Kite Alize, Antsiranana Province, Madagascar

5Denis S 5:00 PM Dec 18, 2013

Just the best summer we have had
Put the best attributes of malagasy, french and european culture as well as the kitesurfing attitude together and mix it. What you'll get is the kiteinstructor Jerome and his surfschool Kite Alize. My girlfriend and I spent the whole november with him and we really recommend it. We were able to learn kitesurfing so we can now go all on our own. Safety was a big issue in his school, what we totally support. We felt secure in every moment. His english is the best I've ever heard form a french guy. In Madagascar this is even harder to find than in France ;-). The spot, as you can see on the pictures, looks and feels like paradise. The instructor and his malagasy crew are amazing and very enthusiastic. They really enjoy your improvement as much as you do. A great country, a great culture, great fauna and flora and a experience i don't want to miss. A normal day was like meeting at 9 in the morning, getting picked up by Jerome in his 4WD. A 30 minute ride to the surfspot. On the way picking up other customers and his crew. On the spot we decided which material to use. On the way to the beach (10 meters) we saw the fishermen coming from the sea with the caught fish and calamri, which will be served to us for lunch. Great food. After setting up the material starting the lesson or the riding. about 2 hours later break with lunch, coffee, realxing, feeding lemurs,.... afternoon another 2-3 hour lesson/ride. In the evening driving home and enjoying the view. At home showering and getting ready for one of the great and cheap restaurants in the city. Caipirinhas, Party, Relaxing, Sportsbar,.... whatever you want. Afterwards going to bed and hoping for good wind the next day And by the way, kitesurfing is so much fun when you get over the first furstration of not getting out of the water. Simply take your time (around a week, depending on the progress) and don't give up. It is the best place to learn kitesurfing, because you can stand in the whole bay. This accelerates your success so much. I think on this spot you will learn it at least one week faster than in spots where you have to swim, drag and fight to have your next try, which is taking a lot of time and energy. So if you have enough time to visit the north, do a kitesurfcourse. On the windless days you have so much to see around this area. Mer de Emeraude, Montagne de Ambre, Montagne de Francais, the three bays, Nosy Hara, Quad tours, Tsingy rouge,... and of course the city of Diego Suarez/Antsiranana, which was the nicest one on my two month trip. The area there is, because of tourism, wealthy enough, so most of the people have a job and enough to live. I felt very secure and people there are just really nice.

5Julia S 5:00 PM Dec 3, 2014

Bad start, still excellent
I booked one of the packages Jerome is offering on his homepage with kite surf lessons and hotel for 14 days. In the beginning I was not very happy since I could only start my lessons two days later than originally agreed on, due to bad wind conditions during the weeks before. And I had to pay a fine due to not being able to show my passport at a police checkpoint, which I didn't know I need to take... I was staying for 8 nights in the "Petit Paradis" in Diego and then a few nights in the "Case en Falafy" in Ramena and extended my stay by a few days. The administrative issues, changing my hotel, extending my stay and etc. were easy and Jerome was extremely helpful with arranging it. "Everything is possible in Madagascar" which turned out to be really true. The lessons were very well taught, even in English, although almost nobody really speaks English in Madagascar. Jerome and one guy of his crew speak English. I always felt safe and well cared for and also encouraged to try again after the many times of failure. And well, in the end, I learnt how to kite surf :) The other clients spoke French at the time I was there, but I usually didn't feel excluded, although my French was not really good (as a side effect I improved my French language skills by a great deal during these weeks). Travelling alone it was quite good that I was able to meet nice people there. The spot is a lagoon, easy for beginners, you can stand when there's low tide, no waves and there's no corals or stones. There's a small gargotte at the spot, so don't worry about food or water. The equipment is excellent and well maintained and you don't have to worry about the availability of your size. Jerome also recommended me to go kite surfing at the Mer d'emeraude after my stay with him and gave me the contact of one of the lodges there. In the end, I really recommend to learn kite surfing with Kite Alize. The overall experience was excellent.