Six Days · Five Nights — ASA #101, #103 & #104.
YELAPA JUNGLE GETAWAY.
Six Days · Five Nights — ASA #101, #103 & #104 Certifications
Trade crowded resorts for ocean breezes, jungle waterfalls, hidden anchorages, and the thrill of learning to sail on the magnificent waters of Bahía Banderas. This is not just a sailing course — it's a true offshore-style adventure designed for explorers, dreamers, and future sailors.
Day 1 — Welcome to Paradise
Your adventure begins the moment you land at Puerto Vallarta's Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport (PVR), where one of our Ocean Adventure crew members greets you and escorts you to the beautiful Paradise Village Resort & Marina. After a dockside orientation — yacht, safety systems, onboard living and seamanship basics — we cast off and motor into the bay. Then comes the moment everyone remembers… Sails Up.
The engine is quiet, the boat heels gently, and the adventure truly begins. That night you stay aboard at the marina and enjoy all resort amenities, with the nicest beach in the bay for sunsets.
Day 2 — Sail to Yelapa
We depart mid-morning on a charted course for Yelapa, our jungle destination on the south side of Banderas Bay.
The three-to-four-hour sail is full of instruction — line-of-sight navigation, steering under sail, points of sail, tacking & jibing — all while dragging a fishing line for fresh ceviche. At Yelapa we practice VHF radio protocol, secure to our buoy, and dinghy ashore to your private beach bungalow hidden beneath the palms.
After checking in with the local INDALO host, your instructor presents the ASA #101 written exam, leaving the afternoon for hiking, snorkeling and relaxing. Dinner at sunset!
Meet Casita Huéspedes
Day 3 — Yelapa Jungle Sleepover
Time to bump it up with your ASA #103 certification.
Back out to sea we inspect the auxiliary engine and demonstrate safe operation; practice anchor retrieval and bow-buoy tending; visually pilot the vessel using chart symbols and landmarks; steer a course under power; and work every point of sail — close hauled, close reach, beam reach, broad reach and run "wing on wing" — plus heaving to, reefing, and person-overboard under sail.
Return to the buoy with new skills, then ashore for personal time, dinner & sunset.
Day 4 — Coastal Cruising & ASA #103 Evaluation
With plenty of sunlight we finish the #103 skills: fueling and fuel/oil storage; VHF distress, safety and weather channels; local weather, barometric pressure and cloud formations; U.S.C.G. safety equipment; thru-hull fittings; navigation aids and lights on paper and electronic charts; heavy-weather sail combinations; reefing the main and roller-reefing the headsail; right-of-way rules; and proper anchoring — setting, scope and retrieval.
Complete the ASA #103 written exam.
Day 5 — ASA #104 Bareboat Cruising Certification
After a final morning in Yelapa, we hoist sail across Banderas Bay toward Punta de Mita, refining advanced bareboat-chartering skills.
Students rotate through Skipper and Crew roles: complete engine inspection (raw-water strainer, seacocks, oil, coolant, belts); bilge-pump and safety-system testing; galley operation and a simulated galley-fire response; anchoring and ground-tackle handling; reefing while hove-to; piloting into an unfamiliar harbor by chart and visual navigation; and taking three bearing fixes with a handheld compass.
Arrive in Punta de Mita to swim, paddle a SUP, practice dinghy beach landings or catch a wave, then enjoy a peaceful night at anchor beneath a canopy of stars.
Day 6 — Sail Home & Certification
After a rewarding week of sailing, adventure and skill-building, enjoy your final sail back to the marina and the completion of your ASA #101, #103 and #104 Bareboat Cruising certifications.
We were surround by the Volcanoes of Central America, and saw pods of rarely seen Beluga whales. We walked with 200-year-old tortoises, and dived with magnificent Hammerhead sharks. Our journey was both exciting and humbling, and a major part of why voyaging under sail, and sharing the underwater wonders of the sea is so rewarding.
Last year we sailed and dived from Long Beach California down to the Galapagos Islands. We followed the tropical coast of Mexico to Central America. We sailed South to Costa Rica; offshore to Cocos Island; down to Ecuador finishing our outbound leg in the Galapagos Islands. Having amazing experiences all the while surrounded by sea, stars, and incredible wildlife.
Are you looking for a captain to turn your dreams into reality? I have been navigating and exploring the West Coast of the Americas now for over 100,000 miles under sail and power and loving every Nautical mile of it. I have had the pleasure of certifying well over one hundred sailors through my ASA sailing school.
