Sailing School

Our Sailing School runs year-round from Marmaris, Turkey — since 1988 we've introduced more than 10,000 people to sailing, from complete beginners to professional crew working towards their captain's licence. We're a member of the International Sailing Schools Association (ISSA) and were named its Instructor Training Center in 2015.

Training & Certification

All of our licences are issued and approved by ISSA, a non-profit international association that sets a common standard of quality and safety for sailing and windsurfing schools worldwide. Every ISSA instructor — including ours — is trained to the same level of competence, so the certificate you earn with us is recognised internationally.

• Training: hands-on, real-world instruction with experienced instructors and captains
• Fleet: modern boats, including 2020-built and freshly refitted yachts
• Accredited: by ISSA and the Turkish Sailing Federation
• Routes: from the eastern Mediterranean to full Atlantic crossings
• Active all year: courses run 52 weeks a year, every Saturday
• Guarantee: your trip goes ahead as planned even if you're the only participant

How a Training Week Works

From the moment you step aboard, you're the captain — the instructor is there to guide you, not take over. Our weekly courses run aboard boats including the Beneteau First 40.7 and Dufour 41, starting Saturday and finishing the following Saturday morning:

• Check-in: Saturday, 17:00
• Check-out: the following Saturday, 09:00
• Training begins Sunday and runs through Friday evening — a mix of theory before you set off and around 5–6 hours of sailing a day to a new bay or island, with time to swim, climb and unwind along the way.

Included: accommodation on board, training materials, your licence, bed linen, transit log, diesel, marina fees, and end-of-charter boat cleaning.
Not included: food shopping (split between participants, typically around €100pp per week), personal spending (drinks, sightseeing), and race entry fees if you join a race.

Your Beneteau First 40.7

Most of our weekly courses run aboard the Beneteau First 40.7 — a 40-foot performance cruiser with a bright, comfortable interior below and plenty of room on deck to actually work the boat. A few real photos of her, above and below deck:

Sample Route

A typical week sails a loop out of Marmaris — the exact bays depend on your course and the weather, but here's a real example:

• Day 1: Marmaris Çiftlik (10.7 nm)
• Day 2: Çiftlik Bozukkale (16.4 nm) — a sandy-beach cove near the ancient city of Loryma
• Day 3: Bozukkale Dirsek (6.5 nm)
• Day 4: Dirsek Selimiye (9.1 nm)
• Day 5: Selimiye Kumlubük (42.6 nm)
• Day 6: Kumlubük Marmaris (6.1 nm)
• Day 7: Marmaris — disembarkation

Courses & Prices

Prices are per person; contact us to check current availability for your preferred week.

Recreational Courses — Power & Sail

Courses for Professionals

Courses for Recreational Sailors

Engineer Courses

Course Levels, Explained

International Competent Crew — the entry level. No experience needed: you'll learn sailing terminology, points of sail, winds, manoeuvres, man-overboard drills, mooring, anchoring, and everyday life on board. After this course you're ready to assist a captain.

International Flotilla Skipper — the second level, for those with a Competent Crew licence or prior experience. Builds on coastal navigation, sail trim, Mediterranean mooring and handling technical problems on board. After this course you can skipper your own boat in a flotilla, following a lead boat.

International Bareboat Captain — covers safety, asymmetric sails, COLREGs, meteorology, electronic navigation, and tides and currents, qualifying you to charter and sail a bareboat yacht independently. If you'd rather do it all in one go, stay aboard for 2 weeks and combine the Competent Crew, Flotilla Skipper and Bareboat Captain courses together for €2,000.

Yacht Master Coastal (Recreational) — for Bareboat Captain licence holders, covering tides, currents, upper-level navigation, engine troubleshooting and first aid. Qualifies you to sail up to 50nm from a safe harbour.

Yacht Master Offshore (Recreational) — for Yacht Master Coastal licence holders, covering COLREGs, ship's lights, SOLAS, STCW, night navigation and anchoring under sail. Qualifies you to sail up to 150nm from a safe harbour.

Yacht Master Ocean (Recreational) — a celestial navigation course, on the water or in the classroom: sextant use, star sights and passage planning. After this course you're equipped to sail anywhere in the world.

