Cruisers Academy

★★★★★T Gomez

I just completed an incredible sailing journey with Captain Ryan and Cruisers Academy. At every point across our trip I felt safe and well cared for. I learned so much about sailing, the cruising lifestyle, and Baja! We stayed for six nights on Lintika, a beautiful boat with so many thoughtful touches and everything we needed to have a great time! I highly recommend taking a course or a trip with this highly competent outfit, you will learn more than you can even imagine!

★★★★★David Shiba

An amazing course, even for myself without prior sailing experience, except for riding on sailboats in the distant past. Over a course of four days including two hours per day of classroom work covering the basic knowledge needed to sail along with 3+ hours per day of hands-on sailing on a Cal 30 and Cal 27 sailboats our crew of 5 ( four crew members with varying amounts of prior sailing experience) by day four were able to confidently sail each of the boats in various wind conditions participating in each of the required duties needed to sail. Ryan N is an amazing instructor with a fund of sailing knowledge and experience which far exceeds his age. He was able to convey this knowledge and experience within enthusiasm and unbelievable patience. Could not have requested a more perfect instructor/captain .

★★★★★Vince Dalke

It is very hard to put into words how important this experience was for my wife and I. We’ve been talking about learning to sail and cruising in the Sea Cortez for what feels like years. In my internet search finding your trip and goals of your Courses fit exactly what I was looking for. We did not want a typical ASA experience (we had done that) but a more realistic trip that would show us what cruising would be like. As I told our instructor, Jon, the entire experience lived up to the billing in my opinion…. The trip gave us a taste of the realities of being on a boat for 11 days, planning, cooking, living on the boat, and what a true blue water boat can feel like. The boat herself was part of the instruction. The sail upwind from La Paz to San Carlos was amazing and we knew as soon as we got back we could have done 2 months and not just 11 days. We had planned to buy a production boat a few months prior, but after being on the Passport 42, we changed our plans and now have purchased a Caliber 40 LRC!! Thanks to all of the group who made the experience great; from the initial zoom call with Blue to the random text I sent Brady to shopping in La Paz with Jon….the easy going style of your group put us at easy, eased the fears of “will I get sea sick”, and “how can I do a night watch on my own”… we left at the end of this trip with the feeling that WE CAN DO THIS!!!

★★★★★Sascha Brown

I was so so lucky enough to win the Cruiser Academy annual scholarship for their CA-1 course. I highly recommend taking their CA-1 if you are looking to learn how to sail. Captain Brady and Captain Austin are amazing instructors who can breakdown concepts to make it understandable for even the most novice sailor. We learned sailing language, parts of the boat, points of sail, weather/wind and so much more. If you are in the Tahoe area and wanting to learn how to sail sign up now!

★★★★★Nick Labadie

I'd give 10 stars if I could. I sailed with Cruisers in their Bay Area weekend program and couldn't have had a better time. I signed up with the expectation of getting some great knowledge from folks I knew had tons of real life experience sailing all over the world. I got that and so much more. Where many sailing courses are focused entirely on the information, Cruisers Academy provides a full sailing experience. When you're on board, you really feel like part of a crew, even if just for a short time. The food was great, knowledge was invaluable, sailing/views/experience were top notch, and Brady, Blue, and the other students were super fun to hang out with, which is saying a lot considering the close quarters on any boat. To say their course is well worth the money is a massive understatement. I've taken other courses since which were solid and informative, but it just felt like something was missing. Those other courses felt like a classroom, where sailing with Cruisers Academy felt like learning with friends while having a great time. Seriously. If you're reading reviews to decide whether you should do it, whether it's worth it or are questioning if you're going to have a good time, you can stop here and book it - you're going to be SO glad you did!!