Panhandle · Panama City
St. Andrews Bay-based ASA school next door to Panama City's City Marina. Instructors with 70+ combined years on the water, classroom plus extended on-water time on boats from a 25-foot trainer to cruising catamarans.
Stem to Stern has been Captains Dale and Laurie since the spring of 2012: a married pair of USCG-licensed captains who grew the school out of a family marine business in downtown Panama City. The base sits next door to the City Marina on St. Andrews Bay, protected teaching water with the pass to the open Gulf close enough for real coastal work.
Courses run three days each rather than the two-day sprint most schools use, with the classroom hours and on-water time to match. Basic Keelboat (101) teaches on a 25-foot O’Day, Basic Coastal Cruising (103) steps up to a 33-foot Hunter, and Bareboat Cruising (104) is three days and two nights living aboard with meals included. Cruising Catamaran (114) finishes the pathway on a big cat.
The charter book covers more of life than most: sunset dolphin sails, birthdays and corporate outings, weddings (Captain Laurie is ordained and officiates), and ash scatterings at sea.
Veterans get ten percent off Basic Keelboat, course materials come with tuition, and a fifty percent deposit holds a date.
Panhandle · Gulf Breeze
Pensacola Beach school built around live-aboard ASA classes for couples, families, and small groups, with extended at-sea time and the full coastal-cruising pathway.
Panhandle · Pensacola Beach
One-captain ASA school and charter operation at Sabine Marina on Pensacola Beach, teaching private lessons capped at two students aboard a 32-foot J Boat. No-test leisure lessons for vacationers alongside the full certification track.
Panhandle · Niceville
ASA school, charter, and rental operation at Bluewater Bay Marina on the north shore of Choctawhatchee Bay. J/80s for the fundamentals, cruisers to a Jeanneau 389 for the liveaboard courses, and a founder with a run of ASA Outstanding Instructor awards.