Great sailing club with many benefits: ASA sailing instruction 5 marinas for charter Quality boat fleet Opportunity for boat ownership at a reduced cost I have used three ports for charter and had some really fun time on the water sharing sailing with new sailors. Everyone on staff has been super friendly and helpful. all of my charters have worked out without problems. Boats are clean and functional. Ports are the best ones in SoCal and probably the entire USA. I have added to my ASA credentials here and find the instruction on par with any training facility in the USA. Whatever I have asked for has always worked out. I couldn't recommend Marina Sailing any stronger. read more

I've been sailing with Marina sailing for years and it's a perfect home base for sailing, social events and enjoying time on the water. Highly recommend! read more

I've worked with Marina Sailing's MDR location since 2016 and continue to be very impressed by their overall business model. At the core is a focus on education using the ASA curriculum & experienced instructors - allowing wannabe sailors to fulfill their dreams by gaining skills and credentials that can be used worldwide. The size & breadth of the Marina Sailing charter fleet is outstanding. Members have access to over 60 sailing yachts of all types across six SoCal locations (from San Diego to the Channel Islands / Oxnard). The boats are well-maintained and new vessels continue to be introduced. The Marina Sailing team on the ground at the MDR location is a pleasure to work with. Christy is always available in the office to answer questions, help with scheduling, or handle check-ins - always with a smile. And on the dock, Philip recently stepped in to manage the MDR fleet and ensure that the boats are well-maintained and in tip-top condition for charters. read more

Don't rent yachts with non working auto helm, non working bar-b-que, non working hatch covers. Terrible! read more

We're currently taking their Ultimate Sailing Course (ASA 101, 103, 104) and are loving our experience! We were brand new to the LA sailing world, and the staff and people we have met here and the skills we are learning have become a great resource and jumping-off pad towards making our around-the-world sailing dreams a reality! Be sure to request Wendy for your sailing instructor, she is the best! read more

We had a wonderful afternoon sailing from Marina Del Rey. Extremely relaxing. Our captain was Ron Jaffe and he was very knowledgeable and a good teacher. We would definitely recommend the captain and the boat the Aether. read more

I've been a Marina Sailing member for over five years and have yet to find a better offering from an education, fleet, and affiliate standpoint. Getting certified through ASA 106 has been a fantastic experience through MS, in particular how they blend both in-person textbook and on the water, live. There simply is no other club in or around LA that has the kind of diverse fleet and chartering flexibility that MS has. Boats that can be easily booked without a long lead time. There are so many options depending on whether you want to charter for a simple day sail or for an overnight trip to Catalina or the Channel Islands. For those that are looking to learn how to sail as a beginner with practical real world experience or the more experienced sailor that wants access to some incredible boats, I could not recommend MS highly enough. read more

My grandfather and I had an amazing time once we finally were able to sail Candy right out of their harbor in Redondo Beach. However when we wanted to sail again, we couldn't get ahold of anyone! Once I finally did get ahold of customer service, instead of being helpful and kind, I was belittled and told how rude my grandfather was for trying to get in contact with a staff member. I kept a very calm and respectful tone throughout the whole conversation but was met with the very opposite. The experience was unprofessional and unpleasant. read more

Great, knowledgable instructors and plenty of boats for charter. Courses geared to novice as well as experienced sailors.

I was a member here for years and always tolerated the deferred maintenance issues on their boats. But just this week found out this place knew my credit card information had been stolen and was being misappropriated by a former employee who set up a fake company called Marina Sailing LLC (similar name) and was billing paying members. Once I discovered the fraud they were so shady with their explanations. They literally admitted to knowing this former employee was misappropriating their subscription members credit card info and they failed to disclose this to their members as required by law in California. I cancelled my membership immediately and am moving on. Even the GM Michael Darr admitted they should have notified members but didn't because the owner of this place doesn't want to make a stir. Stay away and move on to another more honest charter company. read more

Very knowledgeable instructors. Great learning experience. Very reasonable fees for ASA 101 and 103

I learned to sail with Marina sailing. I'm fairly regularly chartering at several of the franchises. I am headed out on a Flotilla with them in 2024 and I can't wait. Would recommend. read more

