HOW TO GET INTO WAVEKITING

PASSION & BACKGROUND

Ever since I was a kid growing up landlocked in Vienna, I dreamed of learning to surf. While my friends had pop stars on their walls, mine were covered with surfers gliding across perfect waves. The ocean’s energy and the elegance of wave riding fascinated me from the start.

My dad was a windsurfer, and during family holidays, I often got to ride with him on his board — that connection to the ocean shaped everything. Years later, I competed in freestyle kiteboarding on the World Tour in the early 2000s, before wave kiting even existed. Around 2004, a local shaper in Tarifa built me my first surfboard — and from my first session, I knew I’d found my calling.

Though I kept competing in freestyle for a while, my passion shifted to waves. In 2007, I moved to Western Australia, drawn by the raw beauty of the Indian Ocean.

Wave kiting opened a whole new playground — not just for progression and athletic challenge, but also for travel and exploration. On a personal level, waves push my limits, make me face fears, and teach me to grow; they humble me and fuel me endlessly.

GETTING STARTED / BASICS

The foundation for wave riding is solid kite control and confident riding skills. Start small, stay within your limits, respect Mother Nature, and build gradually — that’s how wavekiting becomes the most fun you can have on the water.

CORE SKILLS

 Before heading into waves, make sure you’re completely comfortable with:
 • Confident riding and kite handling in varied conditions
 • Water relaunching
 • Upwind body dragging and board recovery
 • Getting out through shorebreak

The stronger your basics, the faster you’ll progress. Once in waves, everything happens quicker — your reactions need to be automatic.

GEAR

Boards: You can get your first taste of waves on a twintip. It’s forgiving — you don’t need to switch feet, you can hop over waves, and easily turn away if one looks too big. Once you feel at ease cruising through surf on a twintip, move on to a surfboard. A waveboard opens a whole new dimension of riding, letting you truly engage with the wave’s power and flow.

Kites: Wave-specific kites make progression smoother. My personal favorites are the Neo SLS and Neo D/LAB — light, fast, with great drift and depower. The original Neo is an epic kite to start with! When switching to a surfboard, you’ll usually size down. A smaller kite gives you freedom to carve and use the wave’s power instead of the kite’s.

Leash or no leash: Skip it. A leash can ping the board back at you. Being able to body drag upwind in your sleep is non-negotiable.

WAVE AWARENESS & READING THE OCEAN

Waves carry tremendous energy — that’s part of their magic, but also why they demand respect and awareness. Learning to read the ocean is a lifelong skill: recognizing patterns in waves, currents, tides, and wind. Basically, an applied ocean science that grows with experience. With time and curiosity, your observations turn into instinctive decisions on the water.

Studying the Nature of Waves
The more time you spend in the water — on a kiteboard, surfboard, bodyboard, SUP, or even just watching from the beach — the better you’ll get at predicting how waves break and move. Learn the different stages and parts of a wave, watch for patterns in their behavior, and notice how the seafloor shapes them. Being able to read waves is a vital skill for any rider, and the more you study them, the faster it becomes second nature. Most importantly — enjoy the process.

PLANNING YOUR SESSION

Before you even start pumping up your kite, take a few minutes to assess the conditions and plan your exit strategy. Ask yourself: If I drop my kite in the waves, if the wind dies, or if I lose my gear — what’s my way out? If you can’t answer that clearly, don’t go out!

Respect & Safety
Don’t launch straight into a busy surf lineup. Surfers and windsurfers have been there long before kiters, plus it’s much harder for them to catch a wave. Show respect, be fair, and make sure you fully understand the right-of-way rules in the surf — it avoids accidents in the water, a bad rep for our sport, and conflicts later on the beach.

Choosing the Spot
Start with mellow, small beach breaks to master the fundamentals before tackling more demanding reefs. Watch locals first — where they launch, how they get through whitewater, and where they come back in. If no kiters are out, there’s usually a reason. Ask locals about rips, currents, rocks, and hidden hazards. If the locals are hesitating to go out, find out why — never assume you know better.

Wind Conditions
For beginners, cross-onshore winds are safest — they push you back to the beach and make learning the basics easier. As you progress, cross-shore becomes ideal for refining technique and higher-performance riding.

Avoid fully onshore winds (challenging kite control, high risk of accidents and gear damage) and any direction with offshore in it. Cross-offshore can deliver dream conditions, but it’s strictly for advanced riders who understand the risks — if your kite goes down, you’ll drift out to sea.

Equally important are strength and stability. Skip winds that are too light, gusty, or unstable — and remember, a howling 30 knots won’t help your early learning curve either.

WAVE RIDING FUNDAMENTALS

When you first start wave riding, focus on nailing the fundamentals confidently before thinking about flashy moves. These are your building blocks — they’ll make everything else possible and keep you safe in the surf:

• Punching through white water: Keep momentum and control as you pass broken waves. Stay light on your feet, nose of the board slightly raised, and steer your kite for steady pull.

