Itinerary
Day 01
Get acquainted with our beautiful home base at Hodges Creek Marina. Meet your Captain and everyone else on the program. You’ll get settled into your boat, have your first boat meeting over a delicious dinner, and set the course for the rest of your adventure.
Days 02-05
Your captain will lead you through a safety briefing and dedocking lesson before you and your fellow crew raise the sails for the first time and head out into the Sir Francis Drake Channel. Head for Cooper or Norman Islands where you can begin your optional Open Water dive certification, snorkel beautiful reefs or caves, and break into watersports for the first time. The first few days are all about getting to know your crewmates and settling into life onboard.
Days 06-09
By the end of the first week, scuba divers will be fully certified and exploring wrecks down below. Your Captain and Mates will push you and your crew to take on greater responsibilities for each other and the boat. You will work as a team and hone your leadership skills as you prepare for your first docking at Nanny Cay to reprovision and enjoy a shower on land (boat showers are an experience!). Your teamwork abilities will be tested as you compete against other boats in our fleetwide Olympics – a great Sail Caribbean tradition!
Days 10-13
As you approach the third week of the program, you and your crew will face your biggest test yet. Challenge Day is always a highlight – it’s the day you and your crew fully take over the boat to show off all you have learned. After a Skipper’s meeting in the morning, you’ll take control and sail to the next destination. Your Captain and Mates are only there for the ride, so you’ll have to rely on each other and make decisions as a team. Celebrate a successful challenge day with a BBQ dinner ashore at Strawberries and a DJ dance party with the entire fleet!
Days 14-17
Explore the North Sounds and zip around in Hobie cats at the Bitter End Yacht Club or enjoy an ice cream cone on the beach. Practice your tacks and navigation as you and your crew sail to Anegada, the furthest and most unique destination in the BVI. Explore the island on a staff-led truck tour, pit-stopping at a saltwater pond to spot baby sharks and flamingos. At this point, you and your crew have accomplished quite a lot and will be challenged with a competitive Race Day… may the fastest crew win!
Days 18-20
As you near the end of the program, you’ll prepare for your ASA practicals and exams, finish up dive specialties, or continue to practice your watersporting skills. You’ll be challenged with one last Sail Caribbean tradition: the Chili Cook-off, demonstrating the creativity of your crew and your cooking skills in the galley. On one of the last days of the program, you’ll wake up at The Baths, a beautiful national park. You will snorkel and hike through the boulders, soaking in the beauty of the BVI before you travel home.
Day 21
After a night of celebrating your accomplishments and reminiscing about the journey, you’ll exchange fond farewells and airplane letters before parting ways until next summer!
Sail CaribbeanActivities
ON EVERY SAIL CARIBBEAN ADVENTURE
Sail Caribbean offers ten different adventure groups with 30 different sessions in the British Virgin and Leeward Islands of the Caribbean. You live aboard a modern 50′ monohull yacht or 45′ catamaran with other teens in your age group and learn to sail. No experience is necessary. Every adventure focuses on an activity, but each offers scuba, marine biology, community service, cultural exchange, watersports, friendships, personal growth and lifelong memories.
Want to compare adventures? Download our 2024 Schedule (PDF)!
Courses
Sailing Courses
Prerequisites: None
This certification is bestowed on any crew member who demonstrates the ability to fully participate in the daily sailing tasks on board and passes a written test proving that they’ve mastered fundamental information on safety, seamanship, navigation and boat handling skills.
Prerequisites: SC Crew
Proving you have an understanding of some of the more advanced sailing theories and demonstrating the ability to participate in sail reefing, timed tacking and jibing, island crossing, advanced navigation, anchoring, docking and de-docking skills along with racing tactics and proper safety techniques will earn you our Bosun certification.
Prerequisites: SC Crew & Bosun
A focus on leadership while underway is the core of this certification. You’ll earn Mate certification if you succeed at assigning crew positions, directing most phases of seamanship and safety drills, demonstrate proper engine, dinghy and equipment use and maintenance, keep an accurate ship’s log and monitor the weather all skills that make you a capable second in command.
Prerequisites: None
If you’re arriving at Sail Caribbean with prior sailing experience and are very keen on making the commitment to learn more, why not take this opportunity to gain a nationally recognized certification? You’ll participate in seminars and practice your helmsmanship on our big boats, and then demonstrate your sailing and seamanship skills during two to three intensive days on our own Colgate 26’, Opal Bella. The goal of this certification is for the participants to be able to single-hand (maneuver alone) these keelboats. Written and practical exams fulfill the requirements and you’ll have an official certification that’s valid for years to come and a stepping-stone to many other sailing certifications. View more details about ASA certifications here.
Prerequisites: Basic Keelboat Sailing (ASA101) certification
Demonstrated ability to skipper a sloop-rigged auxiliary powered (outboard or inboard engine) keelboat of approximately 25 to 35 feet length by day in moderate winds and sea conditions. Knowledge of cruising sailboat terminology, basic boat systems, auxiliary engine operation, docking procedures, intermediate sail trim, navigation rules, basic coastal navigation, anchoring, weather forecast interpretation, safety and seamanship. View more details about ASA certifications here.
