Learn to sail at our Sailing Schools in Thailand
Schools in Pattaya and Phuket. Courses running twice per month
Awesome Thailand training grounds
Our Sailing Schools in Thailand are located in Phuket, a world renowned sailing destination and Pattaya. With direct flights from just about anywhere these locations offer a great mix of tropical islands, busy shipping lanes, world-class marinas and lovely warm weather. Thailand is the perfect place to learn to sail!
Catamaran & Keelboat sailing
If you're planning to charter a yacht then chances are it'll be a Catamaran, so we think it's important to get you out sailing on one, to show you the subtle differences between Cats and Mono's, but at the same time, there's nothing like being rail-down in a fresh breeze on a Keelboat. Our school in unique in that you will learn in both destinations on both a monohull and catamaran.
Island spirit Trusted track record
Established in 2004, Island Spirit Thailand is Asia’s first accredited International Yacht Training® facility and remains the most experienced Sailing School in Thailand. Island Spirit has run courses every month for the past 18 years and have former students sailing, cruising and chartering yachts all over the world.
island spirit sailing school
Sailing Courses in Thailand
sailing school
Crew Course
Bareboat Skipper
Bareboat Skipper - Catamaran
Zero to Hero
Yachtmaster Coastal
Yachtmaster Offshore
Marina Berthing
World Cruising Course
90 day Complete course
Learn everything you need to know
Get 1,000’s of miles sea time
Study sailing as well as:
Technical aspects of cruising
Practical aspects of cruising
Above and Beyond
VHF Operator
Marina Berthing
Mile Builders
Navigation Master
Weather Master
International Yacht Training, Inc. is the world's leading provider of yacht training services, offering IYT courses and certificates to students which are recognised by governments and charter companies around the globe.
VerifiedGünther O2023-09-02I definitely will be back and book again. Hope we see us soon 🙂 Thanks to Island Spirit Charter, we had a perfect sailtrip around the Koh Samui archipelago. Koh Samui and the area is great for sailing tropical islands. We had a very friendly and professional service thanks to Raymond and his crew. Excellent briefing and good communication during the trip - always direct response when questioning. The boat was well equipped and in good condition.VerifiedTrip244942729372023-08-31Excelent service - excelent vacation We booked a Lagoon 400 S2 for 2 weeks. Island Spirit Sailing send us upfront details to the region and good place to go. On the day of arrival Island Spirit Sailing managed for us the transport from the airport to our chartered yacht. Due to the fact that in Ko Samui no yachting infrastructure (like harbor or docks are availabvle) Island Spirit managed an excelent onbording using the dinghy. Further the handover of the yacht and instructions to use was done excelent and easy.
During the whole vacation we received daily from Island Spirit Sailing in the morning weather and tide informations via Whatsapp - In case of potential dangerous weather situation (like squalls) further updates where provided.
For questions during the charter Island Spirit Sailing answered in short time via Whatsapp as well - Real good support.
Some remarks to the area round Ko Samui: Beautiful beaches, after leaving Ko Samui very low other yachts, region very shallow (max. 50m, mostly only some meters deep), very beautiful irlands, many nice animals,...
Only 2 topics negative topics for that region:
-) very limited sight under water (except Ko Tao) - therefore snorkling was nearly not possible
-) We found nearly no locations where we could litter our trash - The necessry infrastructure in Thailand seems still missing -> But Island Spirit Sailing supported us to litter our trash...
Overall: Excelent vacation, excelent support, excelent environmentVerifiedAlex-Kit2023-08-20Beam reach to broad reach! Thank Raymond! The region for yachting is not easy and requires the attention of the skipper. Navionics charts are often incorrect. Currents and tides as the additional element of risk. Special thanks to the staff of the charter company, provided us daily weather and tide information. As well as for their recommendations for safe anchorages. There are only two fresh water filling stations in the region, so you need to carefully plan your route. When travelling with children, you should be extremely careful: undercurrents, jellyfish, sunburn. Anchorages at 2-3 meters depth. And it's at least a mile to the shore. We need to closely monitor the fuel consumption of the Dinghy.
Оtherwise the region is extremely exotic and has its own charm. Excellent restaurants. Good diving with clear water in Koh Tao area. Elephants, monkeys, squirrels, wild boars - there are a lot of living creatures on the islands. The region is safe for tourists. The yachts are in good condition. If you have experience - a great place to stay.VerifiedKristen H2023-08-19Beyond Expecations Raymond and the support team exceeded our expectations. From scheduling taxis to recommending anchorages, we felt supported every step of the way. We cannot wait to come back for more sailing!VerifiedAugustina L2023-08-15Amazing time Catalina 375 - Ko Samui & neighboring islands We were a crew of ambitious sailors and we had an amazing time exploring the islands and sailing between them.
The boat was in good shape, it is equipped with everything needed - from sailing charts & maps to snorkels!
The islands themselves are little paradises; mooring and anchoring were easy, and with the dingy we were able to get onshore super fast.
We had a problem with the dingy motor throughout the week, but due to our skipper and constant communication/supervision by the Island Spirit staff we were able to fix it.
The supervision and communication overall were really good, every day we were informed about the weather, upcoming winds, and other information about the islands.
The handover at the beginning and end of our trip went smoothly.
