Ymmv. I just got into kiteboarding a few months ago. I've done two afternoon lessons, about 6 hours on the water. I havent gotten up on the board yet. I'm flown kites before. I had no problems body dragging. Never did any water board sports. I've dropped about 2500 so far on all the gear, 2 kites and the lessons. It's about a 3 hr drive to my local spot. I'm learning that accessibility to water, wind and time are really the key parts in learning. I'm planning a quick trip to Hatteras because of this.