Caribbean Sailing Holidays for Singles & Solo Travellers

A shared adventure not a dating service!

A SINGLE Sailing Holiday with Yacht Ibis – Is it Right For Me?

There are several different sailing holiday options open to you if you’re single or travelling solo.  Here, we’ll try and explain what makes a vacation with Yacht Ibis special and you’ll find the answers to the following questions:

  • What sort of people come with you?
  • Why do people come with you?
  • What can I expect? / What’s expected of me?
  • What makes you different?
  • How do I know if I’ll like sailing?

We can also help you narrow down our sailing holidays for the coming season so that you choose one that fits with your sailing abilities and aspirations, or the part of the world you’d like to see.

So let’s get right into it…

What sort of PEOPLE come with you?

Well the quick answer is “all sorts”!  And “people like you” 🙂

Our guests come from many different walks of life and everyone has a personal story to tell of course, but we find they fall broadly into three different groups…

  • many are busy professional or self employed people looking for a complete escape from their hectic lives and a cold grey winter to get in touch with sunshine and fresh air filled, active adventures;
  • some are at a career or relationship crossroads and, for them, this may be the holiday of a lifetime to kick start a new phase in their lives; 
  • others have retired or semi-retired but aren’t ready for a sedentary life just yet! For them our trips are a way of fulfilling a dream of exploring new places under sail without making the full commitment to buying a boat and sailing around the world. 

Here’s an extract from our crew list

Gender Split

We’re roughly 50:50 male to female, although in recent years we’re seeing more ladies joining our crew and on certain trips, e.g. our Christmas Extravaganza, we try and ensure an even mix – it does tend to keep the banter light!

Age Range

Age-wise, people range from mid 30’s to late 50’s on the whole, but we also welcome active older guests who want to pitch in on board.  Other interests, apart from sailing, include photography, nature watching, fitness – we’ve had a number of triathletes on board!, gastronomy, hiking and diving.

Sailing Experience

Not everyone has prior sailing experience, and we welcome you if you’re a beginner sailor; our skippers are all experienced in helping new crew to learn the ropes and to feel a valued member of the team from the outset.  Maybe you’ve sailed when you were younger, or have taken a sailing course a while ago but not put it to much use since.  Our trips help to bring back those buried skills and memories and develop new ones.  Some of our guests have a lot of sailing experience under their belt and some even own their own boats, if this is you, we provide a way of sailing a bigger vessel in a new part of the world.

Relationship Status

Many of our guests are single for one reason or another, either in between relationships, separated or divorced; others are happily married or partnered up but their other half would prefer to do something else on vacation or doesn’t have the amount of holiday time the other has.  We do also accommodate couples, but they aren’t our main clientele.  More than 90% of our guests travel solo, willing to throw themselves in with our other motley crew on arrival 🙂

WHY do people come with you?

People come with us because we offer an inclusive, comfortable environment of like-minded people, sailing beautiful, powerful boats in turquoise water and a warm wind.  You’ll come with us because you need a total escape from 21st century living.  You’ll come with us because you can come on their own without being or feeling alone, because you can have your own comfortable cabin with a big bed and its own bathroom, because we promise you adventures, exploration, activities, friendships, laughter and great food in safe, relaxed and conscientious company.  You’ll come with us because we’ll take you sailing to amazing places and because we’ll show you another world, because we’ll show you our world.

Why do they come BACK?

They come back, and more than a third of our guests book with us again and again, because we care, because we fulfil all of our promises and often deliver more; but most of all they come back because they’re friends.  Nothing about what we do at Yacht Ibis is false, choreographed or pretence.

All of our sailing trips are suitable for singles and solo travellers, and it’s important to note that it’s a shared adventure rather than a dating service….although who knows, you might just meet someone who ignites a spark! And if you don’t, you’re sure to take home some great memories and a hunger to sail more in this beautiful part of the world.

If this sounds like something you’d like to hear more about, please enter your email in the box below before you read further; that way we can keep you up to date with our sailing plans and let you know of any last minute opportunities for sailing with us here in paradise 🙂

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What can I EXPECT? / What’s expected of me?

Although you may be flying on your own, once you reach the boat you can feel right at home.  Your skipper will be there to meet you and to help you settle in on board.  You’ll find our boats large, airy and comfortable with lots of space for your belongings… not that you’ll need very much for sailing in the tropics 🙂  For people returning on a second trip, arriving back on board is like visiting friends.  With so many people returning time and again, you’re likely to meet someone who’s sailed with us before and they’ll be more than happy to help show you the ropes and get you a cold beer or glass of wine out of the fridge.  The friendships made on board can, and often do, last a lifetime.