Great, knowledgable instructors. Reasonably priced lsssons and texts + ASA memberships, a positive. read more

Marina Sailing - Sailing SM Bay, Feb 2023 - Boating Near Me - Marina del Rey, California

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Never emailed me back after I had a bad experience with Damien. If you're an experienced sailor and a woman, don't expect to be treated with respect here. read more

Worst people EVER. Full blown scam. DO NOT give them your money. There are WAY better people in MDR to do business with that actually care about customer service that are pleasant and educated. Cant speak to their boat rentals but the sailing class is an absolute joke. I imagine the kid making the schedule never made it past the 4th grade....Karl is his name it think... holy smokes...what a moron. read more

Our group had an amazing boating experience in Long Beach! Our captain knew all the best spots to take us where it was calm and we could even stop for a swim. Michael set up our reservation and was flexible and accommodating. Thanks for a great day! read more

Completed the USC (ASA 101, 103, 104) with Chris Kehrli as our instructor just yesterday. Although the students all had different ambitions, we all learned a lot and gained competence and confidence handling a Capri 22 and an Oceanis 40.1. The underway to Catalina island was great too. Chris's laid back teaching style put us all at ease and turned a flood of information into a fun and directly applicable course. Perfect experience, wouldn't change a thing. read more

For boat owners: do not put your boat in charter, they will become party boats and Rick, the current fleet manager, showed my friend who is also a member pictures of strippers from Jumbos Clown Room he lured out on an unsuspecting charter owners boat when he was "off" work. Poor boats. I guess you can lure the ladies out with free boat joyrides, sucks to be the owner. Before I took out Three Lions for Buccaneer Days, Ian, who works with Rick, showed me where he took out red wine stains all over the teak in the cockpit from a party the last charter before. Lucky me, after reserving the expensive 41' Beneteau a year in advance, I also got a boat that had missing supplies (missing trash bags, empty propane tanks) and toilet skid marks (no joke). The grill had clearly not been used or maintained, and the solenoid was badly clogged. Somehow even when making them aware of this on the spot, I was eventually blamed for this (scratching my head). For prospective members: because most of these boats are partied on, if you intend to charter a boat for a relaxing weekend, be prepared to be nickel and dimed by Rick and Lisa (office manager who literally works from a computer and doesn't go out and inspect boats to make sure Rick is doing his job) for damages you never created, but were there prior from all the boozing on these boats. Also, if you are a female sailor (me) or plan to have female crew, be prepared to be charged for your human hair left on the boat. Rick loves strippers and all things female as evident by the matching pin-up girls tattoo'd on his calves, but not hair leftover from females. He's clearly misogynistic and probably working for minimum wage. I understand it's a hard job, but the fleet manager at Blue Pacific keeps it professional and is trustworthy and Rick is simply unprofessional. Blue Pacific again proves to be the only professional and fair charter company in the Marina. I've never been charged for having mine and my females crew luscious locks being "everywhere" as Rick stated. I don't think the boys at Marina Sailing have ever had girlfriends, sisters or mothers, go figure the strippers they keep near and dear. Yes, we are girls and shed hair. Yes, we sail and bring female crew, welcome to 2018. If that was an issue, you should have told me to bring my Dyson vacuum on the boat. Sorry for having long, beautiful hair and yes, the average human sheds up to a few hundred strands of hair a day. Needless to say, keep your boat away from here until they get a new fleet manager and Lisa gets out of the chair and gets hands-on. Your boat will be partied on and not properly maintained. Unfortunately Gary in the main office was made aware of my issues and did nothing to rectify them. Steer clear and move to Blue Pacific if you can. Will save you a massive headache to deal with the sleazy operation going on here! read more

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Just finished the USC (Ultimate Sailing Course) with Chris Kehrli. I know I speak for my whole group when I say that it was the experience of a lifetime. When you really break it down it, sailing is a tremendous amount of knowledge that is usually learned slowly over the course of a lifetime. This course is like drinking from a water tower, and yet Chris broke it down in an easily digestible way. He shows the patience of a saint while distilling his many decades of sailing and racing sailboats into very advanced lessons which would take a lifetime to learn on your own (and goes WAY above and beyond teaching important lessons that are not covered in the textbooks.) Chris lets you learn via experience and error, chiming in when you ask for help or are in danger, letting you the student figure out the correct way to do something and then rationalizing why. For me, I couldn't of asked for a better class/trip or captain + instructor. I will definitely be continuing my ASA learning with Chris. read more

