Newport Beach Sailing School is top notch! Their service is above all else. The staff is friendly, welcoming, knowledgeable, and very professional. They were really helpful with scheduling the certification classes to accommodate my busy work schedule. On the water I found that they only hire the best Captains. Captain Rick made the class fun, informative, and especially safe. His years of experience working on a variety of boats provides a wealth of valuable sailing instruction. I highly recommend Newport Beach Sailing School to anyone interested in learning to sail and having a fun and safe experience on the water. read more

Newport Beach Sailing School is the absolute best! My parents and I took a private ASA 101 course and loved it! Captain Greg and Toby are awesome. I will definitely be continuing to the 103-114 here. read more

Newport Beach Sailing School - ASA 101 Harbor 20 - Sailing Near Me - Newport Beach, California

Captain Rick is awesome! Very patient, very knowledgeable and very fun! Highly recommend him!

Newport Beach Sailing School was an amazing experience that I would highly recommend to anyone! For someone who is just looking to get started in the sailing world, they make it super easy to learn and get certified. We had an especially great time with our Captain, Greg!! He has been sailing for over 40 years and made learning fun and engaging. Thanks Greg, and Newport Sailing! read more

I had an incredible experience with Newport Beach Sailing School. While I have extensive sailing experience on monohulls, I specifically wanted to complete a certification on a large catamaran. Their Lagoon 450Fly was an incredible yacht in perfect condition and a pleasure to sail. Captain Rick was awesome to work with. He tailored our two days to the areas I wanted to focus on and it was a huge success. He gave me several tips/tricks that have come in handy on recent charters. I'd strongly recommend him to both new and experienced sailors looking to increase their skills and knowledge. read more

For all of you who have wanted to start sailing but think it's too difficult, or even impossible, to begin this sport, think again. My partner and I, both retired, have wanted to sail for a long time and had the luck of meeting Tom Collins at this year's Newport Beach Boat Show. Not only could we learn to sail with ASA certified instructors, but we could lease a boat with a very generous calendar of usage. So we signed up and started up. OK, the American Sailing Association's 101 Course, "Sailing Made Easy," gave us some pause at first, but its breadth of knowledge for beginners and clear and crisp instructions and illustrations were beyond what we could hope for. But the best part was our instructor Dan, who is a local teacher and also instructs for the Newport Beach Sailing School. Not just a sailing instructor, but a former racer and adventurer. Dan gave us so much helpful information and hands-on guidance that made it easy to learn...and retain...critical information. So, everybody, in four lessons we gained our 101 certifications and have been enjoying sailing on our own this summer with so many adventures... and many more to come. Although this review is about the school, I have to mention the boats. Sleek, new, beautiful Beneteaus. Easy to sail. Spotlessly maintained. Gorgeously appointed. Excellent reservation system. Generous usage allowances. And a truly dedicated, knowledgeable staff totally focused on making our experiences memorable. So treat yourselves and do something you've always wanted to do. Sign up for lessons. I personally would recommend private or semi-private. Yes, it's a bit more expensive than group lessons but you can be sailing in 4 or 5 sessions because you'll learn so much each time. Group lessons take so much longer and don't provide the learning environment that Newport Beach Sailing School will give you. Do it! read more

I cannot say enough wonderful things about the Newport Beach Sailing School. I had the pleasure of learning how to sail through this amazing school this past year. Everyone who works here could not be friendlier or more helpful and they genuinely want you to learn how to sail and love the water just as much as they do! The classes are taught a lot like a college course. You study the material upfront so that you are prepared when you get out on the water. Classes have no more than two people at a time (I did mine solo), so you have a lot of experience at the helm. It's kind of like learning how to drive. You need to be at the wheel to master it. I started out taking the 101 class on the water in a beautiful brand new Harbor 20 named "La Marina" with Captain Scott teaching me everything I needed to know to skipper this awesome boat. His expertise and professionalism along with his fun personality made every minute on the water both exciting and relaxing. I loved the classes so much that I worked my way through them and ended on the 104 class on the gorgeous Beneteau 35.1' "Angele". I feel so comfortable on the water now and feel like I can sail anything. I could not have done this without all the wonderful people at the Newport Beach Sailing School. Thank you so much for all of your knowledge, support and most of all, sharing your love of sailing with me! read more

My wife and I had a great experience with the Newport Beach Sailing School. I had previously worked around boats and all three of my children sail. This was a great experience for us to spend some time together and do something fun as a couple. The staff in the office is very professional and they all care deeply about the customer experience. The captains are great too. We were really impressed with the condition of the boats. Since I had worked in the industry before, I was already familiar with sailboats and can say that their fleet is kept to very high standards. After doing some research about Newport Beach Sailing School, we felt very comfortable contacting them since they have many many awards for outstanding instruction. We are very happy and look forward to sailing again with them soon. read more

Great Experience! Captain Rick was the best! From the moment we arrived until we departed the boat he was professional, fun, and safe. I was nervous from the moment I arrived and he immediately put my mind at ease. His easy going nature makes him ideal as an instructor. His constructive criticism was perfect in allowing me to grow as a sailor but not make me feel embarrassed. I learned so much from Captain Rick and I'm excited to continue on this journey. read more

We stopped into the Newport Beach Sailing School on accident, but it was one of our best accidental experiences. The staff was very professional, courteous and helpful. Because of the Covid, we had not been out sailing for the last couple of years and we were very rusty. Captain Roger provided just what we needed! He was calm and helpful with all of our questions. He took us through a number of drills to refresh our skills and provided clear instruction and direction. He quizzed us on some of the aspects of the boat and boating safety, providing much needed reminders. (Amazing what you forget in a couple of years!) I would strongly recommend the Newport Beach Sailing School to anyone interested in learning to sail! read more