• Board recovery & body dragging: Practise retrieving your board quickly and calmly. Waves move your gear far more than flat water — strong upwind body dragging is essential.

• Frontside & backside riding: Practice both early. Even if one side feels awkward, keep at it — being comfortable both ways is a total game-changer.

• Timing: Wave riding is all about rhythm and flow. Aim to draw smooth, connected lines  — don’t let the kite pull you out of sync with the wave.

• Jibes & tacks: The more confidently you switch stance, the easier it is to stay in position and catch more waves. Long downwinders on safe, sandy stretches are perfect for endless practice.

Common mistakes to avoid:

• Rushing into heavy surf before you’ve built confidence and skills in small, forgiving waves.

• Over-focusing on the kite and forgetting to actually ride the wave.

• Riding overpowered instead of downsizing is a common mistake — you want to engage with the power of the wave, not let the kite pull you. Use techniques like sheeting out or re-positioning the kite to stay connected to the wave’s energy, and let the wave dictate your pace and movements.

• Always riding your strong side — real progress happens when you work on your weak side too.

The goal:

• Surf the wave — don’t get pulled by the kite.

• Let the wave be your main source of momentum, using the kite only for positioning and support. The less you rely on it for power, the more connected and fluid your ride will feel.

ADVANCING YOUR SKILLS & TOOLS

• Refine Turns & Flow
  Bottom turns & top turns: Make your kite movement and body position smooth and instinctive. Link turns fluidly, letting the wave drive your movement.
   Carve & edge control: Commit to your turns with confidence, adjusting board edge and pressure to control speed and flow.

• Ride Both Sides Equally
  Working your weak side opens more options on the wave and helps you adapt to different spots, waves, or wind direction.

• Next-Level Moves
  Set yourself new goals, get inspired, and work on cutbacks, floaters, small airs, and reading and reacting to waves more effectively to improve timing, adaptability, and confidence.

• Gear Tweaks for Progression
  Experimenting with slightly smaller kites or surfboards with different rocker or tail shapes can unlock new possibilities — sharper turns, tighter control, and faster kite response.

• Structured Learning with the Academy App
  Track sessions, monitor maneuvers, and identify weak spots. Step-by-step tutorials and structured programs help you progress safely and confidently.

• Mindset & Continuous Improvement
  Wave riding is an endless journey — always observe, reflect, and adapt. Film yourself, analyze others, stay humble, curious, and aware of your limits. Never stop learning from the ocean.

FINAL SAFETY NOTE — KEEP YOUR KITE IN THE AIR

Possibly the most important rule: keep your kite flying. When a kite crashes in waves, things can turn serious fast — lines under pressure become knives, and the kite can turn into a sea anchor.

It’s not necessarily a tragedy every time, but once the kite is down in the lineup, it will get washed — just like you — and it’s very likely that the next wave behind the one that got you off your board will wash you into your lines. Lines wrapped around your limbs or body can cause serious injury if another wave hits or the kite powers up again.

When you fall off your board with the kite still up and you’re about to cop a wave on the head, make this “hand rule” second nature: always know which hand to pull on the bar to move the kite against the push of the wave (i.e. away from the beach). If you get washed, it’s easy to lose orientation — that’s when motor skills come into their own. You’ll only have a split second to act, so train your brain. Pull just enough to get the kite beyond 12 so it lifts you up or through the wave — not so hard that it crashes behind it.

One of my biggest kitemares happened on a heavy day, a couple of hours into riding 6–7 metre wave faces in light onshore wind. I was on the second wave of a five-wave set, and my concentration wasn’t on point anymore. Losing line tension on my bottom turn, the kite dropped out of the sky. I got worked hard by the water mountain I’d just ridden — so did my kite — and when I surfaced, my lines were wrapped around my whole body, even my neck.

The next wave of the set loomed over me with another two behind. I had a split second to get the lines off and eject the chicken loop, but one line stayed wrapped around my forearm. Getting smashed by several waves this size is already heavy enough — but being dragged underwater by a kite turned sea anchor, connected by a single line to my forearm while being worked in the washing machine, was next level. It was one of the hairiest, most dangerous moments of my career.

By some miracle, that line eventually snapped, grinding along the reef below — though it completely severed one of my forearm muscles. I nearly drowned trying to make it back to shore with only one arm working in the heavy surf and a strong rip pulling me out to sea — but I made it.

This incident hasn’t taken anything away from my deep love for wave riding, but it’s taught me invaluable lessons.

Moments like this remind me that with respect, preparation, and focus, the ocean is my greatest teacher — and no matter what, I’ll always come back for more, because wavekiting is simply the best.

In this spirit, have fun, ride safe, and I’m always here for questions or extra tips!
Gabi x

P.S. The Duotone Academy App is packed with step-by-step tutorials, pro tips, and structured training programs to help you progress safely and confidently in the surf — whatever your level and wherever you ride.