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Sailing Schools the Sunshine Coast
Unlike Brisbane and the Gold Coast, there is no large sheltered bay here. Training happens on open coast from the start, which changes what a first day looks like.
The water you learn on
Mooloolaba is the main base, with a river entrance and a marina immediately inside. Boats are on open water within minutes of leaving, which suits coastal training and suits nervous beginners less well.
The open coast means swell is a normal condition rather than an occasional one. Students here become comfortable with motion early, and seasickness management is a practical part of the teaching.
The river bar can build on an outgoing tide against a swell, so entrance timing is part of every passage plan rather than an advanced topic.
North toward the Great Sandy Strait and Fraser Island the coast opens into genuine cruising ground, which is where longer passages and mile-building runs head.
Where courses actually run
Mooloolaba
The main base; marina inside a river entrance
The open coast
Swell as standard, from the first hour
Caloundra
Southern access toward the top of Moreton Bay
Great Sandy Strait
Cruising ground north, toward Fraser Island
Schools within reach of the Sunshine Coast
Southern Cross Yachting
RYA training centre at East Coast Marina since 1996, with one-day to five-day courses, charter preparation and coastal mile builders.
Mainstay Sailing
RYA-accredited courses run in the Whitsundays.
Whitsunday Sailing School
Teaching in the Whitsundays for over 30 years, liveaboard, from beginner through extended coastal passages, with commercial crossover options.
Sunshine Sailing Australia
Based at Mooloolaba Marina, running sail and power training on the Sunshine Coast, in Brisbane and in the Whitsundays.
Fraser Coast Sailing Academy
Australian Sailing accredited Discover Sailing Centre running Tackers and junior programs with the Maryborough and Hervey Bay sailing clubs.
Paper Sailors Rock
RYA centre at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, with shorebased and practical courses, own-boat tuition and radio certificates.
Course types around the Sunshine Coast
Other training regions
Brisbane
Sailing schools in Brisbane and on Moreton Bay — beginner sailing, keelboat and yacht courses, catamaran training and charter preparation.
Whitsundays
Sailing courses in the Whitsundays and Airlie Beach — bareboat charter preparation, catamaran handling and anchoring in Australia’s best cruising ground.
Gold Coast
Sailing courses on the Gold Coast — the Broadwater, Coomera and the Seaway. Sheltered flat water for beginners with a demanding bar entrance for those going further.
All of Queensland
Brisbane · Moreton Bay · Sunshine Coast · Mooloolaba · Whitsundays · Airlie Beach · Hervey Bay — 6 schools
Not sure which course to start with in the Sunshine Coast?
Three questions — have you sailed before, what boat do you want to sail, and what is your goal — give you a starting course and the schools that teach it.