Marina Sailing - Marina Del Rey, California

Andre Spangler

On March 4th, I booked a charter for June 14th-17th. At the
time, I had a credit on my account with Marina Sailing, and I
asked if they could use the credit on the account, then
charge my card for the remainder. Instead Marina Sailing
charged $3,428.40 which was the entire amount for the
charter to my credit card, and did not use any of the credit I
had on their account. I noticed this the same day and have
been fighting with Marina Sailing to get them to refund my
credit card and use the credit from the Marina Sailing
account. I have sent many emails, left many voicemails, and
talked to a few different employees. However the situation
is still not resolved almost 2 month later.
I have been a member with Marina Sailing for over a decade. It is very sad and a bit frustrating that this happened and is still not resolved. I charter out of the Long Beach location, however all billing is filed through MDR location. I have worked very well with Long Beach location, and ultimately they said they are unable to process a refund, as all refunds come from the corporate office in MDR.

Kelly Carney

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.

Chris Spencer

I took the lessons here and joined the club and it has been a good experience. The boats are nice and there is a good variety including power boats, catamarans and sailboats from 22- 50'. The instructors are very good and the staff is helpful. Most important the boats are clean and well maintained and you can rent them for a quarter day in the summer for a sunset sail for a good price. I've done some of the group sails and racing on their own Marina Cup series and it was fun, and I met some other sailors and I recommend Marina Sailing to my friends.

Chandler Kear

I LOVE MARINA SAILING!! Marina Sailing gave me the tools to become a skilled and confident sailor at a pace that accommodated my schedule and desire. Being a college student, I have a tight budget, however, the rates at Marina Sailing are great rates that even I could afford. The staff at Marina Sailing handle themselves and their customers with courtesy and professionalism. They do their job and they do it very well. They get you out on the water. They take great care of their customers and they go out of their way for their customers. That is why I am going out of my way to write a favorable review for Marina Sailing. Cheers and see you out on the water!

Chris Cook

I was referred to Marina Sailing by a yacht broker who said they are the best sailing school and charter facility and I agree. I've been very happy with them and I just completed their Complete Sailing Course. It was an excellent course that included night sailing, navigation, diesels, electronics, anchoring plus all the basic sailboat handling skills necessary to skipper boats in the ocean and to Catalina. The instructors were very nice and patient and very qualified. I took my ASA 101 test and got 98% and I rented a 28 footer with friends today and I feel that I really accomplished a lot. Sailing is so fun and I love being on the water.Scheduling the lessons was easy and I was able to also attend some a few daysails which allowed me to practice my skills. My goal is to rent a big boat in the Carribean at the end of the year and this course taught me about anchoring, navigation and big boat techniques. The lessons were 2 - 3 hours in length which is ideal because I could retain the information and not get too tired. For the money, I think the Complete Sailing Course is the best deal because it includes all the lessons plus the membership in the club which allows me to rent the larger boats and get more experience. I'm excited about sailing and I really like the instructors Jonathan and Wendy. I'm renting a 28 footer next week, then I'm working my way up to the bigger boats then take my ASA 103 test. Lisa and Greg did the scheduling and they are top notch. If you want to learn how to sail the right way.

Debbie Elder

Unfortunately I purchased a Groupon for "Two 3-Hour Sailing Lessons for One" (exact words). I made my appointment and brought my husband along as a full paying guest. I was charged full price for him. I was not told prior to my arrival that the sailing would take place at another location, so although we arrived at the office early we were given poor instructions on how to navigate a lot of fenced off construction zones to find the actual boat. Our Captain was great, but she could not overcome the fact that we were on the water for less than 1 1/2 hours, never left the marina channel and then returned where I was told by the office manager that was that, because it was just hubby and I my Groupon "Two 3-Hour Sailing Lessons" was redeemed, because this was a "private charter". Not sure how one full price ticket and my Groupon ticket (which was about $80) computes into 2 - three hour lessons. The office manager was not too polite initially and we had to pay to park our car at their office even though we were not told in advance the boat was elsewhere. Ridiculous overpriced frustrating afternoon. This was my husbands first time sailing and it was a very poor experience. I've since been warned by many locals to stay away from this company. We've since purchased a boat from a reputable dealer in the area and are taking lessons from another school (Blue Pacific) with a stellar reputation. I wish I'd read reviews on Marina Sailing before throwing my money away. The boat was not very clean and smelly. This companies ridiculous over priced 1 1/2 hour "lesson" (joke) cost them any of our future business - which is substantial. Stay away from this place. I've filed a complaint with Groupon and am pursuing a refund.

Christina Amoroso

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 he brought out on an unsuspecting owners boat. Before I took our 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 (trash bags, toilet skid marks and empty propane tanks).

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 nick and dimed by Rick and Lisa (office manager) 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, but hot hair leftover from females on the boat. He’s uneducated, misogynistic and probably working for minimum wage. He’s simply unprofessional.

Blue Pacific time and time again proves to be the only professional and fair charter company in the Marina.

Feel free to private message me for any more details! Keep your boat away from here until they get a need fleet manager.

Ilian P

I've been a member for over 2 years, received sailing certifications through them, have taken part in their club regattas about 25 days and have chartered boats about 25 days more so I've sailed on about 22 of their boats from all but their San Diego locations.

This review is for the Marina del Rey location. They do not maintain their boats and equipment up to manufacturers recommendations, just clean the boats and put a lot of deodorant so you can't smell the leaking holding tanks until it's too late. The same level of maintenance applies to other systems (they have "annual service" for items the manufacturer recommends be checked every 3 months). And if something happens to break during charter, you will be charged for all overdue repairs. The recent change in ownership did not change much, at least not in a good way.

But they're cheap so if you're lucky you may have a good time.