Everything explained, plainly
Chartering has its own vocabulary — all-inclusive, APA, preference sheets, Caribbean terms — and the difference between a good week and a great one is usually decided before you ever step aboard. This guide explains how it all works, and how we take the work out of it.
Over 120 fully crewed yachts worldwide — search by dates, party size, budget and region, with live availability.
You are the captain
You charter the yacht alone and skipper her yourself — your itinerary, your galley, your watch. It's the most affordable way onto the water and, for competent sailors, the most liberating.
In most Caribbean grounds a formal licence isn't required, but you'll need a convincing sailing résumé covering similar-sized yachts; French territories (St Martin, Martinique, Guadeloupe) may ask for a formal certificate such as the ICC. Expect a refundable security deposit or a damage-waiver fee, and a full boat and cruising-area briefing before you slip lines. If your experience is thin, most operators will add a skipper for the first days — or the whole week.
We offer self-skippered bareboat through a separate price-led marketplace built for exactly that — ask us and we'll point you the right way.
Under 24 metres, fully crewed — our speciality
A yacht under 24 metres — most often a sailing or power catamaran — with her own professional crew, typically a captain and chef, sometimes a mate or stew. The crew live aboard year-round: they know the anchorages, the reefs and the beach bars, and the chef cooks to your tastes from a preference sheet you complete before arrival.
This is the heart of our portfolio. In the Caribbean these yachts usually charter on all-inclusive terms — one rate covering the yacht, crew, all meals, the bar, fuel and water toys — which makes budgeting refreshingly simple.
Party sizes run from two to twelve; rates scale with the number of guests, not just the boat.
24 metres and above
Above 24 metres the scale changes: larger professional crews with dedicated stews and deckhands, commercial-grade compliance, and a different contractual world — typically a MYBA-form agreement where the charter fee covers the yacht and crew only, with running costs paid through an APA and taxes added on top.
The experience is correspondingly grander — more space, more service, more toys — and the pricing more layered, which is exactly where an experienced broker earns their keep.
The simplest rule of thumb in chartering is geographic: in the Caribbean, crewed yachts are nearly all all-inclusive; in the Mediterranean, charter is almost always plus expenses — APA on top, and VAT on top of that. Knowing which world you're booking into is half the budgeting done.
All-inclusive is the standard for crewed yachts in the Caribbean ("Caribbean terms"). One rate covers the yacht, crew, all meals prepared aboard, the ship's bar, fuel for normal cruising, water toys and — on most BVI-based yachts — cruising permits and taxes. What's left for you is essentially meals taken ashore, and the crew gratuity.
Many yachts also offer half-board or local-fare meal plans at a per-person discount, where some lunches and dinners are taken ashore at your expense — a nice option if you plan to explore the restaurants.
The norm across the Mediterranean — and on superyachts everywhere — under MYBA-style terms: the charter fee buys the yacht and crew, and running costs are paid from an Advance Provisioning Allowance — a fund, typically 25–40% of the charter fee, lodged before the charter. The captain spends it on your food, drinks, fuel, dockage and extras, keeps itemised accounts you can see at any time, and whatever isn't spent is refunded at the end. If the week is more ambitious than the fund, you top it up aboard.
A few Caribbean yachts use hybrids — all-inclusive plus a small APA of around 5% for premium requests — and each yacht in our portfolio is labelled with its exact terms.
Where you cruise decides what tax applies. In the Virgin Islands and most of the Caribbean there is no VAT on charter — instead there are cruising permits and park fees, usually included in an all-inclusive rate. The Bahamas levies a consolidated charter tax (currently around 14%). In the Mediterranean, VAT is charged on the charter fee and varies by country — indicatively France 20%, Italy 22%, Spain 21%, Croatia 13%, Greece up to 24% with reduced rates available — sometimes reduced further for time spent outside EU waters.
This is why Europe is materially more expensive to charter than the Caribbean: the same headline fee typically becomes fee + APA (25–40%) + VAT at the local rate, where a Caribbean all-inclusive rate is close to the whole bill. Rates and reliefs change and depend on itinerary, so we confirm the exact tax position with the central agent before you commit — it's part of every quote we present.
Our portfolio is growing quickly on the European side, so you'll see both worlds here — every yacht is labelled with its terms, and we'll always set out the true total cost side by side when you're comparing the two.
Gratuity is discretionary but customary, and it is how charter crews are genuinely rewarded. Industry guidance (MYBA) suggests 5–15% of the base charter fee; in the Caribbean the custom runs higher, with 15–20% typical for excellent service — some yachts state 20% as the customary rate in their own terms.
Give it to the captain at the end of the charter — cash or transfer — and it is shared across the whole crew, including the hands you saw least. We'll advise a figure that's right for your yacht and week.
A few weeks before the charter you'll complete a preference sheet — the crew's brief on your party. Food likes and dislikes, allergies and dietary needs, drinks for the bar, celebration dates, how active or how horizontal you want the week to be. The chef provisions the yacht around it before you arrive, which is why the first lunch aboard tends to feel uncannily well judged. The more honest and specific you are, the better the week.
Every charter requires a full guest list in advance — legal names, dates of birth, nationalities and passport details for everyone aboard. It isn't bureaucracy for its own sake: the yacht must clear customs and immigration and file crew-and-passenger manifests for its cruising permits, and in the islands you may clear between territories mid-week (BVI to USVI, or St Maarten to St Barts, for example). Everyone needs a valid passport, and the guest list on the contract is the guest list aboard — swapping or adding guests mid-charter needs the yacht's agreement in advance.
A few conventions worth knowing. A charter "week" is 7 nights / 8 days, and most yachts set a minimum of 4–7 nights, with shorter stays priced at a premium formula. Yachts need 48 hours (sometimes 72) between charters to turn around. Festive weeks — Christmas and New Year — carry fixed rates, 7-night minimums and strict start/end dates. Moving a yacht to meet you in another island group (St Maarten or St Barts, say) usually carries a relocation fee. Contracts run on standard industry forms with a deposit on signature and the balance before boarding, and we always recommend travel insurance — Caribbean summer contracts carry named-storm clauses, and cancellation cover is inexpensive relative to a charter.
We manage the whole process, start to finish. Tell us the week, the party and the mood, and we search the market and come back with a considered shortlist — not a search-engine dump. We check real availability with each central agent, negotiate the rate and terms on your behalf, and handle the contract, payments and paperwork.
Then we manage the charter itself: preference sheets and guest lists collected and delivered, itinerary shaped with the captain, flights and shoreside plans coordinated, and any question — before, during or after the week — handled by us rather than by you. One point of contact from first enquiry to the flight home.
Search the portfolio yourself, or tell us the brief and let us do the looking.
