SWFL Yacht & Sailing Clubs

Posted by James McCallion on Monday, September 14, 2020 at 1:51 PM By James McCallion / September 14, 2020 Comment

New to boating in Southwest Florida? Or, maybe you’re just looking for new boating experiences in SWFL? Join one of our area’s sailing/boating clubs or attend one of the local regatta events!

In a time of social distancing, boating is a great activity for getting outside and exploring Southwest Florida. While most of the in-person social events have been altered or canceled, there are still a number of on-water events taking place that adhere to safe distancing guidelines.

Power Squadrons & Sailing Clubs

The US Power Squadron (also known as America’s Boating Club) was founded in 1914, and to this day, continues its mission of offering maritime safety courses and training on maritime topics. There are Power Squadron chapters found throughout Southwest Florida, including the:

You can click on each chapter to find out more information regarding membership, events, and training offered. We also suggest searching for these groups on your preferred social media channel for a chance to interact with some of the members or simply see what the club has been up to lately.

Other Sailing & Boating Clubs in SWFL

Besides the power squadrons, there are other boating clubs to check out in Southwest Florida, that offer similar style training, events, and membership benefits. Here are a few that we know of in the area:

CMCS Sailing Club - CMCS stands for “Caloosahatchee Marching and Chowder Society.” This active club offers numerous cruises, race events, and social events throughout the year. Most monthly meetings take place in the Cape Coral area. Click here to learn more about CMCS.
Gulf Coast Sailing Club - “Keep Sailing Fun” is the motto of this sailing club, whose monthly meetings take place in Naples. Their website offers a great list of upcoming regattas and meetup events. Click here to learn more about Gulf Coast Sailing Club.
Offshore Sailing School - Located in Fort Myers Beach at the Pink Shell Beach Resort and Marina, this is a great place for all ages and experience levels to learn more about sailing. Don’t let the name fool you, they offer powerboat courses as well. Click here to learn more about Offshore Sailing School.
Edison Sailing Center - Focused on teaching the youth about sailing and boating, their summer camp programs are very popular and usually booked out. The center also offers adult training sessions - all of which is found on their website by clicking here.
Sail Marco - An American Sailing Association (ASA) affiliated sailing school located on Marco Island. They offer sailing lessons, private instruction, and crewed charters. Click here to learn more about Sail Marco.
Florida Sailing & Cruising School - Together with Southwest Florida Yachts Inc., the school offers courses, events, chartering, and boat sales out of Cape Coral. They are active on social media and post useful information on their website linked here. Go check them out!

Please let us know if we didn’t list your organization or another that you know of! We're happy to keep this list updated and ongoing.

Private Yacht Clubs

In addition to the clubs and schools listed above, there are a number of private yacht clubs in the area as well. While there’s likely too many to catch them all, here are a few that you might have heard of already: