I did the IYT
Bareboat Skipper in May of 2023 with John at Java Yachting in Phuket. John has an amazing level of experience and is very accomplished. He's getting older so I don't know how much longer he'll be doing
training but for me the experience was absolutely worth it.
The problem is the
weather.
Thailand has very distinct
weather seasons, and when I went the rainy season had just started so that precluded any long distance/multi day trips. I was also the only one in the class, which on the one hand, was excellent, because I had a one on one teaching experience with a true expert, but on the other, it didn't have a "class" feel.
I also just got back from the Hua Hin Sailing Club for a week, which is run by Richard, his wife, and Thai staff. This is a place mainly with Lasers (dinghy sailboats), but also Hobie Cats, and Picos and run straight off the beach. I really enjoyed myself since I could mess around on a Laser for a couple hours a day then do whatever else I wanted to do. They run a good operation out there and I highly recommend it.
I was in Hua Hin in August and the
wind was good every day. For most of Thailand this should be near the peak of the rainy season but I think Hua Hin may be spared much of this (though you should sail earlier in the day to avoid storms). I do know that the dry season in Koh Samui is opposite the rest of Thailand, so since Hua Hin is on the same side (east coast) of Thailand maybe it's spared a lot of the rain (?). Note the Hua Hin Sailing Club is not a
Cruising Sailboat School, like Java Yachting is, but it was fun and I think still a great experience and I include it here for reference to someone just looking to have some fun and basic sail
training.
Someone had posted that he thought there were surprisingly few sailing schools in SE
Asia and I have to say I agree with that. In
California alone there are multiple schools, with many types of boats, many instructors and so forth. They have administrative staff to answer the phones and are well organized. Of the places in SE Asia, the only places I saw were in Thailand, and they just aren't as big of schools or as well organized. At the same time, the people I encountered there had loads of both life and sailing experience, were super interesting, and Thailand is just a great and inexpensive place to visit. YMMV.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say we are really lucky in the US to have great schools of almost any kind. I learned to sea
kayak and whitewater
kayak there and can paddle surfskis, also, outdoor training of all sorts. Just in general, whether it be our colleges, or
learning how to
race a dirt bike or whatever, it's better to learn in the US and then apply it abroad in places like SE Asia. Still, I don't regret at all going to those schools in Thailand, but it is a bit different and hey the
water is warm, so that's a plus!