Marina Sailing has been slowly going downhill for a long time. Their prices have risen 30% over the last 5 years, plus they make you pay for parking now. The boats seem to always have something or another that doesn't work. The last boat I chartered(last week) had a number of problems: the main sail gear was not functioning properly, the jib lines were way too short which means possible injury, the stereo did not work properly, the toilet worked sometimes, and you could barely see through the dodger windows, which is another safety issue, and.. the transmission did not shift properly. Needless to say, I'm looking for a new club! read more

Once you are on their mailing list you cannot get off of it. I have tried for over a year and they have refused. You are better off just buying a boat or partnering with someone else but do not sign up for their mailing list, they will spam you for year. read more

Signed up for the ASA 101/103 classes with my wife, and after a year we had only had about three classes. Obviously, Covid makes things difficult, but this wasn't three classes for lack of trying. We would book weeks out, then the class would be cancelled because of a lack of instructor. But there were other instructors teaching other classes, just ours never seemed to materialize. I started to joke that the window between our scheduled lesson and the inevitable cancellation was getting smaller and smaller, that one day we'd be parking when they called us to tell us the class was cancelled. And guess what happened? We had driven in rush hour traffic for about two hours, and I was putting the car in park when they called. We even called them before we left our house to say 'hey, we're leaving now, we may be late cause of traffic.' Would have been wonderful to know then that our lesson was cancelled. So I went up to the office and spoke with the manager, told them that over a year we had yet to even have enough classes to get our 101 certification (at this point they had probably cancelled 13 lessons on us), and he said he'd try and get our money back. I never got my money back but I still get the marketing emails that I am unable to block from my inbox. read more

I've been a Marina Sailing Member for four years and it's been a really positive experience. There are essentially four parts to their services - The school, boat charters, racing and social/group activities. I thought I'd write about each one based on my own experience. Many people find Marina Sailing when looking for sailing lessons. I received the Complete Sailing Course as a birthday present from my wife! I had expressed interest in Marina Sailing over the other companies because I saw there was a social element and group activities beyond the lessons. It felt more like a club. Also, they are in many different harbors up and down the coast so if you feel like sailing out of another marina or trying different boats they make it easy to do so. At the time the Complete Sailing Course was eight lessons on the water and one classroom navigation lesson. I think now there are more lessons in the course. Something I liked was that they were really flexible scheduling my classes. The lessons were all available on the weekend, and If I wanted a lesson #2 or #3 for example, I could call the office and they would tell me what day and times were available. I found it was really easy to schedule with so many classes happening over Saturday and Sunday. Each class could be with a different instructor, but I found that I had one or two instructors repeatedly. This was nice because they had different personalities and different ways of explaining things. I did have a couple of not so great classes, but the office was happy to let me repeat those with a different instructor at no additional charge. The navigation class I took twice, not because it was a bad experience but because it was a great one and I wanted to get another instructor's perspective. By the end of the Complete Sailing Course I had done a few group daysail activities and was ready to charter a boat with my own crew. I'm glad I took the multi week lesson approach as opposed to doing it all at once because it gave me a chance to digest the material. I enjoyed the Complete Sailing Course so much that I went on to take the ASA 104, 114, 105 and 118 classes with Marina Sailing as well. If you really want to learn to sail and earn the ASA certifications this is a great place to do it! The social and group sailing activities are really worthwhile and I've made a bunch of new friends since I started. There are group daysails from 10am to 4pm almost every weekend that are really affordable, and all you have to do is call and sign up. We have a bunch of regulars and sometimes people from outside the club visit who just want to go sailing. If you're not sure if you'll like sailing, sign up for a daysail and find out! There are also weekend trips and meetups to attend, as well as a busy racing program I have yet to explore. Chartering is a really great way to discover what you like about different boats, and It's nice to be able to sail without the cost of ownership or responsibility of maintenance. Some people wrote about chartering and being blamed wrongly for damages, but I've never had a problem. It's common sense really. One thing they teach in the classes is to inspect the boat, it's systems and report anything damaged or broken. Just like a renal car, if there's a big ding in the boat and you point it out they're not going to hold you responsible. If you're thinking about taking sailing lessons from Marina Sailing or becoming a member, I'd encourage you to go on a daysail or take an introductory lesson. It's been a really life changing thing for me. I've made a bunch of new friends and participate in the activities regularly. I'm even starting to organize my own. All of the instructors and staff here are really friendly and like to talk or answer any sailing questions you might have. Hope this review helps answer some questions and maybe I'll see you on the water! read more

