North Coast Wind- and Kitesurfing
Front Loop Watersports Club. Formerly a Nathalie Simon franchise, the club is still primarily a windboarding and kiteboarding school but also offers a wide range of on- and off-water activities, including stand-up paddleboarding, surfing, kayaking, and horseback riding. Still under the same owners, it's directly at the entrance of both the windboard and kiteboard zones of Cabarete Bay and offers on-site storage for equipment. Sharing the grounds with Le Reef Beach Condos and the Front Loop Café, the Club is equipped with North Kiteboarding and Fanatic gear. New gear and accessories are for sale in its Surf Shop on the main road. Cabarete Beach, Cabarete, Puerto Plata, 57000. 809/571–0848.
Kite Club Cabarete. An International Kitesurfing Organization (IKO) Certification Center, Kite Club offers multilingual lessons, from beginner to instructor certification. Bow kites, known for their safety factor, are used; radio helmets keep students in constant contact with their instructors. Prospective students generally book in advance online. Those kiters (and part-time residents) who have their own gear, pay inexpensive weekly dues to belong. This covers the use of the beach furniture and the rescue boat if needed. Equipment can be rented, too, and the new store is stock-full of the latest kiteboarding equipment. The adjacent Kite Club Cafe has healthful, tasty, low-cost meals and is open to all. This club has a sister school in Punta Cana. Kite Beach, Cabarete, Puerto Plata, 57000. 809/571–9748; 829/650–0448; www.kiteclubcabarete.com.
Laurel Eastman Kiteboarding. One of the best-known and most respected schools in the Caribbean was a pioneer in this sport and still provides fun and safe instruction. Training courses can be completed within a week; lessons can be private or with a group, but private lessons are recommended for beginners. The company also provides gear rentals and sells shoulder totes made from recycled kites. Inquire about the apartment Laurel rents. Cabarete, Puerto Plata, 57000. 809/571–0564; www.laureleastman.com.
Cabarete is the wind- and kitesurfing center of the Dominican Republic, if not the entire Caribbean. It's said that if you can learn to kitesurf here, you can do it anywhere. The vast majority of the country's schools are headquartered here. One of the original players was the Carib Wind Cabarete, now also a major sailing center.
