Sailing Schools
If you have your own boat and would like a private school to come to you then see our Private Sailing School page. If you don't own a boat you can either charter one for a private school with us or you can contact a sailing school with its own boats. You may want to meet new people and learn from the questions and points of view they offer. Whichever way you go you're sure to have a great time.
When it comes to hands-on marina based sailing schools you have a wide choice. The curriculum may vary depending on the type of certifications available. Certainly the area of sailing will vary markedly from school to school. Also, there will probably be a difference of costs involved; Expect costs to range in the area of $1,600-$2,000/person/week. This is usually all-inclusive and could be the learning vacation of a lifetime for you. So, how does one decide? First might come the type of certification you will get upon successful completion of classes.
We prefer the ASA (American Sailing Association) for a number of reasons: There are many facilities from which to choose, the ASA standard is widely recognized by the charter industry, and the ASA standard is approved by the National Association of State Boating Law and the U.S. Coast Guard.
There are ASA facilities all around the U.S. and in many foreign countries. You might want to consider learning to sail in an area that you will eventually travel to in your own boat or charter boat. Likely, if you want to eventually do ocean sailing, you would choose a school that is located on an ocean.
What sort of reputation does the school and its instructors have? How long has the school been in business? How much experience do the instructors have? What ASA levels are available at a particular school? And, perhaps most importantly, how do you feel about the school in question? Do you have doubts? Or, does everything look and feel good?
One very important question you might ask is: Does the class go out on a cruise of some length and anchor out at night or do you always return to the dock? If you are serious about knowing and learning sailing you might want to only consider a school that stays out. After all, this is what you will be doing eventually, right? Why not learn it the right way from the beginning. In fact, the ASA standard for Bareboat Charter (104) requires (with emphasis) that a student perform as skipper and crew on a cruise lasting at least 48 hours.
We have direct experience at several ASA sailing facilities. At this point in time we are recommending only one school and that is BWSS (Blue Water Sailing School) located in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Several reasons why we choose BWSS are: The facilities are located on the coast of south Florida with easy access to the Keys and The Bahamas. The boats are modern and kept in good condition. And, the instructors all seem to have double digit years of experience. BWSS also offers the 107 & 108 levels of ASA certification that few other schools offer. BWSS has boats located not only in Ft. Lauderdale but also Miami, Virgin Islands, Newport, and The Bahamas.
And, just to set the record straight, SchoolofSailing.net does not receive any money for the above links to the ASA and BWSS.