Best Premier School Destination: Maui Hawaii
Maui Sports Unlimited
Aloha!! Maui Sports Unlimited is Hawaii’s newest and only authorized Best Kiteboarding center, offering all levels of lessons, from beginner to advanced. Since 1999, MSU has offered a variety of watersports training programs to people of all ages and abilities. MSU teaches kiteboarding year-round with programs to suit kiteboarders from 7–70 years young. If you love kiteboarding with reliable winds and warm water, you must come visit us at the best kiteboarding destination in the world.
About the Island
Maui is world famous for extreme sports. Rugged volcanic geography, strong trade winds, and huge Pacific swells make Maui an extreme athlete’s paradise. Kitesurfing began on Maui over 30 years ago with pro athletes like Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama, and Rush Randle, who were pushing the limits of wind-powered watersports. The island of Maui has always been one of the premier destinations for windsurfing. It spawned the sport of extreme tow-in surfing and has also become the proving ground for many of the world’s best kiteboarding professionals.
Maui is called the “Valley Isle.” The large valley between the West Maui Mountains and Mount Haleakala creates a venturi effect that accelerates the wind speed to create year-round, side-onshore, 10–20 knot trade winds. The island of Maui has the best wind of all the islands in the state, and Maui is the number one island for wind sports in Hawaii. Warm waters, beautiful sandy beaches, and areas set aside solely for practicing kiteboarding make Maui one of the foremost kiteboarding spots in the world. In the spring and summer, the most common kite sizes for local riders range from 6 to 12 meters.
There are several different areas where you can kite. The most popular is the western (downwind) end of Kanaha Beach Park, known as “Kite Beach.” Kihei, on the south shore, and the “west side” (above Lahaina) areas are also popular with intermediate to advanced kitesurfers.
Getting There
Kanaha Beach Maui (Kite Beach) is located right behind the Kahului airport. There are several airlines that fly direct to Maui from the mainland U.S. Most water sports enthusiasts will choose either the South Shore (Kihei & Wailea) or the North Shore (Paia, Haiku) to stay close to the action. Wailea, in the south, has the best resort-style hotels. Centrally located Kihei offers comfortable condo-style accommodation close to shops and restaurants. The North Shore suits a more isolated, laid-back style with “Ohana” (family) cottage-style accommodations. Call us or send us an e-mail and let our travel department help you find the perfect Maui accommodation. Maui is ready and waiting to offer you the vacation of a lifetime.
Our school is located at the world famous “Kite Beach Maui” with near-perfect kitesurfing weather conditions year-round. Maui has more kitesurfing days per year than any other kitesurfing destination in the world. Our summer season, May through September, has consistent trade winds blowing daily. Our winter season brings us big north swells, which are perfect for practicing wave riding.
If you are short on time, try our 1-day Kite Introduction program. This lesson is a perfect way to experience kiteboarding for the first time! This lesson gives an overview and introduction to the sport of kiteboarding. Covering many of the essential skills, you learn about wind direction and site selection, as well as flying the trainer kites and honing your kite flying skills on land and in the water. We show you how to use the kiteboarding harness so you can fly with more power and with only one hand. We show you board handling skills and the basics of the water start. This introduction lesson covers lots of safety protocols, including emergency stops and kite recovery. You will learn how to use the safety systems and do self-rescue procedures, launching, landing, and water relaunching the kite. We supply a range of the latest Best kites in all sizes and a selection of board sizes and styles to accelerate the learning curve. With our hands-on techniques, you will be in the water within 30 minutes, learning on-water kite handling. The “intro” lesson can also be the first installment in any of our longer courses, so you can decide if you want to upgrade at any time. No previous experience is required, but you must be comfortable in the water and be able to swim. Students with previous watersports experience and board skills will learn even faster because our lessons are taught at the student’s individual pace. All of our lessons are taught one instructor to one kite, giving you the maximum safety and attention.
We have a range of different lesson packages, or you can go along day-by-day. If you have the time, we highly recommend the 10-day package. This program is becoming extremely popular and includes 30 hours of private kiteboard instruction spread over 10 days. This comprehensive course gives students a solid foundation in the sport of kiteboarding. This course is the fastest way into the sport of kiteboarding. All of the basic skills from the shorter courses are covered, including equipment handling, kite-control skills, launching and landing techniques, safety systems, and ride-safe protocols. Students then progress to planing, riding and jibing, as well as upwind riding skills. The increased ride time enables the student to hone their skills with constant feedback from the instructors, creating the most rapid progression possible. Our instructors can ride beside you or caddy your equipment. In this unique course, we do down-winder coast runs and utilize alternate launch sites and beach locations. This course is great for someone who wants to take the sport of kiteboarding home with them or wants to begin a kitesurfing world tour.