Culinary Academy runs Friday to Friday, 7 days. The course starts at 16:00 on Friday with a welcome briefing and ends the following Friday at 15:00 with a showcase brunch and debrief.
Arrival and accommodation
You arrive on Friday, find your own accommodation for that first night, and meet at the kitchen or yacht for the 16:00 welcome briefing. We send accommodation suggestions near the kitchen or yacht with your acceptance email.
From Saturday onwards, the course is fully residential and accommodation and food are included for the rest of the week:
Land-based (Fort George, Vis Island): island accommodation for the week.
Yacht-based (currently the British Virgin Islands): shared cabins onboard the yacht.
Meals are included from Saturday breakfast through Friday's showcase brunch. The Friday-night arrival meal and any meals before Saturday morning are on you.
The shape of the week
Friday (Day 1): arrival, 16:00 welcome briefing with your instructor and crewmates. Group dinner cooked by the instructor (no student pressure). Sleep.
Saturday (Day 2): meet ashore at 10:00. Framework lecture, walk-through of the week's menus, lunch ashore, long provisioning trip. On yacht-based courses the yacht is released by the previous charter from 15:00 to 16:00; you board, stow the galley as a team, and cook your first dinner that evening (instructor leads, you assist).
Sunday to Thursday: three full guest-style services per day (breakfast, lunch, dinner). Roles rotate. Pace builds through the week.
Thursday: trial-day rehearsal. Individual brief in the morning, three to four hours to plan, prep, and deliver lunch under instructor observation. Detailed feedback after. Signature plate in the evening.
Friday (Day 8): showcase brunch combining the week's strongest moments, individual debrief, certificates. Course closes at 15:00. Most students depart Friday evening or Saturday morning.
A typical day from Sunday onwards
Early morning: quiet kitchen, brief prep for breakfast, read the prep list.
Breakfast service: fast, often plated to order.
Mid-morning: clean down, reset, brief on the day, top-up provisioning if needed.
Lunch prep and service: composed plates or family-style platters.
Afternoon: clean down, crew meal if needed, dinner mise. Slow-cooks already running come into focus.
Dinner prep and service: sauces tasted and corrected, garnishes ready, plate map drawn, pace at the pass.
Late evening: kitchen down, tomorrow's prep list written before you sit down.
Long days are the norm. Expect to be on your feet 12 hours a day for most of the week.
Specific kitchen address, accommodation suggestions, transfer details, and any week-specific notes are sent by email before you fly and confirmed in your WhatsApp crew group.