Prerequisites: Basic Keelboat Sailing (ASA101) and Basic Coastal Cruising (ASA103) certifications
Demonstrated ability to skipper a sloop-rigged, auxiliary powered keelboat (or catamaran, if course is conducted on such) of approximately 30 to 45 feet in length during a multi-day cruise upon inland or coastal waters in moderate to heavy winds (up to 30 knots) and sea conditions. Course is conducted as a live-aboard cruise of at least 48 hours. Knowledge of provisioning, galley operations, boat systems, auxiliary engine operation, routine maintenance procedures, advanced sail trim, coastal navigation including basic chart plotting and GPS operation, multiple-anchor mooring, docking, health & safety, emergency operations, weather interpretation, and dinghy/tender operation. View more details about ASA certifications here.
Prerequisites: Bareboat Cruising (ASA 104) certification
Become an expert in maritime navigation with this course, designed to teach you essential skills such as dead reckoning, chart plotting, and recognizing aids to navigation. You will learn how to effectively use a hand-bearing compass, parallel rulers, dividers, and a hand-held GPS. This certification offers practical experience, enabling you to confidently navigate a vessel using only a chart, compass, and ruler.
Prerequisites: Bareboat Cruising (ASA 104) certification
Step into the role of captain and learn what it takes to master sailing and maneuvering a 45-50ft cruising catamaran. This is the perfect course for anyone looking to charter a catamaran. Practice skills like docking, anchoring, and sail maneuvering while learning about marine systems, safety at sea, and what differentiates catamarans from monohulls.
Scuba courses
Discover a whole new world beneath the waves!
You will experience the thrill of scuba diving under the close supervision of a qualified PADI Instructor in ideal conditions. Under the palm trees on the beach, we’ll begin with an orientation and skills session – you’ll be introduced to the basic concepts of scuba diving. Next you’ll learn about equipment, basic skills and safety procedures. Afterwards, you’ll practice those important scuba skills in three to five feet of calm, clear water right off the beach. You’ll continue with your first dive experience off that same beach in 20-30 feet of calm water. Once you’re comfortable with the basic skills, one of our custom dive boats will take you to enjoy your first open water dive. It will be no deeper than 30ft, and you’ll be able to explore one of our amazing reefs with your instructor.
The DSD course is available on all of our programs except Charlie. Students will spend 2-3 sessions with our PADI instructors. In the future, if you decide to become certified, these skills and the open water dives may be credited towards your PADI Open Water Diver course.
Prerequisite: Must be Open Water certified or equivalent
Non-certification recreational diving is available as an option on all of our adventures. Ever imagine diving on a coral garden, drifting through a rainbow canyon, or exploring a sunken wreck? You will enjoy recreational diving in the BVI with our own Sail Caribbean Divers Instructors and Divemasters. On Delta in the Leeward Islands, professional dive instructors from each island along with our dive staff take you to gorgeous dive sites. You’ll gain expert knowledge from each local instructor and get the most out of every dive site you visit. You must provide proof of certification from a recognized agency like PADI, NAUI, YMCA, or NASDS.
Prerequisite: 12+ years of age.
This PADI course is the most popular entry-level dive program in the whole world! Throughout our PADI Open Water Diver course, you’ll learn the fundamentals of safe scuba diving, including dive equipment, techniques, and planning. This certification allows you to rent scuba equipment, obtain tank air fills and also enroll in PADI Continuing Education courses (PADI Adventure Diver, PADI Advanced Open Water Diver, or even PADI Specialties).
The PADI Open Water Diver certification is recognized worldwide. To earn this rating, we’ll introduce you to eLearning:
- eLearning is an online Open Water course developed by PADI.
- Non-diving “classroom” lessons are completed at home before your summer program starts.
- The online course, averaging 6-8 hours to complete, presents the material in an “easy to use” manner and assures that you thoroughly understand the information. You can divide the course into several separate learning sessions to fit your schedule. No pressure — you set your own pace.
- You can get one-on-one assistance from our professional scuba instructors in the Caribbean — the same instructors that you’ll have during the summer! They are on call by email to answer questions you may have along the way. This is personal attention that might not be available in a larger classroom setting.
- Parents can oversee the sessions and possibly offer assistance.
- The greatest advantage is that when you arrive in the Caribbean your time is spent underwater developing the skills required to become a qualified, capable, and safe diver. You’re not in the classroom! The first thing that you do is take a review test to prove that you’re ready to go diving!
During five confined water training dives, your instructor will demonstrate, and then you’ll practice and master, important diving skills. Finally, applying everything you have learned, you will make four open water dives at favorite dive sites around the British Virgin Islands.
For Open Water divers who want to earn the next certification.
Divers who are already certified can go to the next level and improve their skills. You will receive your PADI textbook upon arrival in the islands. During the course you will complete interesting and informative knowledge reviews along with navigation, night and deep dives, plus two other dives of your choice in assorted specialty areas for a total of five dives. After the course, you can use your skills to enjoy recreational dives during the remainder of your adventure.
Dates & Costs
| Session | Start Date | End Date | Cost* | Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bravo 1 | 06/23/2024 | 07/13/2024 | $7495 | 21 |
| Bravo 2 | 07/15/2024 | 08/04/2024 | $7495 | 21 |
*The tuition above does not reflect optional insurance, optional courses, and transportation fees.