Meet Your Instructor — Captain Jim

Sailing at our Marmaris school since 1976, Jim has trained around 10,000 skippers and 98 sailing instructors from all over the world. He's the first Turk to have sailed around the world — twice and a half — and the first to sail from Turkey to St. Petersburg and on to the North Pole (Spitsbergen). He founded the first RYA, CYA and IYT schools in the region, trained the first Turkish women's sailing team (runner-up at the 2005 Atlantic Rally for Cruisers), and helped reopen the International Sailing School in Vancouver in 2011. Between 2010 and 2012 he sailed around the world again with his wife Mayisa aboard a 40-foot yacht — an experience he wrote up in his book, Sailing Around the World With Friends.

What to Bring

Photos From Our Courses

A few real moments from past weeks on the water — chart work, manoeuvres, safety drills and the crews who came through our school.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I make a reservation?
Check our booking plan for the date you'd like, then email us and we'll hold your option for 10 days. A 50% payment turns it into a confirmed booking.

How long will you hold my option for?
10 days.

After I make payment, if I can't come, do I lose my money?
We can't refund, but we'll credit your payment towards another date.

What languages do you teach in?
Turkish, Russian and English.

Who actually sails the boat?
You do — every hour, the helm passes to a different student.

Who cooks and cleans?
The students, with the crew's help and guidance — every team takes a turn cooking and cleaning.

Do I need to study beforehand?
Not really — you'll get more out of reading up afterwards, once you've experienced it hands-on.

Who is responsible if I hit something while I'm steering?
The instructor. If you damage our boat or another boat, you don't have to pay — our insurance covers it. Personal items like a camera, or a minor injury, should be covered by your own travel insurance.

Do I get my own cabin?
If you book for two, yes. Solo bookings get a single bed.

Do I need to bring linen?
No — linen is supplied; feel free to bring your own towel.

Do I have to join the yoga or hiking sessions?
No — those are optional, only if you'd like to.

Is food included?
No — the group shops and cooks together, usually around €100 per person for the week. Everything else (instructor, boat, linen, fuel, marina fees, insurance, course books) is included.

Do we sleep on the boat every night?
Yes — you'll board Saturday at 17:00 and sleep aboard through Friday night, disembarking the following Saturday at 09:00 so the boat can be cleaned and prepped for the next group. On the 2-week Bareboat Captain course, you stay aboard for the second week too.

How big are the boats?
Our fleet includes 12.5m yachts with 3 cabins, a toilet and hot shower (Beneteau 40.7, Dufour 41; total capacity 22 pax), and a Mill-design boat with 3 double cabins plus 4 single berths in the saloon.

Can we sleep in a hotel instead?
In stops like Marmaris, Symi, Selimiye, Bodrum or Göcek, yes if you'd like — though most students stay aboard the whole week.

Do we eat on the boat the whole time?
You can, but most groups have breakfast aboard and dinner ashore in the restaurants. One night a week we usually anchor in a quiet bay and cook together on board.

Can we drink alcohol on board?
Yes, once the boat isn't underway.

Can we smoke on the boat?
Yes, but only out on deck.

Does my Bareboat Captain licence expire, or need renewing?
No — it's a lifetime qualification. If you lose your certificate, send us a scan and a new passport photo and we'll reissue it for €20.

Do you sail in bad weather?
Yes — rain or shine, light wind or heavy, short of a full gale. Our boats and teaching are built for it; just bring your own wet-weather gear.

Can I sail solo, or does the course still run with just one or two people?
Yes to both — you're welcome to join alone, and the course goes ahead even with a single registered student.

Do you run Bareboat Captain courses?
Yes — it's one of our specialities, giving recreational captains genuinely professional-level knowledge.

After my Bareboat Captain licence, do I need another course?
Not necessarily. If you're confident taking friends and family out safely, you're set. If you're not 100% sure, we'd recommend going further.

Do I need a VHF licence too?
Yes — your Bareboat Captain licence is only valid alongside a VHF radio licence.

Is your Bareboat Captain licence MCA-approved?
No — IYT bareboat licences are not MCA-approved.

How old do I need to be?
We teach students from 14 to 100.

Will you teach me on my own boat?
Yes — we tailor the training to your skill level, your own boat and your goals.

Can a course be customised to my needs?
We keep to the official course formats, since they're part of an internationally recognised training scheme with fixed criteria — but we can arrange private lessons if you'd like one-on-one instruction.

Do you teach STCW95?
Yes, we run STCW95 courses.

Where will the sailing route be?
A typical week runs Marmaris–Çiftlik–Bozukkale–Söğüt–Marmaris, or Marmaris–Ekincik–Göcek bays–Kumlubükü–Marmaris, depending on the course and conditions.

Ready to book a course, or have a question about which level is right for you? Request this course below, or get in touch and we'll help you choose.