We’ll never ask you to share a bed with someone else, or, if you’ve chosen to share a cabin, to share a room with someone of the opposite sex.  You can read more about the boats and their cabin arrangements on each trip detail page.  The cabin you choose when you make a booking is the one you’ll have when you arrive[1]

[1] in exceptional circumstances we may need to upgrade your cabin at no extra charge but we will never downgrade you

Our first afternoon together is spent getting familiar with the boat, going through a safety briefing and our plans for the week, getting to know your fellow shipmates and provisioning with drinks and anything else you might need.  The food shopping will already have been done for the duration of your trip; meals are planned based on local provisions available and taking into account any dietary necessities.  Our galley is small so we’re not able to provide a la carte meal choices.

If there’s time and the weather allows, we’ll take the boat our for a spin round the harbour to get you started!

On a typical day your skipper will prepare tea/coffee and breakfast between 7.30 to 9.00 am.  Breakfast choices include fresh local fruit, yoghurt, granola, toast etc, and there is always one cooked option daily.

After breakfast, we clear up – guests are asked to take a turn at washing the dishes during their holiday in order to help out the chef – and stow our things away before heading out sailing.  Depending on the itinerary for the trip, we might sail for 2 hours to a lunch stop for snorkelling and swimming, or possibly sail for the whole day on a Milebuilder trip.  Either a lunch or a dinner is provided for you every day, and the other meal we take ashore as a group.  Your skipper will recommend a local restaurant based on quality and value for money; we don’t have any affiliations with any of the restaurants we recommend and guests are welcome to make alternative suggestions as we go.  The meals your skipper cooks on board are cooked from scratch with fresh local ingredients as far as possible; they aren’t fine dining, but they are made with love and we describe our meals as “good, healthy, home cooked food”.

After lunch we may sail on a bit further to our evening stop, or we might take some time to explore ashore.  Each sailing leg and the daily amount of sailing we do is based on the itinerary planned for each particular trip, and takes into account the weather conditions arising and the abilities off each member of our crew[2].

[2] By booking with us, you accept that there are certain risks attached to sailing, as there are to any adventure sport, and you agree to take appropriate health and travel insurance to cover these risks.

A certain level of fitness is necessary to get the most out of your holiday, and while you may choose to be more active some days and less on others, you should be able to handle your own body weight comfortably.  This is particularly important for getting in and out of the water using the swim ladder when you go swimming, and for getting in and out of the dinghy going ashore.  All guest crew are expected to help sail the boat, and that includes pulling ropes, winching and steering, you’re also asked to help in keeping the communal areas tidy and to take a turn at being barman/woman at sundowner time…  Depending on the weather conditions we encounter when sailing, some days can be physically more demanding than others.

We don’t stipulate that you must be able to mount our inflatable unicorn from the water… it’s a rare few who’ve managed this 🙂

The Caribbean is HOT!  Expect temperatures to be 26 degrees Centigrade or higher for the duration of your stay.  Make sure you use factor 30 sunscreen (provided for you) or higher and don’t ever think that you won’t need it, even if it looks overcast.  Expect to go to bed at night glowing from the day’s exertions and a little sun on your face.

When we arrive in a new place, your skipper will recommend some places to see or things to do… these are entirely at your discretion and if you’d prefer to laze on deck and read a book that’s just perfect too!  Some guests like to make the most of exploring their destinations, others less so.  We will certainly say if there’s something not to miss or that embraces the nature of a particular island; this might be:

  • Hiking through the rainforest
  • Swimming under a waterfall – you might need to be a bit of a mountain goat to get there
  • Picking and tasting local tropical fruit
  • Swimming with turtles or watching them nest
  • Taking a riverboat trip
  • Enjoying a game of dominoes with the locals
  • Exploring a fort or museum
  • Tasting local street food or rum cocktails

What makes you DIFFERENT?

Why Singles Sailing with Yacht Ibis

Mi casa, su casa!  At Yacht Ibis we don’t expect you to sleep in pipecots or live out of a cubbyhole the size of a shoebox; we don’t ask you to share a toilet with 7 other people; we don’t ask you to take pot luck on your boat or your bed allocation!  We won’t feed you soup and sandwiches and we don’t expect you to cook your own meals or provision the boat.  We don’t add in any extra costs…ever.

We do offer you an escape to a different, simpler world; a world that’s more in touch with nature and the elements and we do ask that you embrace everything that goes along with that.  We’ll sail every day, we’ll swim in the ocean, we’ll explore and discover; we’ll make new friends; we’ll feel alive and time will slow down.

You’re In Safe Hands

As Yacht Ibis owner and skipper, Sam has owned a boat since the age of 23.  She’s sailed in many different weather conditions and in many different parts of the world.  She’s had adventures at sea, and been through pretty much every gear failure scenario you can think of…for real!  She loves and lives her boats.  When you sail with her she’ll keep you safe, she’ll share her enthusiasm and love for sailing and the beautiful parts of the world we travel in; she’ll share her home and her heart.

