Fun trip around Bodega Bay. Captain Rich is very knowledgeable about the local area and told us lots of great stories about Bodega Bay. We got lucky on our trip seeing a Grey Whale with her calf, sea lions and calm winds. Great way to see Bodega Bay. read more

Amazing experience. Highly recommend. Great Skipper! If you're traveling from SF allow for traffic hold ups.

Rich provided a wonderful sailing event for our party. Courteous and ensured we were able to enjoy the water and some great sights around the bay and into the ocean. read more

Rich from Bodega Bay Sailing is the worst person I have ever dealt with. He ruined my birthday and didn't show up for the appointment. We drove 3 hours from San Jose to go on this trip and when we arrived he wasn't here! I called him and he argued with me saying that the appointment was the day before when we clearly have an email confirming Sunday May 17th. Don't come here, don't trust him, find a better place. I wish I could give negative stars. read more

STAY AWAY!!!!! This guy will take your reservation and money and then never show up. He emailed us a receipt for $200 (a day trip for my girlfriend and I) and then after we drove down from Napa and arrived at the meeting place he sends us an email refund with no explanation and did not return our calls. It's obvious now that the positive reviews were posted by friends of his (which the nice lady at the nearby restaurant confirmed). BEWARE.....you've been warned. read more

My husband and I had a wonderful time sailing with Rich. He was very good at answering all our questions about sailing and gave us lots of information about boats and where to get one. We can't wait to go out again ! Thank you for a great afternoon! read more

What a great day with Captain Rich. He is a master seaman and gave us a day of sailing that we will always remember!

Unfortunately he let us down with bad communication. Basically we emailed and called him around Oct 2014 to see what his schedule look like, he responded in March 2015 (5 months later) no big deal, at least he responded. I ask if he's open on the weekend of the 16th, either Saturday or Sunday, he said it was and I tell him either works but how about Saturday? He responded the next day with or confirmation for Sunday May 17th at 11am. Again no big deal, I can plan around it and we're months away from the actual trip. Here is when things start getting bad: We show up on Sunday May 17th at 11am, exactly like the last email I got from him said to do. We call him and he states that he was waiting for us on Saturday and was surprised when no one showed up and that he wasn't available on Sunday! Now normally, I'm very laid back about these type of mis-haps, they happens, businesses mess up, it's not a big deal. But Rich refused to apologize and said it was my problem. I forwarded him the last email and he forwards an email prior to confirmation of dates where I ask "11am on Saturday?". Anyhow, I'm avoiding Rich, in general he didn't have a good attitude in a issue like this and should have just said, "my mistake, let's reschedule" or at the very least called us on the Saturday he expected us to show up. If you look at my reviews, you'll note that I write mostly 5 star reviews, I'm very easy going and I'm definitely not a guy who makes a big deal of everything so this is especially sad to see. read more

For Christmas I bought a Groupon to go sailing with my parents and sister which we finally used in June. There were no hassles in reserving a time to go sailing with Rich. The process was very easy and Rich was very timely in responding to my emails. We arrived at the marina at 9:30am and set out through the channel into the bay (we returned back at the dock about 3 hours later). He offered to let my family work the tiller, which my dad and sister certainly took advantage of. We returned a few hours later after an amazing day of sailing out on the bay. Rich recommended a few restaurants for my family to have lunch at, and we ended up taking him up on one of his suggestions. The food was great. It was an all-around amazing morning and my family thoroughly enjoyed their Christmas present. read more

We had an amazing time sailing in bodega bay, it was just a perfect getaway. Getting to see a whale and sea otters, plus many different birds. It was perfect! Thank you Rich for having knowledge on every place and be passed up and giving up more ideas to add to our itinerary. We had an amazing time and next time we are in bodega bay we will have to book another sailing trip with you. It was perfect and relaxing. read more

My mother and I went sailing with Rich is September. We had a great time! He was ready when we arrived. He made the trip very interesting, he gave us history of the area, taught us some things about sailing and we shared loads of laughter! read more

This guy was a no-show. I called to make sure we were in the right spot when he hadn't showed after 15 minutes. Let us know he was an hour away, and must have missed the appointment in the calendar. Ruined the day, lost 3 hours round trip, and he didn't seem even slightly bothered by it. Avoid this guy. read more

I took my wife out to sail with Rich as a surprise a couple weeks ago. We had so much fun!!! We arrived at the Marina a little early. Rich showed up right on time. We got on the boat and he gave a safety briefing. Very professional. After that, we headed out in to the bay. I was very interested in how the boat worked and rich was more than willing to let me steer and explain everything. He definitely seems like he can set up the tour to your liking. We went past seal rock and saw a lot of seals and sea lions. Once further out we even saw a whale surface near the boat! My wife and I had so much fun on this trip! We were inspired by the trip and went and got a small sailboat 2 weeks later! I highly recommend this to someone who has never been on a sailboat before, or anyone who is looking for an adventurous afternoon! Our experience with Bodega Bay Sailing was amazing!! read more

My husband and I went sailing last week while visiting Bodega Bay for our honeymoon; we had an excellent time. Rich is courteous and professional, and above all - knowledgeable. He really knows what he's doing, which was comforting to us as first time sailors. He took us around the bay and to Seal Rock, and then at his discretion (and ours), took us out into the Pacific briefly for some open ocean adventure. He did an excellent job of making sure we felt comfortable the entire time, and I definitely got the impression that he will cater the trip to your comfort level. Everyone on board wears life jackets and we felt very safe. Furthermore, we really enjoyed chatting with and getting to know Rich. He is extremely friendly and easy going, and we left feeling like we'd known him for years. He has an abundant amount of knowledge about the area, and gave us excellent suggestions for other activities to try during our trip. I highly recommend Bodega Bay Sailing! read more