Took lessons here and chartered boats twice. The sailing lessons were of poor quality (instructor was on his phone most of the time) and the boats I took out were not very good. On the second trip, our inboard engine stopped working. Additionally, be extra vigilant on damage while you check the boat out, as they will charge you for existing damage. I would recommend finding another organization to learn sailing or charter boats from. read more

I learned how to sail at Marina Sailing and have rented boats at all of Marina Sailing's six locations, This club has been around since 1962. The group daysails are great if you cant get a crew together. I love the racing program and enjoy meeting other sailors. There are get togethers and parties, which is always fun. The flotillas to beautiful locations around the globe is fantastic! I ended up buying a boat and put it in the program and that worked out very well! The income was fantastic and I didn't need to worry about the boat. If you want to belong to a fun sailing club, then check out Marina Sailing. read more

Marina Sailing - this photo Saint Vincent Flotilla on Jack Sparrow island after fresh lobster dinner - Boating Near Me - Marina del Rey, California

My friend and I took the 5 day USG class over the summer. While the captain was a very good, the boat was not. The oven in the galley nor the exterior BBQ ever worked, the night rigging lights did not work (so much for safety), the head (bathroom) did not work, and they over booked the class on the boat, we ended up sleeping on the deck at night because the birth was too small for 2 grown guys..Maybe perfect for a young couple in love, but not 2 grown man not in love. My buddy and I spent a handsome amount of money for the course roughly $2500 and thought we would get some kind of break for all the things that were not up to par for a "Premium price experience", the management was only willing to give us a break of $50. We have written numerous emails to the management about ways to make up for this sub par experience but no one responded.. I cannot recommend this outfit at all, these are very young inexperienced people (hired by money hungry management owners) who have no clue in finding solutions, not fit for any service industry.. read more

Bought a Groupon ticket for 2 sailing lessons for 2 people at a pretty good price, so we came to this place to redeem it. I've never had any sailing experience before and even though I didn't really have too many expectations in mind- the actual experience was still very different from what I thought. It's much more stressful, challenging, and less relaxing, but definitely very fun and rewarding! We had a little trouble finding the place in the beginning because we had the old address. But I researched it really quick and found the correct address, it's not too far away. We got there and the parking was very easy, as it's free with a validation- make sure to ask for it. Our instructor called to check that we didn't have any trouble finding the place, very nice man named Keith. He then took us- or told us to drive desperately to the actual harbor and our lesson began. Man it was a hot day but it's windy on the boat. E started by learning how to do knots and rig sails and stuff. Didn't really get on the water until 1.5-2 hours later. But all the learning was very necessary to prepare for the actual sailing. It was a little difficult and frustrating in the beginning but once you get it, it's a lot of fun. Definitely recommend this place! read more

Marina Sailing - Beautiful day - Boating Near Me - Marina del Rey, California

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They get one star, not because we use their service, but because whoever was captaining one of their rental boats today, nearly hit my husband while we were kayaking in the marina. The captain of the Kris X on August 1 is a dangerous person. After coming within inches of my husband, he cut off another boat that was luckily able to maneuver out of his way. Personal watercraft have the right of way. My husband and I are life long boaters and certified sailors too. Whoever rented that boat today is a dangerous captain. He said he didn't see us. Perhaps it was because his sails were all balled up and not flakes neatly. We could see the mate the entire time. Those renters are dangerous on the water. read more