Much MORE than A Holiday

A singles sailing holiday with Ibis is much more than a holiday; it’s an adventure, it’s a chance to get so far away from your life in the office that it fades into nothingness…at least for a little while. Time starts to slow down, and you can actually feel yourself blood pressure falling….relaaaax…..relaaaax….

Beginners are Welcome

So even if you’ve never been sailing before , why not give it a try? Surely it’s better to learn in paradise than a cold, rainy day in the northern hemisphere!

Get out of Your Comfort Zone

So what are you waiting for? Do something different next holiday…come sailing!

How do I KNOW if I’ll like sailing?

If you’ve never been sailing before and are worried it mightn’t be your sort of thing then it never hurts to give it a try before booking a longer trip half way across the world.  There are a few ways to get started but bear in mind that the conditions you experience locally to you – in terms of the type of boat you might sail on or the weather conditions may very well not mirror those you might get in the Caribbean!

Find a Local Sailing Club

If you live near a body of water then there’s a good chance that there’s a sailing club or two not too far away either.  Often, club members are on the lookout for someone to go sailing with them, and are more than happy to take you out on the water for a spin.  Check on the club notice boards or call and speak with the Club Secretary for some possible contacts.  Do take the time to get to know the boat owner a little bit before venturing out with him or her… it’s difficult to get off in a hurry once you’ve left the dock!

Sailing Schools

Many sailing schools offer weekend Try Sailing trips and these can be a great way of getting out on the water and learning a bit too.

Meetup Groups and Single Sailor Groups

There are sailing meetup groups in many bigger cities and most offer a social meetup too.  This is a great way of connecting with sailors to begin with, and arranging group boat trips with meetup members.  Single Sailor Groups are an alternative for some areas in the USA.

Do keep in mind that there are a number of different types of sailing holiday that cater to singles and solo travellers.  We explore some of the alternatives in more depth on Sam’s Blog, here…

What Our GUESTS Say

John, USA

You cannot bottle sunshine and happiness but Sam comes as close as one skipper can.
The best way to enjoy a Yacht IBIS adventure is to know what you want. If you want to be catered to in white gloves with table clothes, this may not be your trip. There are great options elsewhere. If you are looking to have a great full participatory sail that has you pulling lines, grinding winches, taking the helm, climbing over everything and making lifelong friendships, sign aboard to be an IBIS pirate.

Les, NZ

What a blast… one of my great adventures.  To Skipper Sam, a great big THANKS for your hospitality, patience and gourmet meals…every day a cuisine delight.  I sailed with a group of people that related, had fun and worked together.  This trip will stay etched in my memory.

Jimmy, USA

I just completed the whistle stop trip on Ibis, with Sam captaining. Three other guys and I served as “crew”. For me , this was the trip of a lifetime. We sailed about 450 miles in mostly great conditions. I learned a bunch about cruising.
We did 3 night sails. Sam scheduled several shore days for us and lined up some great activities.
The food was wonderful. The company was a blast. I got a year’s worth of laughter in.

Adrian, UK

Sam, just to say thankyou for an unforgettable 2 weeks on ibis 5 , never had so much fun standing up ! It was just perfect for me and managed to leave all me troubles and tribulations behind me, I really appreciated all the effort you put in to make it such a special time, keep up the good work, you have been an inspiration for my sailing practice ! 

Also thanks to all the boys and girls, especially the Womitting Wikings who were tremendous fun, and Francois who’s sailing experience is second to none I have seen, I still have so much to learn…

Thanks again to all you guys love and kisses Adrian xxxxxxxxx

ADVENTURES and Sailing

Adventure

Def’n: ad•ven•ture
(ad ven ′ c ̸ h ə r, ə d-)
noun

1. the encountering of danger
2. a daring, hazardous undertaking
3. an unusual, stirring experience, often of a romantic nature

transitive verb
adventured -•tured, adventuring -•tur•ing

1. to put in danger; risk; venture
2. to be bold about; dare

intransitive verb

1. to engage in daring undertakings
2. to take a risk

Sailing…..

…by its very nature is adventurous; there is no predictability, just the age old battle of pitting your wits against the elements.

Throw in a smattering of historic sea battles, buried treasure & pirate stories, active volcanoes & wild, untamed rainforest and you have the recipe for a memorable adventure!

Sailing People

There’s something about sailing, if it gets into your blood there’s no looking back. And there’s something about people who sail, too…..they’re

  • independent
  • intelligent
  • adventurous
  • nature-loving
  • a bit whacky
  • adaptable
  • fun!

Meet Like Minded People

If you think this describes you, then maybe you’ll discover your new passion…no, not a partner, Sailing!