Maybe you enjoy lounging on a beach or beside a pool for the whole of your summer holiday abroad – but, then again, perhaps you prefer to do something much more active instead. Many people do and a warm weather holiday is a great place to cycle, rock climb, walk, or learn a new skill such as diving or kitesurfing.

My guest writer Tonisha discovered the fun of kitesurfing in Spain.

Kitesurfing involves a kite and a surfboard. You stand (sometimes!) on your surfboard and as the kite catches the wind you get pulled along the surface of the sea.

You can control the kite pretty much as you’d control a regular kite, so that you can turn around, vary your speed and stop if you want to. It’s quite a hard sport to master, though, so most people require training and instruction.

While the sport started in places such as Hawaii and the Cayman Islands, Europe has a few kitesurfing hotspots, including a Spanish kite school Tarifa in Andalusia, Spain.

As a location for the Kite Surfing School Tarifa is brilliant. In the winter, the average temperature range is between 12C and 20C, so even on the coolest days you’ll be just fine with a wetsuit.

In the summer, you’ll be even warmer, with temperatures ranging from 30C to 35C.

The winds that pull the kites along come from the east or from the west and you’re pretty much guaranteed some wind every day.

Most kitesurfing schools have a range of lessons and training programmes available. If you choose Spain to learn to kitesurf, Tarifa training schools are no exception to this rule.

You can join in with group lessons, which also enable you to socialise with other holidaymakers. The emphasis is on fun rather than hard training, so this is the best choice for someone looking for a taster course.

Then there are semi-private lessons, which are halfway between group lessons and the more intensive courses. You’ll get more one-on-one tuition and you’ll be expected to stay in the water for four hours or so every day. When you’re exhausted by the demands of your kite surfing course Tarifa will be waiting to welcome you in the evenings.

Private lessons are perfect for those who are even more serious about learning the skills of kitesurfing. These are usually one-on-one tutee to instructor based.

This choice of course is more demanding and you may not have much time (or energy) for anything else. This sort of intensive course is more suitable for experienced kitesurfers or people who want to learn very quickly.

When you are off the water, Tarifa has lots more to offer. The town has some amazing beaches and it’s only 14 kilometres from Morocco. Why not walk to the end of the bay to see a massive sand dune? There’s also a lovely nature reserve to visit.

Getting to Tarifa for kitesurfing is easy. The town is less than two hours away from Seville and Malaga airports and just 35 minutes away from Gibraltar.