visiting programs
The ultimate personalized sailing experience in The Bahamas
— where adventure, learning, and purpose meet.
Eleuthera Sailing Academy (ESA) is a nonprofit sailing school in the Bahamas dedicated to empowering local youth through sailing and watersports. We use sport as a powerful tool to build confidence, resilience, leadership, and new opportunities.
ESA also welcomes international participants for meaningful, hands-on experiences. Through our visiting programs and sailing camps, guests learn to sail, enjoy watersports, and connect with the local community — experiencing the real Bahamas with excitement, challenge, and fun.
Bring your school, sailing team, or group to Eleuthera Sailing Academy. Tell us how long you’re staying, who’s coming, and what you’d love to experience. We’ll help shape the days around your group, the weather, and the opportunities on the water.
A unique mix of adventure, learning, and positive impact.
_edited.png)
A highlight for visiting groups is a sailing adventure aboard our exploration boat Avelinda, sailing from The Island School to the beautiful Schooner Cays — untouched islands surrounded by reefs and sandbars.
​Each trip is planned around the weather, route, and your group’s experience.
From complete beginners to experienced sailors looking to improve, we can create a course for your group. Learn on our fleet of dinghies and larger boats with instructors who adapt the sessions to your level.​
Led by world champion sailor and elite coach Martin Manrique, our high-performance clinics are designed for competitive Optimist sailors and teams who want to level up.
ESA offers a variety of watersports for students totry, depending on their interests and the day’sconditions. With a range of options and a supportive environment, every experience at ESA is meaningful, fun, and rewarding.
A five-day or longer adventure combining dinghy sailing lessons, a basic windsurfing course, and ocean exploration aboard Avelinda. Learn new skills in Savannah Sound, discover hidden beaches and islands, and enjoy the possibility of an overnight sailing expedition.
Are you a sailor or passionate about watersports and looking for a different kind of adventure? Come spend a couple of weeks with us in the beautiful Bahamas, share your passion for the water, and give back to the local community.
about our programs
Eleuthera Sailing Academy offers hands-on sailing and watersports experiences designed to help students learn new skills, challenge themselves, and explore one of the most beautiful marine environments in the Bahamas.
Students will:
Explore Eleuthera by sail aboard Avelinda. Groups can choose a full-day expedition to the beautiful Schooner Cays or work with us to plan an overnight liveaboard adventure. We tailor the route and experience to your group, the weather, and the time you have available.
Students are part of the crew. With guidance from ESA instructors, they :
-
Learn basic navigation and seamanship
-
Learn how to drive and control the sailboat.
-
Explore remote beaches and sandbars
-
Discover Eleuthera’s marine environment
Avelinda is a 30-foot expedition sailboat designed for coastal exploration. On a day trip, students can sail from The Island School toward the Schooner Cays, uninhabited islands surrounded by sandbars. An overnight expedition gives the group more time to experience life aboard and explore together.
Tell us about your students and what you hope they’ll gain from the trip, and we’ll shape an expedition around them.
ESA offers a variety of watersports for students to try, depending on their interests and the day’s conditions. With a range of options and a supportive environment, every experience at ESA is meaningful, fun, and rewarding.
1. Sailing Experience
Students can sail boats such as Vanguard 15s, Hobie Cats, Lasers, and Sunfish. With an experienced ESA coach guiding them, they’ll learn to steer, balance the boat, work with the wind, and sail together as a crew. Depending on the group, they may also try maneuvers such as tacking and gybing. ESA instructors and support boats are on the water throughout the activity.
2. Kayak / Stand-Up Paddle Adventure to
“Secret Beach”
Paddle across the calm waters of Savannah Sound to a small, secluded beach. The journey gives students time to explore at a gentler pace and look out for marine life, including the turtles and rays sometimes seen in the clear water. No previous paddling experience is needed, and a support boat accompanies the group.
3. Windsurf Lessons
Savannah Sound’s shallow, sheltered water makes it a welcoming place to try windsurfing. Students start by finding their balance, then learn to lift and control the sail and use the wind to move across the water. It’s an active challenge, with plenty to celebrate when they catch their first breeze.
Choose one activity or combine several: we’ll shape the experience around your group.
Go beyond a first sail. An ESA camp gives students time to build real sailing skills, work together as a crew, and grow more confident on the water. Three days is an ideal starting point, but we’ll tailor the length and activities to your group.
​
Students can learn to rig and sail dinghies such as Lasers, Sunfish, and Vanguard 15s. With coaching and time to practise, they’ll develop their steering, sail trim, wind awareness, and boat handling. As they progress, we can add teamwork drills, longer sails, introductory racing, and a friendly mini regatta. Windsurfing, kayaking, and paddleboarding can bring variety to the camp.
Example structure:
Day 1 – Introduction to Sailing
Boat rigging, safety briefing, wind awareness, first
sailing sessions.
Day 2 – Boat Handling & Teamwork
Steering practice, sail trim, teamwork drills,
windsurfing.
Day 3 – Adventure & Mini Regatta
Fun races and longer sailing sessions, watersports
and exploration.
For groups that want to experience everything ESA has to offer, we bring sailing, watersports, and exploration together in an adventure of five days or more. Students build skills in Savannah Sound, try new activities, and take what they’ve learned beyond the bay on a sailing expedition aboard Avelinda.
​
Your group might learn to rig and sail dinghies, take a basic windsurfing course, try paddleboarding, explore by kayak, and work together in a friendly regatta. The expedition can be a full-day sail toward the Schooner Cays or an overnight adventure, camping aboard Avelinda.
​
One possible five-day itinerary:
-
Day 1 — Find your sea legs: Meet the boats, learn about safety and the wind, and get sailing.
-
Day 2 — Build your sailing skills: Practise boat handling, sail trim, and teamwork on the dinghies.
-
Day 3 — Try something new: Learn the basics of windsurfing, enjoy other watersports, and put your sailing skills to work in a friendly regatta.
-
Day 4 — Set out on an expedition: Sail aboard Avelinda, helping handle the boat and exploring beaches and islands along the way, with the option to stay overnight.
-
Day 5 — Continue the adventure: Explore more and sail back, putting your new skills into practice.
A minimum of five days gives students time to build their skills and enjoy each part of the experience. This itinerary is just an example: we’ll plan the activities, expedition route, and balance between learning and adventure around your group’s age, experience, and goals, adapting to the weather and conditions.
Led by world champion sailor and elite coach Martin Manrique (martinmsailing.com), our high-performance clinics are designed for competitive Optimist sailors and teams who want to level up.
​
Our coaching clinics include:
-
Technical & tactical race training
-
Video analysis and on-water feedback
-
Team racing strategy and drills
-
Mental resilience, goal setting, and leadership
-
Sailing in a perfect training spot: calm bay + ocean swell options
These clinics are highly personalized and designed to build not just better sailors, but better people, with time to connect with local youth and the broader Bahamian culture.
​
Spaces are limited—reach out to reserve a spot or organize a private clinic for your team.
Are you a sailor or passionate about watersports and looking for a different kind of adventure? Come spend a couple of weeks with us in the beautiful Bahamas, share your passion for the water, and give back to the local community.
​
As an ESA volunteer, you’ll have the opportunity to teach and sail with local kids, share skills and experiences, discover the islands beyond the tourist path, and become part of the community both on and off the water.
​
Whether you’re an experienced sailing instructor or simply passionate about sailing and eager to help, there may be a place for you.
Interested in volunteering with ESA? Get in touch with us to learn more about upcoming opportunities.
