Our Team
IKO Certified | CPR & First Aid Certified| Insured
All our instructors are experienced IKO certified instructors teaching a set teaching standard of kiteboarding tricks and tips formulated by the International Kiteboarding Organization and SA Kitesurf Adventures. All our instructors also insured and trained in are CPR and First aid.
Dale
Owner
Dale, owner of SA Kitesurf Adventures (SAK), is a Level 3, IKO certified instructor with 12 years of professional teaching experience and thousands of hours of teaching students to ride with confidence. Dale, originally from Cape Town, South Africa has been kiteboarding for more than a decade and has taught kiteboarding in parts of Africa and the United States. He founded SAK in Cape Town in 2012, and after meeting his wife Erika in Eastern Africa, he moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2014 to open a second branch of SAK in the Columbia River Gorge, Lyle, WA. He now lives and runs another SAK branch in St. Petersburg, FL from Oct-June. Dale’s passion for teaching has inspired many of his students and he loves to see their lives transform. Dale is an expert on a strapless surfboard and more recently wing foiling has been his focus. When not teaching others to kite or running epic kitesurfing sailing charters to the Caribbean and trips to South Africa, Dale can be found kiting and riding the waves on his surfboard, creating original music in his home studio, or BBQing with friends.
Erika
Co-Owner
Erika is SAK’s office guru and resident yoga instructor. Following careers in Urban Planning and Public Health, she left office life to teach yoga and travel with the kite school full time. Erika is a certified yoga instructor who has been teaching Vinyasa style classes since 2012. She has completed her 500-Hour Universal Yoga certification under Raj Patra, Yoga for Life in Portland, OR, and Guruji Andrey Lappa, founder of Universal Yoga. She can now be found teaching classes at Sukha Life in St. Petersburg, FL and on all of SAK’s kiteboarding and yoga retreats. She is passionate about the environment and social justice issues and works hard to ensure that SAK is an environmentally and socially responsible company. When not teaching or helping out with the kite school, she can be found hiking with her dog, stand up paddling, engrossed in a good book, or tending to her garden.
Tanner
Head Instructor
Tanner grew up playing on the Great Columbia River and has always been an instructor at heart. He started his passion for teaching as an assistant Tae Kwon Do Instructor when he was just 11 years old, and at age 17 made the switch to teaching Kiteboarding. With his IKO certification he’s taught all throughout the US, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, chasing the wind year round. Having gotten his private pilot license, he also has a deep passion for aviation and aerodynamics, making him a great instructor for those looking for technical explanations. Tanner’s preferred riding style is strapless freestyle, as well as hydro foiling for the real light wind days.
Aiden
IKO Instructor
Being raised by a kite surfing family, Aidan has been kiteboarding for the better part of his lifetime. He began kiting on the shores of Well’s island; learning from his parents as they utilized every moment of their short weekend to kiteboard. He fell in love with instructing shortly after being IKO certified as he found spreading the joy of kiteboarding, the sport that has enriched his life for years, to be extremely gratifying. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, being active outdoors and in nature has always been a fundamental part of his personality. Enjoying such activities like hiking, mountain biking, and exploring in general when he’s not on the water.
Nancy
IKO Instructor
Nancy Diane has been Kiting 5 years. I learned in the Gorge and honed my skills in Saint Petersburg FL. I love to coach kiters who are beginners and feel the need for a bit more security to get to be an independent kiter. Hood River and the Columbia River is my home, but i love to kite in many conditions. The Flat water, in sunny Florida in the winter or the swell in La Ventana, the translucent turquoise waters in Sardinia or the flat lagoons in Sicily. I love to travel and kite. Nancy Diane is an RN and utmost safety and fun are the goals for my students.
Zulu
Greetings
Zulu is SAK’s tiny, but mighty mascot and the best kite dog ever! He loves greeting customers at the shop and on the beach with no shortage of love and licks. He has no fear of the wind or water and took his first ride on a kiteboard with Dale when he was less than a year old. When not kiteboarding, you can find him running on the beach, splashing through the water, sniffing something delicious, chasing squirrels, or curled up in his little bed snoozing away.