"A fun way to get your sailing certs"

Just got back from a one-week, live-abord sailing school with Sailing Virgins out of Tortola and have only great things to say about them. From initial contact thru to course completion, SA was everything we had hoped for.
We met some of their group (and a few other schools) at the Annapolis Sailboat Show in 2023 and were impressed with their overall philosophy. After reaching out to several schools for available dates and class options for early 2024, SA were consistently the most responsive and informative, and had the dates and course we were looking for at similar prices to everyone else. We booked an ASA 101 & 103 live-aboard week in early March, which actually came under budget as we did not have to book additional lodging for the week. SA linked us (married couple) to 3 other classmates with similar experience and interests, and our instructor, and introduced us all online before the trip so we could learn a little bit about or crewmates before we got there. We all got along splendidly with zero conflicts and, I expect, some life-long friendships.
Our instructor, Liam, knew his stuff, knew how to teach it to a group of adults with different learning styles, and was great guy to hang out with all week. He helped make it fun, without any sacrifice to teaching us and getting us certified.
We flew in and out of St Thomas from NYC area and took the $60 , about 1-hour ferry to Road Town, Tortola which was all relatively simple. Everyone met up in town, went to the store to provision for the trip, and then shuttled it all to the docks where our larger-than-expected sailboat was waiting. The itinerary they set up allowed us to sail from one island to another every day: school (with some swimming and play) all day, then fun shore visits every evening. Even though it was some work, it was definitely still a vacation, and a great one at that. The boat they got for our group of 5+1 had ample room and comfort for all. It was a bit intimidating at first, but having learned on a bigger boat, our comfort level sailing any size boat is much higher than it would be. Again, everything went great from beginning to end, and i recommend them to anyone looking for a fun sailing adventure while getting your ASA certifications.

"Highly recommended!"

We LOVED our class! My wife and I did an intermediate sailing course and both got our ASA 101 and 103 certificates and I got my ASA 104, all in a week. James really came through, making this class happen even when there was a problem getting a boat at their usual location. Even though I’ve been sailing my whole life, I still learned a lot. Kirill and Adam were fantastic teachers.

"Sailing Virgins is totally fabulous ⛵️🏝🎉"

We are so grateful we booked with Sailing Virgins for our sailing school/certification adventure. A special round of gratitude goes out to Katharina, Irene, and James, for rallying together and pivoting to a new plan when all the charter boats in BV were seized so we could keep these dates! I have always wanted to go to the French West Indies and Dutch Caribbean, and it happened. So Fabulous! More special thanks: our captain and primary educator was Kirill. There are not enough positive adjectives to express the true nature of Kirill, so all I can say is book your adventure and see for yourself! But, I can say Kirill was amazing and made everyone feel welcome and included. Skipper Adam was great as well, adding his own special approach to the learning process and the organizational flow on the boat. The actual sailing was exhilarating and empowering and the location was just over the top in deliciousness! Did I mention breathtaking? The temperature and color of the water, the marine life, the exotic birds everywhere, hiking, goats, dinners onshore- the list could just go on and on!
Everyone and everything was great! The other students were awesome and it created an instant community onboard. Al fresco dinners, group lessons and practical exercises, and camaraderie all added to the positive environment. We moored or anchored in several locations with Saba being the unexpected standout!
We can only comprehend all of this as possible because of Sailing Virgins!
We think the SV style that fosters an atmosphere of instant community of like-minded people combined with highly qualified (but not douchy) captain and crew, is the special sauce that brings it all together. We were huge SV fans on YouTube and now we are HUGE fans of the SV in-person courses. We will be back for more….
Thank you Sailing Virgins, we are grateful :)
And we got our advanced certifications, too!
Nancy G

"Happy Days"

For years I’ve been dreaming of bareboat chartering…Sailing Virgins helped me make that dream come true. Our instructor Ryan was great at making sure each of us on the boat was able to learn, and understand the course work regardless of each persons level of experience. It was not all work! We had a great balance of sailing, learning, relaxing, and partying.

I’m almost 40, and while I was one of the older guys on the boat, that didn’t matter to anyone, 6 strangers on a 42’ boat from the ages of 21-40, and we got on great. If you are on the fence, just do it, Happy Days!

