said no you can go back out, But continued yelling. I had already figured out that getting closer to land is not a good idea, but how the he@@ would you know this unless you TEACHER TOLD YOU. I went back out one more time and again was up and running but I was so pissed i kited back and got out of the water.

This guy then informs me that i owe him money because there was no wind to fly earlier in the day. Remember I was flying my kite just not with him thanks to his speedo and old leathery skin. At that point i informed him that i still had 7 hours prepaid and he said that this does not include that. That was it. He then decided it would be good business practice to ignore me, and then go out on the water himself.

That was the last time i saw this idiot. I am sure i will see him again and his Van. Is this the kind of experience you want? Because i can tell you there are actual shops that teach IKO lesson plans that will help you become a kiteboarder in a safe and testable manner and not just on the fly like Richard Mena.

If you have any questions email me at jfraven74@hotmail.com and i will tell you whats up.

Stay Smart and stay the hell away from Malibu kitesurfing in Los Angeles California.