Hawaii
Welcome to the Big Show, where all the world's top riders congregate annually for the Red Bull King of the Air. You may not be pro material (yet), but you can still enjoy Kite Beach in Maui or the more docile Kailua Beach in Oahu, and you might even end up in a magazine. Book your trip from May to October, when the wind is the most consistent.
Schools: Hawaiian Watersports; Kailua Sailboards and Kayaks Inc.; Off Da Lip; Naish Limited
South Florida
Kite at Key West or Islamorada in the Keys for crystal-clear, knee-deep Caribbean water as far as you can see, or head to Fort Pierce or Jupiter on the Atlantic coast for sick wave riding. Wind hits the peninsula from all directions, and you're never far from SoFlo's laid-back Latin flavor. Visit in either February through May or November through January for the best conditions.
Schools: The Kite House; Florida Kiting; Seven Kiteboarding; Sky Banditz
South Texas
At about the same latitude as Miami, South Texas enjoys a similar subtropical climate year-round. South Padre Island's Laguna Madre offers smooth, shallow water, and both SPI and Corpus Christi are among the windiest places in the United States. March through May brings the most consistent wind, but it blows about 18 mph here daily throughout the year.
Schools: South Padre Island Kiteboarding; Corpus Christi Kitesurfing; Pro Kitesurf
Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
With more than 70 miles of waist-deep water, Pamlico Sound, inland of Hatteras, might be the best learning spot in the world. Just across the street, perfect sideshore conditions blow on the Atlantic Ocean for intense wave riding. The wind blows year-round here, but mid-March to mid-November has the warmest wind and best conditions.
Schools: Real Kiteboarding; Kitty Hawk Kites; Blowing in the Wind; Kiteboarding Hatteras