"Tahiti Course"

My wife and I just spent a week in Tahiti doing the Sailing Virgins ASA Catamaran Course with instructors James and Kirill. Fantastic experience, and exactly what we were looking for.

I have taken ASA coursework from a couple of different schools, but the Sailing Virgins experience stands out for a number of reasons. First, enthusiasm for the sport and adventure of sailing was high. The instructors were expert sailors in their own rights, but they also took the time to enjoy the moment, the scenery, and the local culture. We saw firsthand what was possible in sailing. James and Kirill draw on years of experience with these adventures, and I gained as a skipper because of it.

Second, the adventure element of a Sailing Virgins course can not be understated. This is not a package tour, with experiences carefully prepared. It was more like we went in search of adventure, and it fell into our laps. Let me give some examples - We carefully worked our way into coral reef passages and had a swim with sharks and rays. We docked alongside a local guy's overwater bungalow to stop for coconuts. We brought the 52 foot cat in to drop off our crowd at a fancy French restaurant one night for dinner in Bora Bora. We got up early to make passages between islands. We freed an anchor that was caught on an old mooring ball in 10 meters of dark water. We caught mooring balls under sail. We biked around the island of Maupiti, and ate a full 3 course fish meal in a local woman's home. We flew drones, snorkeled around coral reefs, and free dove under the boat.

Third, instruction was excellent and in the moment. James and Kirill modeled good seamanship, problem solving, and practice. They pushed us to do route planning, to navigate without the electronics, and to perfect our knots. Everyone on board took turns at the helm, at the lines, and at down in the engine rooms. I felt confident behind the wheel and learned the unique skills associated with running the sails and two engines of a large catamaran.

We looked at this trip as a vacation, but also an opportunity to see a different part of the world and consider our options for future cruising. It was all those things. We slept well, we ate well, we saw AMAZING scenery and met some awesome people. I'll be honest - I am a careful sailor with a few charters under my belt. James and Kirill gave me the confidence to go and do this again on my own.

"Entertaining and Informative"

Not only are the instructors knowledgeable and experienced, they really know how to make Sailing fun!

Along with the standard ASA curriculum, instructors insights come with extremely useful tidbits of information accumulated through years of charter cruising.

If you are interested in learning more, check out their YouTube channel with top quality content!

"An amazing way to learn to sail"

An amazing way to learn to sail. Relaxed and fun instruction on a lovely yacht with an experienced and knowledgable captain.

The balance between training and relaxing made this a perfect learning holiday.

The entire support team are friendly and always helpful.

I’ll be returning to learn more with Sailing Virgins and will definitely recommend them to anyone who is looking to learn how to sail.

"I would highly recommend Sailing…"

I would highly recommend Sailing Virgins! I had the privilege of taking part in the 2020/2021 Christmas/NYE trip in the US Virgin Islands with Captain Wouts. Even amid a global pandemic, everything about the trip was amazing and I am happy to report that this time next week, the rest of the crew and I from that trip are reconnecting in the Bahamas to charter a boat of our own. I have been refreshing my knowledge by watching your YouTube videos and I could not be more excited to cast the lines and set sail again with the friends I made on Libertas. I am eager someday to buy a boat of my own and create a life-based in sailing, but the first step was to jump in with both feet to my first Sailing Virgins adventure. Thank you for helping to make this happen, I look forward to many more days on the water. FOLLOW UP: The trip was a smashing success, we had a blast, but most importantly we looked good the whole time!

"Outstanding week"

Outstanding week on the Short Island Adventure trip (Caribbean) with Sailing Virgins. Instructors Wouts and Charlotte were great teachers, very knowledgeable about the area, and a blast to be around. Highly recommend Sailing Virgins for anyone looking to improve their sailing skills while in a fun, laid-back atmosphere.

"Already planning our next trip"

We started talking about our next sailing trip almost as soon as we got off SV Andrea. We went down for a learning vacation before our honeymoon, but it soon became apparent that sailing with Sailing Virgins was to be the “buddymoon” portion of our trip.
Bucket list items were checked and life long friends were made. Go sailing with these people, it’s amazing. 👌🏻⛵️⛵️
Skipper/Instructor credit goes out to James Kell (legend)

Education:
We chose NauticEd as the platform to use for our certifications. We competed the Intermediate Course with Sailing Virgins. For comparison, the certification will be closely equivalent to ASA104/105, according to NauticEd.