Sailing with Rich was a delight: he is friendly, laid back, and knowledgeable. We were delivering on a promise made to my mother before she died so it was a happy/sad occasion for us. We had feared we mostly would be motoring because the winds were forecast to be below 5mph, but once we cleared the lee of Bodega Head we had a lovely 10-15mph breeze with a gentle 8-10 foot swell from the NW, and so we ended up sailing for most of our 3 hours. Inside the bay the seas can be a bit confused because of wave reflection from the shore, but once you clear the reef things smooth out beautifully. Between my wife and myself we have over 50 years of sailing experience -- in the SF area, in Maine, and elsewhere -- and I can tell you that Rich is a capable sailor with a sound boat that is appropriate for the area. It's large enough to be able to deal with the local conditions, but not so large that he can't single-hand it.By the way, the dodger (the canopy that covers the front of the cabin and can block part of the forward view) is there because wind+sea can sometimes translate into spray into the cabin and onto the customers. On a boat going into open water I would have been concerned if he *didn't* have a dodger. Note: this is *not* Southern California sailing -- it is a combination of somewhat-sheltered bay sailing and open ocean sailing off the Sonoma Coast. The ocean swells you encounter probably last saw land in Japan. The weather can be warm-and-sunny or cold-and-overcast, the winds can be dead calm or blowing hard, and the water temperature is normally a toasty 52-58 degrees. You have to take Mother Nature as you find her on any given day. So check your forecast, dress appropriately, watch what you eat before going out (always a good idea), and have a great time with a good skipper. read more

Great day, great itinerary, great skipper! The three hours seemed to fly by and we could not have had a better time. read more

Rich was a great captain and host: Professional, courteous, amicable, and good conversation.

I just took my two sons (13 and 14) on a chartered sailing trip with Rich. He knows a lot about the area and shares his knowledge humorously and liberally. The sailing was fun, and once we got out to the rocks / reef outside the bay, we were greeted by an entire orchestra of sea lions. We all had fun and definitely recommend it! read more

We had an excellent time sailing with Rich today in beautiful Bodega Bay. We got to escape the heat of the East Bay and enjoy some sunshine and cooler temps. Rich had excellent communication via email and was there early waiting for us. We appreciated how safety oriented he was with our 5 and almost 10 year old boys and he dealt very well with them. My poor husband got sea sick so Rich adjusted our sailing to smoother waters to help him out and added some fun site seeing closer in where the waters were calmer. We had a great, relaxing time. Thanks Rich! read more

Went out with the in-laws to cruise the bay. My mother-in-law hates boats and Rick was accommodating. We had a lot of fun and learned a lot about the bay. We would do it again! read more

Had a fun time on the bay and also learned some important things about how to sail. I recently bought and refurbished a boat but have never taken it out for a sail. After an afternoon session at Bodega Bay Sailing, I'm eager to learn more and actually get out on the water with my own boat. The captain was friendly and knowledgeable. Three hours passed by in a flash. I will definitely be a repeat customer. Recommended for people wanting to learn a few sailing maneuvers or just enjoy a couple hours sailing the bay - or both. read more

Rich took us out for my 50th birthday on Easter Sunday and we had an EXCELLENT time! This sailing trip was one of our favorite things we did while we were in the Bay area. He's not only knowledgeable of the surroundings he's also very entertaining! He did what we wanted to do and made sure we had a great time. I would highly recommend his services to anyone gonig to Bodega Bay! It's a must do! read more

We sailed with captain rich as a surprise birthday gift for my wife and were not disappointed at all. His warm demeanor and thorough knowledge of the area were obvious, and the boat was spotless and well cared for. We will definately return for another trip. read more

We had an awesome trip with Rich. He was great with my kids (6 & 3), was helpful getting my mother in law on the boat, was very knowledgeable and showed us the sea lions. read more

We went sailing with Captain Rich and another couple on Friday morning last week at 10 am and had a good time. The sailboat is pretty nice, although the view straight ahead in front of the sailboat is limited by a canopy, but we took turns standing in the cabin from time to time if we got tired of the view from either side. Our 3-hour tour motored out of Bodega Bay past Doran Park, where Rich is a park ranger, then we set sail out into the ocean past Seal Rock, where we saw lots of sea lions and seals, and we also managed to wake up some sea lions who were sleeping on top of a buoy at the edge of the reef and started barking at us. We had seen lots of gray whales from Bodega Head two days before our trip, so we had hoped to see the whales up close; Rich tried his best to find some for us, but the waves were a bit choppy, making any surfacing whales less visible between the white water, so we didn't see any unfortunately and sailed a bit closer to the coast with great views of the cliffs instead. So my suggestions are to try to go on as calm a day as possible when the water is most glassy during the whale migratory season. This will also help you out if you are prone to sea sickness at all; take a motion sickness tablet beforehand if you are. Of course, Rich told us that some brave souls actually bring their own alcohol and turn it into a party boat, but my stomach would not be strong enough for that. Also, make sure to wear warm clothes, as Bodega Bay is often windy and cold. Of course, Rich told us this beforehand, so we were well prepared. He also had some interesting stories about sailing, the local area, and where to go and what to do nearby. If you like sailing, give it a try! read more