Miami Kite Boarding

We purchased a LivingSocial voucher for 4 semiprivate kiteboarding lessons (2 for me and 2 for my wife). Due to abdominal surgery I couldn’t use the vouchers until the very last day they were valid. Two weeks before that day I emailed Miami Kiteboarding but never received a reply. Then I called and left a message — no reply. I called again and spoke to someone who said that he couldn’t help me and I should email the owner. I did that and the guy (Chris) responded a day later. After clearing up the issue with the vouchers I called again to make an appointment.
The day of the appointment we arrived on time. Still, there was no one there to talk to. The guy who was there (from another company) told me that it was closed. When I said that I had an appointment he sent me to the back to «ask for Ryan». I eventually found Ryan and was informed that he was actually our instructor. There was another guy doing the course so we got started about 45 minutes late. Ryan, an English guy, is very nice and a very good instructor.
After about 1 hour of beach introduction we were ready to go in the water. Ryan asked us if we had signed the waivers and we said no as there was no one there when we arrived to do that. He sent us back to the office since he said he needed the waivers signed before proceeding. So we walk back to the office and talked to a blond girl, apparently from Eastern Europe. I had actually seen her before we started the lesson but she had ignored us.
She gave us the waiver forms and we filled them out. She asked how many hours we had purchased and we said 4. She told us we had only 2. I said that we had 2 each and that that equaled 4 hours (that’s what it said on the LivingSocial voucher, too). It got pretty bizarre when she said that «2 and 2 is 2» (news to me!) but we eventually agreed we each had 2 hours of instruction. She then said that we had half an hour left but we disagreed because we started 45 minutes late and we spend 15 minutes walking to the office and back to fill out forms that we could have filled out much earlier had the girl not arrived to work late. That argument got a little heated and culminated in her telling by wife «Listen, lady, …» in that «Listen, b*itch, …» tone of voice. Her overall attitude was really bad.
We then finished the lessons in the water (no board yet, just kite control and being dragged through the water) and wrapped everything up.
To summarize the experience: great instructor, terrible organization, customer service and admin people. We will continue with kiteboarding but not with Miami Kiteboarding!

This place delivered a bad experience from the first interaction. When I tried to schedule a kite boarding lesson, I emailed them and received a reply asking to call. I called and called and called for three straight days before I finally received a return call. Eventually, I scheduled a lesson, but was soon intercepted by a competing outfit who apparently has an «association» with Miami Kite Boarding, whatever that means. I spent the two days before the lesson juggling calls from the two outfits.
When I finally arrived to the beach this afternoon, there was drama and everyone was in an ill mood. Apparently, a renegade boarder was doing tricks and putting others in danger earlier in the day. Okay, fine, but don’t ruin everyone else’s experience.
I paid $ 200 for a shared lesson. The lesson began with an hour of equipment setup, which started 25 mins late. The equipment itself was lower quality than what I’ve used in the past and setup should never take an hour. We encountered repeated delays, which ate into my riding time. Furthermore, the instructor was attempting to juggle another beginner who was getting setup on another section of the beach. The whole setup was poorly planned. When I eventually got out on the water, the instructor gave me a few tips, told me the boundaries and wished me well. I didn’t see him again until he came out to get me at the end of my lesson. Great lesson… I learned so much! When I asked him, «is the time up», he replied, «yeah, a long time ago.» He took the kite and rode it back up the beach, but when I arrived back at the shack approx 20 mins later, it was only 4:15. My lesson was scheduled for 2 – 4. Worst of all, he blamed me for the other guy in the shared lesson leaving in frustration. Still worse, the dude behind the counter — Stu — was still complaining about the renegade boarder.
In summary, this place is anything by chill or laid back. They are uptight and full of drama. Worse yet, they are not organized, the lessons are not well planned and the equipment is the least expensive you can find. I’ve kite boarded in a few different locations, and quite frankly, have had far better experiences with better equipment in third world nations. You can definitely do much better in south florida.