We are looking forward to the next time!VerifiedRbalsmeyer2023-06-28Cruising Heaven from Koh Samui I was intrigued to learn that there was good sailing even in the SW monsoon season in Gulf of Thailand. Got in touch with Island Spirit, who I had used to earn my Intl Skipper Certificate. Let me start out by saying this was probably the best bareboat charter I've had in over 20 years of chartering! The cruising grounds: Samui, Ang Thong Natl Park, Koh Tao, and Koh Phangnan, are some of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. And almost no other cruisers! Makes me think maybe this was what BVIs were like 50 years ago. Snorkeling right off the boat! Amazingly beautiful. And the boat was terrific. We had an older monohull, but it was perfectly maintained and everything worked (rare for a charter boat)! Some extras: in-mast furling, power windlass, Highfield dinghy. The IS team was great! Daily weather check-ins, quick answers to questions. This is a pretty remote charter base: no marina, boats are on moorings. But the IS crew made the whole on/off-boarding process totally painless. We would like to sail this boat again in the winter season from Koh Chang. And we would definitely do the Samui charter again, as in two weeks time, you would never repeat yourself. So many places to explore! Overall, a wonderful experience!VerifiedJustine B2023-03-29Brilliant! The Zero to Hero course in Phuket was absolutely brilliant. Accommodation and logistics were excellent; communication before, during and after the course were wonderful; and most importantly the teaching was top-notch. We were given focused, detailed attention and were allowed to 'learn by doing' in a controlled environment. I'd highly recommend this course to anyone wanting to get started with their sailing.VerifiedVytautas K2022-12-21Koh Chang sailing is easy and wonderful with Island Spirit Charters Was a wonderful sailing week with Island Spirit 410 catamaran from Salakpeth, Koh Chang base. We visited Koh Wai and Koh Kood island. Islands is stuning, especially Koh Kood, You can spend here week or more and explore unspoiled places and many local restaurants and small resorts. Sceneries are memorizing and unforgettable! Island Spirit Charter team and services is perfect choice for experienced sailors or families and friends.
Great range of Sailing courses
In addition to these certified courses we offer in-house courses designed to help you build the knowledge and experience that you need to be confident in your ability to be in charge of a yacht out on the ocean.
Internationally recognized certification
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The Perfect Classroom
Pattaya
From our location in the Gulf of Thailand, 2 hours drive from Bangkok’s main airport, just south of Pattaya at Ocean Marina Yacht Club in Jomthien, we gain access to the lower part of the Bangkok Bite.
This cruising ground offers everything a Sailing School in Thailand could possibly hope for; an international standard marina, Thailand's largest international shipping port with Traffic Separation Lanes for ships, Thailand's largest Naval base and a generous scattering of tropical islands.
Such diversity allows our sailing school students to get first-hand experience of some the more serious aspects of yacht navigation and combine it with a little bit of typical Thai tropical island beauty and hospitality.
Phuket
From our location in Phuket we gain access to Yacht Haven Marina, Asia's largest Super-yacht marina, is our gateway to the Andaman Sea and the stunning islands of Phang Nga Bay.
The waters surrounding Phuket make for a perfect training ground, what it lacks in shipping traffic it makes up for with Super-yacht & tourism traffic. Learning to sail in Phuket remains challenging enough to deliver the learning experience required but it's hard not think you're on holidays, just because of the overwhelming beauty of the place.
Instructors with passion
A sailing school can have it all; perfect yachts, nice cruising grounds and a super-cool website, but when it comes down to it its all about the Instructors…. and we know that.
The Sailing school is just part of what Island Spirit Sailing does, we also operate a large Charter Fleet and represent major brand yachts through our yacht brokerage along with a yacht delivery service throughout Asia, so there is always plenty to do and it is because of this that Island Spirit Sailing is able to attract and retain the most experienced of Instructors.
Our instructors are not just doing the same training courses week in week out, when they’re not teaching they’re on charter or delivering yachts which leaves their love and passion for being out on the ocean in tact and keen to pass on their knowledge and experience and of course the odd salty-sea-dog story or two.
Keel boats and Catamarans
Although the exhilaration that comes with rail-down sailing on a powered up keelboat will never be replaced, we are today, without doubt, in the age of the Catamaran.
Island Spirit Sailing offers its sailing school students the opportunity to experience both Keelboat sailing and Catamaran sailing throughout the course of the Zero to Hero program.
We are the only school that we are aware of that incorporates both production keelboats and catamarans into the standard sailing curriculum.
Longevity and experience
Island Spirit Sailing opened its sailing school in 2004 and have been running a sailing school every month since; with an alumni of over 3500 people we’re proud of our contribution to the sailing community.
With such a large Alumni of active sailors Island Spirit Sailing is able to offer many opportunities to students to get out on the water once they finish their training; from ocean crossings to fun weekend flotilla’s.
Its fun and you’ll meet like-minded people
This is probably the best, yet least expected part of it all; for most of our sailing school students it’s been a long time since they’ve attended a school and they’re surprised at just how rewarding and how much fun learning something new is, of course being in the tropics and on a yacht helps.
The other surprising thing is how well a group of complete strangers gel and get on, clearly there is common ground in that all the students attending started out with the desire and drive to learn how to sail and they chose to do it in Thailand and thankfully they choose Island Spirit Sailing, so there’s a lot in common from the onset and many people find that they make lasting relationships and with our Alumni program to get people out sailing, we aim to foster that.
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