Long Island Yacht Clubs
Long Island’s extensive shoreline has supported generations of sailors, powerboaters, racers, and waterfront organizations. Yacht clubs can be found from Port Washington and Sea Cliff on the Long Island Sound to Babylon, Bay Shore, and Bellport along the Great South Bay. Farther east, sailing communities surround the Peconic Bays, Gardiners Bay, and Shelter Island Sound.
This directory brings together 31 yacht clubs, sailing clubs, yacht squadrons, and sailing organizations across Nassau County and Suffolk County. Use the interactive map to see how the clubs are distributed around Long Island, then browse the directory for each organization’s community, waterfront, and club type. When an official club website is available, the club’s name is linked directly to it.
Interactive Map of Long Island Yacht Clubs
The map is designed as a geographic companion to the directory. Select a marker to identify a club and review its location. Because many yacht clubs are private facilities, a map marker should not be interpreted as an invitation for unrestricted public access.
Yacht Clubs Across Long Island
Long Island’s boating geography is unusually varied. The North Shore contains protected embayments and harbors opening toward the Long Island Sound. Clubs around Manhasset Bay, Oyster Bay Harbor, Huntington Harbor, Northport Harbor, and Mount Sinai Harbor benefit from sheltered water, established mooring areas, and access to broader cruising routes across the Sound.
Along the South Shore, yacht clubs are tied to shallow bays, tidal channels, canals, and barrier-island waterways. The Great South Bay is the largest concentration area in this directory, connecting boating communities such as Babylon, Bay Shore, Blue Point, and Bellport. Other clubs operate near Moriches Bay, Reynolds Channel, and South Shore waterways leading toward the Atlantic Ocean.
On the East End, the boating landscape widens into interconnected bays and sounds. Clubs in Sag Harbor, Shelter Island Heights, Southold, Orient, and Amagansett serve waters associated with the Peconic estuary, Shelter Island, Gardiners Bay, and routes toward eastern Long Island.
Where Are Most Long Island Yacht Clubs Located?
The largest clusters appear in communities with protected harbors and long-established boating infrastructure. Port Washington has several clubs on Manhasset Bay. Oyster Bay and nearby Centre Island form another important North Shore cluster around Oyster Bay Harbor. Huntington, Halesite, Centerport, and Northport collectively account for a substantial group of organizations around Huntington and Northport harbors.
On the South Shore, the clubs are spread more linearly along sheltered bayfront communities. Babylon and Bay Shore sit near the western Great South Bay, while Blue Point and Bellport serve central and eastern portions of the bay. Center Moriches and Remsenburg–Speonk are associated with Moriches Bay. In Nassau County, clubs in Freeport, Island Park, and Lawrence use canals, channels, and protected bays behind the western barrier beaches.
Yacht Clubs, Sailing Clubs, and Marinas
A yacht club is generally a membership organization built around boating, sailing, racing, and social activities. A sailing club may place greater emphasis on instruction, racing, or access to shared boats. A yacht squadron is another organizational form associated with boating and club activities. These labels can overlap, and each organization defines its own membership structure and services.
A marina, by contrast, is primarily a facility for docking, storing, launching, fueling, or servicing boats. Some yacht clubs maintain extensive marina facilities, while others operate from a modest clubhouse, beach, launch area, or mooring field. Likewise, some commercial marinas offer dining and social amenities but are not membership yacht clubs. Boaters looking primarily for dockage, fuel, haul-out service, or transient slips should consult the Long Island marinas directory rather than assuming that a yacht club provides public marina service.
Membership and Guest Access
Most yacht clubs on Long Island are private organizations. Membership procedures may include an application, initiation fees, annual dues, sponsorship by current members, interviews, waiting periods, or participation requirements. Some clubs offer multiple membership categories for boat owners, non-boat owners, younger members, seasonal residents, families, or people primarily interested in sailing programs.
Guest access also varies. A club may admit guests only when accompanied by a member, through a reciprocal arrangement with another recognized yacht club, or as registered participants in a regatta, sailing lesson, private event, or publicized community program. Visitors should never assume that docks, beaches, pools, dining rooms, parking areas, or launch facilities are open to the general public.
Sailing, Racing, and Junior Programs
Organized sailing is central to many of the clubs in this directory. Programs can include one-design racing, handicap racing, cruising fleets, regattas, race committees, adult instruction, youth lessons, and interclub competition. Conditions differ considerably between the Long Island Sound, the shallow Great South Bay, the Peconic Bays, and narrower protected harbors, giving local sailors experience with different winds, tides, currents, channels, and boat classes.
Junior sailing is particularly common during summer. Programs may combine basic seamanship, rigging, water safety, boat handling, sportsmanship, and racing. Enrollment rules differ, and some programs accept nonmembers while others prioritize club families. Parents should verify age requirements, swimming prerequisites, session dates, equipment policies, and whether membership is required before registering.
Planning a Visit
Contact the organization directly before arriving. Confirm whether the club permits guests, offers reciprocal privileges, accepts transient vessels, or has an event open to nonmembers. Boaters should also ask about channel depth, dockage limits, launch service, mooring assignments, shore power, tender access, arrival procedures, and any local navigation concerns.
Seasonal schedules are common. Offices, launches, kitchens, sailing programs, and waterfront facilities may operate on reduced hours outside the main boating season. Weather, tides, marine conditions, and scheduled events can also affect access. Anyone planning time on the water should review current marine forecasts and applicable boating or fishing requirements before departure.
Long Island Yacht Club Directory
The club name links to the organization’s official website when one was identified. Community and waterfront names link to related LongIslandGuide.com pages where available.
How This Directory Was Compiled
This directory was assembled using official yacht club websites, regional sailing and boating references, public business information, and location research. Organizations were included when they had an identifiable Long Island presence and appeared to function as a yacht club, sailing club, sailing center, or yacht squadron. Listings that appeared closed, inactive, unverified, or lacked a recognizable Long Island facility were excluded.
The map uses geocoded street locations where reliable addresses were available. A small number of markers may be positioned near the organization’s listed community when a precise clubhouse or waterfront entrance was not publicly documented. Club operations, websites, membership requirements, and access rules can change, so readers should verify current information directly with the organization.
Long Island’s Continuing Yacht Club Tradition
From the sheltered coves of the North Shore to the broad reaches of the Great South Bay and the sailing waters of the East End, yacht clubs remain an important part of Long Island’s maritime identity. They provide places to learn, race, cruise, gather, and pass boating knowledge from one generation to the next. Together with the island’s marinas, fishing resources, beaches, and coastal communities, these organizations help sustain the enduring relationship between Long Island and its surrounding waters.