I recently took the Amer. Sailing Assoc. (ASA) 114 Catamaran Charter class from Keith at Marina Sailing. Although the class officially needed 4 people to financially work, Keith and MS decided that they would keep the class with only 2 people having signed up. Our instructor Keith gave us Catamaran instructions at the dock and off we sailed. Keith continued our lesson in a very practical and consistent level without making it feel like a formal class. He led us through navigation, boat steering, multiple practical mooring operations with the other student and I both changing off to handle all operations throughout the entire class. Back at the dock, Keith administered the written exam right on the saloon table. With all of our studying ahead of time and with Keith's practical lessons on the boat, the other student and I both passed with high scores. I have gone on many daysails with MS and taken many other classes and hope to continue to sail with them for many years to come. read more

I took the ASA 101, 103, 104. This was a 5 day immersive course where we lived on the boat and really experienced cruising. We learned to work and live together as a crew. Amazing!!!! Our instructor, Chris Kerhli is a gifted teacher who gave us guidance, tips and techniques and allowed us to make mistakes - the best way to learn!!! Thank you for an incredible experience. read more

This company is a scam. They ask you to sign up for a membership which supposedly is able to be canceled but they don't acknowledge your cancellation. I sent in my cancellation notice over a year ago and they still won't acknowledge it. Do not sign up with them. It will cost you much more wasted time and effort than you ever thought possible. read more

Long overdue, I have been waiting for Marina Sailing to make this right but it never happened. So here's the review. Worst sailing instructor ever. And I've had a few so I know. On the first day he showed up late and hungover, then much of the water was spent having to endure his tales of the night before chasing tail, drinking tequila, and passing out on his friend's floor. Didn't instill much confidence. This led the other students (guys) to join in and it felt like a frat-boy reunion. I almost jumped overboard. The office was very nice and profession to begin with on the phone and via email, but soon after enrolling it was clear that there was a lack of systems and professionalism. Nobody keeps track of your schedule, knows what classes you need to take, and when I arrived the fist day I sat in the office for 30 minutes before they told me that I was supposed to go to the boat. Okay, where's the boat? I already have ASA101 and just needed the 103 classes to get certified for larger boats. I took on the water classes at the MDR office, and navigation at Redondo. Navigation was a disappointment because there wasn't any review of electronic equipment whatsoever. Okay, I get that you need to know how to read a paper chart, but 99% of charter boats have chart plotters and GPS. This is how they get you to take the advanced navigation class. I only had one last class (night sailing) to take before I could take the test and get certified. But you are required to charter a boat *before* you take the test. This is an added expense to getting certified that is not include in the course fee (another way to get you to spend more money). I got busy and didn't have a chance to charter and take the night sailing class. Months later, I got an email stating that I owe hundreds of dollars in club fees. I tried to negotiate with Marina Sailing, telling them of my bad experience and asking if they would wave the fees and I will finish the course and pick up the membership after I got certified. I got one nice, sympathetic email from them (who said he would check with the manager) then nothing. Then every month I would get an email telling me to pay overdue fees, even though I never finished the course and had never chartered any boats. In a strongly worded email, I asked them to never email me again and stop asking for money or I would report them to the credit agencies. The emails stopped. Now I'm out of hundreds of dollars and have to start all over at another school. This all happened spring/summer 2015, so maybe they have new management or instructors. I hope so. I was really disappointed because I was looking forward to the club membership and having a go-to place for chartering boats in Southern California. No bueno. read more

ASA 104 certification with a trip to Catalina done by Chris Kehri, was excellent. Chris is an excellent and thorough instructor who makes the learning process a very easy one. Chris has infinite patience and responded to every single question and scenarios in a very professional and didactical way. Very easy to get along with, and has great knowledge which he has an outstanding ability to transfer it. Thank you Chris, awesome job. read more

Hi, This was my first time chartering/bareboating with Marina Sailing and I was truly delighted and impressed. I mostly sail in Boston and Newport RI as I live on the east coast, but I have bareboated out of many other harbors as well. My experience with Marina Sailing was one of my best experiences to date. The staff does an excellent job of matching experience and sail plan to the best boat for your needs. They were all cheerful boat enthusiast that seemed to care that I got the most out of my boating experience. The boats I saw were all very clean and all systems operable as they should have been. The staff did an excellent job of going over the boat I selected at checkout to ensure I knew the intricacies of the boat. I would not hesitate to recommend Marina Sailing to anyone and will encourage everyone at my sail club in Boston to check Marina Sailing out before chartering any boat in Southern California. Thank you Marina Sail for helping to make my recent sailing experience so positively memorable for my family and me. Cheers! read more

