SURF ZONE: KITE-WIND-SURF CENTRE (RENTALS & LESSONS)
*NEW 2010 Windsurf Material in the Best Windsurfing Location in Cabo Verde. Surf Zone Riu School Sal will this year be equiped with the latest equipment and a highly qualified team to assist you. To pre book a board email us (see contact page). This is a brilliant location for more intermediate and advanced windsurfers wanting to speed sail or access wave spots.
Surf Zone is Cabo Verde’s largest Kite, Wind, and, Surf school on the island. It has two locations on the island of sal and a team of 6 instructors, teaching in 6 different languages. The centres specialize in teaching all levels of Kite surfing, Wind surfing and Surfing, from complete beginners to advanced.
Surf Zone locations are also fully equiped kite, wind and surf rental centres. Equipment is up-dated annually to ensure that clients have access to quality and safe material.
Surf Zones schools are located on the island of Sal which for many years has remained a well kept secret as one of the best Kite, Wind, and Surfing environments in the world. The island is home to varying conditions and surfing spots that ensures that all levels of surfers are catered to.
Schools
Surf Zone has two schools on the island of Sal. The first school, is located in the Bay of Santa Maria. This Bay is home to 3kms of pure sandy beach and rock/reef free waters. It is perfect for long safe wind and kite surf runs. The water temperature ranges from 21-29c, and the wind is slightly off-shore at the beginning of the bay and a slightly on-shore at the end of the bay. It is a surfing haven!
Sal continues to be rated as one of the World’s top class surfing destinations, as it has been gifted with trade winds from November to June and a tropical climate all year around.
The Santa Maria school is the largest Kite Surfing school on the island. All the instructors as well as the owners have an extensive background in teaching kite surfing. The entire team lives on the island all year around, and therefore have strong knowledge of the kiting enviroment across the island.
The other school in Sal, Surf Zone Riu is located on the west coast 500meters from the world famous wave spot Punta Preta. It is the only school on this coast. The bay and surrounding area is excellent for intermediate to advanced kite surfers and wind surfers. The wind here is often the strongest of all the school spots on the island, with the direction being more side-off.
Sal remains a hidden jewels in the kite surfing and wind surfing world. Only recently have people started to discover its multiple locations which offer not only excellent conditions for those wanting to learn the sport, but also challanging conditions for those wanting something new.
Lessons: Surf Zone offers either private or group lessons (2 persons per instructor). All the equipment is included in the prices of the lesson.
The Team
The Surf Zone team members are rated as some of the best kite, wind, and surfers on the island. Multilingual, talented, and friendly they are skilled in their ability to teach complete beginners as well as take established kite, wind, and surfers to the next level. The school is run by Roderick Smith from USA and myself, Sheena Patel from Zambia. Rod has spent more than 15years in the field and has vast knowledge of both kitesurfing and windsurfing, the island, the material, and of teaching. I on the other hand come from a international development and business background and bring to the table a standard of quality associated with well run businesses that focus on customer care, quality, safety and fairness. Our team members are mostly from the Cape Verde islands as we believe they can provide the best tuition as they have surfed here all thier lives.
Our constant presence at the school coupled with our focus on small groups and quality over quantity ensures that clients enjoy thier stay with us.
Languages: Surf Zone provides rental information and instruction in English, German, Portuguese, French, Italian, and Spanish.
Safety: The Surf Zone excels in its attention to safety and ensures there is an emergency rescue boat on hand.
Equipment
The Surf Zone equipment ranges from 2008 to the latest 2010 models:
- Windsurfing: 60 boards/80 sails (between the two schools) and rigs in a range of styles and sizes-(Fanatic and taboo board, north and neil pryde sails)
- Kitesurfing: Ozone Kites, Boards: Sol, Haze and Crazy Fly.
- Surf: Mini Malibu and Malibu, short and long boards (NSP & Custom), Body boards, and Kayaks