When I hear Newport Beach Sailing School I think of three things: professionalism, quality, and unmatched customer service. Whether you're taking ASA sailing lessons or just chartering, you can always expect the finest quality of service. Every employee is an expert in providing exceptional customer service, safety, and ensuring you have a fun time. The entire fleet is comprised of brand new boats, and everything is perfectly maintained. As someone who often asks a ton of questions, it was relieving that Tom at the office was always enthusiastic to answer anything I was wondering about, even after calling multiple times per week (or day). I started off taking the ASA 101 basic sailing class, and was initially overwhelmed by the amount of information in the book. After 3 sessions on the water with Captain Rick, I found myself knowing everything the book discussed without even having to really study from it, and got an easy 96% on the written exam - it was surprisingly stress free, and unsurprinisgly an awesome experience. Since then, I've received my ASA 103 and 104 from the Newport Beach Sailing school - all with Captain Rick who is not only a great captain but also just a great guy to have on the boat and share some laughs with. The ASA 104 trip to Catalina is highly recommended, and if you go with Captain Rick, he's sure to show you a great time on the island. Fast forward a few months and I am now a proud member on the same boat I received my 104 certification on. In a matter of months I went from complete novice to a confident and competent offshore cruiser. Big thank you to Captain Rick, Tom, Chris, and Caitlin for providing such an awesome experience. read more

I can't tell you how much fun I had learning to sail! It is a rush and I felt so free! First of all, I have to thank Tom. He helped me figure out what I needed to complete my ASA 101. It wasn't as complicated as expected. He made it seem easy. La Marina is in fantastic shape. It was a great size to learn on and captain Mike was knowledgeable and friendly. I am looking forward to my next class. The organization was professional and cared about making my experience memorable. Thank you Newport Beach Sailing School. read more

My husband and I really enjoyed our time on the sailboat Salacia this summer. We were always interested in Sailing and Newport Beach Sailing School has a great reputation. We upgraded to have a larger boat, and it was beautiful and spacious. Scheduling was professional and easy. They booked everything around our availability, so that made it easy for us to get our sailing time in. Our captain was awesome. He was very knowledgeable, patient, and friendly. The quality of the school is excellent. They are a great group of people who are all passionate about sailing. I highly recommend! read more

My wife and I signed up for the ASA101 couples course and completed it this week. We had an outstanding experience that met all of our expectations. When my wife and I were first looking for a sailing school, I first called Newport Sailing School and spoke with Chris who was more than helpful and explained why taking a course with them would be more beneficial. Chris has been helpful through the whole process of us completing ASA101 and made sure we had our books ahead of time and everything we needed to be successful - and kept the process stress free. Our instructor, Mike Kohl, was extremely knowledgable, patient, friendly, and thorough. Mike kept it simple on day 1 and progressed at a nice pace throughout the 3 day course. We are surprised how much we have learned this week without being overwhelmed. Chris and Mike are helping us get out on the water by ourselves as soon as possible to practice what we have learned and we are looking forward to taking ASA103 here at Newport Beach Sailing School. read more

My experience with Newport Beach Sailing School was nothing but phenomenal! I had so much fun planning my upcoming adventures thanks to the help from the office staff. Every single time I called them with more questions, they were always delighted to help me. Upon my arrival to the office, I was greeting by several happy faces, one of which was Captain Josh. He took me down to the boats and started our lessons. He was very professional, patient and knowledgeable. I arrived with a so much doubt in myself and finished all my lessons with such an incredible amount of confidence all thanks to Josh. Thank you to NBSS and I'll be back for more lessons in the near future! read more

Thousands of dollars and months of planning were ruined by The Newport Beach Sailing School. My trip was planned months in advance, and the main reason we choose Newport is because I wanted to learn the basics of sailing. The lack of customer service was mind-boggling. I arrived at the exact time and place they told me to arrive at. But instead of my captain waiting for me as the email stated there was a grumpy employee and seemed to be perplexed as to why someone was there, and so he asked me why I was there. I told him for sailing lessons. He was very confrontational as he told me bluntly I should be at the marina. At which time I took my phone out and showed him his email to me, and that I should be right where I was. He seemed to get very irritated that I was in the right place, but he didn't seem to know what was going on. It spiraled down from there. The captain did show up and told me to follow him to the marina, and he jetted out so fast there was no way I could keep up. I got stuck behind a red light, and he did not wait for me. I was lost. No one in the office or otherwise would give me the address of the marina so I could just GPS it. They seemed to be on a mission to get rid of me, and made sure I would never set foot on the sailing boat, My guess is that they did not have a boat at that time, weather from overbooking or something critical was broken. They certainly didn't seem to care that my vacation was being ruined by them. That's right, I paid $1,200 dollars for three days of private lessons, and never set foot on a boat! Nobody asked what went wrong. Nobody offered to make sure I could get to the elusive boat. Over a month passed and the owner called me at home not to ask what had gone wrong, but to try to harass and bully me into taking down the negative review. He was extremely condescending and only wanted to defend his employees. He certainly did not want to hear my side of the story. In fact he seemed confused as to why I might be irritated at them for ruining a trip I was looking forward to so much. I drove three days from Colorado to Newport to take beginning sailing lessons. I am 58 years old, and can honestly say this was the worst vacation experience I have ever had, and that's really saying something read more