Aruwak kite surfing school and center Aruba review: unfair people
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
I booked lessons with the Aruwak kite surfing school and center. After four days of skiing in Italy I decided it was time to look for the sun. I had quite some stress so I felt I needed more holidays. The sun can be found all year round in Aruba. I wanted to improve my kitesurfing skills with a kite surfing school or center during this marvellous holiday. The choice between many became Aruwak.
In Belgium I learn kite surfing via Surfers Paradise in Knokke. I didn’t manage the waterstart quite right and there was room for improvement. By looking around in Aruba I saw the Aruwak kite surfing school. It was populated by someone who speaked dutch (like most people in Aruba).
I paid 105 USD for two hours private lessons with Aruwak kitesurfing center / school. With the private instructor I made up the kite. Then we went to the water. He looks a bit on what I can already to start giving me tips. Try after try I noticed small improvements. The kite as usual falls into the water every now and then, something every beginner has to go through. Every now and then I manage to stay on my board for a few meters. I manage well, even with the unclear tips from the instructor (left means push the bar with the left hand while to me left means put the kite more to the left, the other opposite).
Well, I’m in half the 2 hour lessen and I manage to stay for quite some meters on the board and after X meter I fall back in the water. Also the kite does this, not different than any other times it felt on the water. I see that the kite of Aruwak kite surfing center / school is damaged and we have to get back to the beack. I thought we just had to grab another kite, besides it’s a school.
Instead of doing this Lysander (Manager of Aruwak kitesurfing school and center) tells me that this is no accident. So I wonder if he thinks I did that on purpose. He tells me I didn’t listen to the instructor (while he was not there when this happened) when he told me to release the bar. Well, if there was one thing that the instructor told me: Frederic, you’re moving the bar to much up and forth. Keep it steady at a particular position. The one thing I was not allowed to do was moving (or even worse releasing) the bar. Well that’s exactly what I did.
Telling this to Lysander doesn’t help much. He wants me to pay for the damage. While I think: this is a (Aruwak) kitesurfing school / center. It’s completely normal that kite material suffer more in a learning phase. Cars suffer more in driving schools than in traffic. You just know that bars, lines, harnasses, kites and boards suffer more in a learning environment.
I think it’s very sad and pathetic to have a student believe that this is all his fault. I just did what I had to do: Learn to kite with the belonging falling and standing back up.
Off course I refuse to pay while he tells me lessons are over and the other 50USD worth of cash/ kitesurfing lessons are uncovered.
I believe these are strongly unethical practices and largely unfair. I believe it is sad people want to make you believe untrue things just for the benefit of a few bucks. There are more than enough kitesurfing schools. 100 meter further there is one and 100 meter before Aruwak kitesurfing school/center there is one at the Marriot. And besides that, there are many more.
Do yourself a favour and don’t go to the Aruwak kitesurfing school/center
Skiën