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I chartered a boat called Hunter 41 for a special Celebration. Lisa was great to work with for all the details. On the day our captain is a no-show so she found a last minute replacement for us. The boy is quite nice, tried very hard to entertained us while handled the big boat for the first time himself. Te boat is brand new, spotless, and beautiful. I think it can easily accommodate 6 people. 1 star off- At the end of the booking process I was given a much higher price that they published on the website. They explained in the phone that the lower price is for members only- but it did not said so on their website. My actual price as a "non-member" to rent the Hunter 41 for 4 hrs in a Saturday afternoon is about 45% more. I found this quite misleading. The captain for half day is $200. These all adds up with extra tips so be aware that it can get very expensive. Another star off for the lack of control of time- rather than taking us sailing all the way to some scenery coast line we basically sail between Manhattan Beach and Santa Monica Pier for about 5 times (because the captain did not have the experience of the distance and time for such boat). This "route" is really not recommended because the long beach area is quite ugly with loud airplanes flying inbound/outbound. Overall our experience is fine but very expensive. Hope the tips for the future planners are helpful. read more

I had such a great time with Marina Sailing! I live in Marina Del Rey but I do not own a boat or know how to sail. I was thrilled to learn they offered day sails with a captain. The office staff was super friendly, booking was easy, and the captain was so knowledgeable and professional. We all had a great time, and I have decided to sign up for some lessons and learn how to sail for myself. Marina Sailing makes it easy for everyone to enjoy sailing, no matter your level of experience. It is a must do for anyone visiting Los Angeles. read more

An establishment that I hesitate sharing has always got to get five stars. Looking at the reviews the word is out. Whether you're already a sailor or considering learning, Marina Sailing is a no-brainer. * A fleet ranging from powerboats, sailboats to cats all the way up to forty-six feet. All available if you're rated for a small monthly fee of $30. * They have boats available from Channel Islands all the way down to San Diego. * If you're not certified or need more advanced training, you can learn from some of the best instructors beginning with the basic 101 and ranging from heavy weather/anchoring, night navigation, bareboat, advanced racing, etc. * The boats are all in pristine condition. If you don't want to skipper the boat, you can hire one of their skippers to take you out over night to Catalina, or wherever you want to go. On Sunday we took out Emmanuel (a 38ft. Hunter). Another excellent sailboat. My personal favorite instructor is Mark Ganey....they guy rocks. read more

I don't normally write reviews. But I just couldn't resist sharing my experience! I signed up for the ASA101/103 certification with Marina Sailing about 7 weeks ago. Even though some people chose to take more than one lesson per week to expedite the certification, I chose to take one lessen per week in order to maximize this experience. Yesterday my first time chartering a boat by myself. I took my family. I was so confident throughout the entire day and thought to myself how great this program is. I was even able to teach my wife and brother how to tack and jibe without a problem. Everything from the customer service, experienced instructors, the ASA reading books, to my first charter yesterday was absolutely perfect! I look forward to obtaining the ASA104 certification so I can go to Catalina for the weekend with my wife and friends!! read more

I joined Marina Sailing to learn how to sail. lessons were OK but not great. I then got busy with other things and never finished. For years they keep finding my credit cards and charging me membership dues. I called, Emailed and finally after them charging me over and over again for services they were not providing I had to finally go personally over to the offices to stop them from taking money for nothing. No refund. The Jim guy from San Diego somehow keep getting my money from the credit card company. DONT EVER DO A CONTRACT WITH THEM!!!!! HORRIBLE COMPANY. HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE read more

Joined this sailing club out of Marina Del Rey recently. They're pretty good. Only pretty good you ask? Well...yes. And that's precisely the point. They use primarily second run boats, so you won't be finding many NEW boats here. However, that's the point so that they can offer reasonable rates, which they do. They also sponsor a semi-annual sailboat race out of the marina. And of course, it's super easy to learn how to sail. Why don't you start today? read more