Cruises & Yachts
Your Boat, Your Crew,
Your Anchorages
A gulet, a catamaran or a motor yacht, with its captain and crew, yours alone for the week on the Mediterranean or in the Caribbean. Here is how the contract, the APA and the price work.
Why Charter
The Whole Boat, Not a Cabin on It
A crewed charter hires the whole boat and its crew for one group, usually by the week. You pay the charter fee plus an Advance Provisioning Allowance, a percentage set in the contract, which the captain spends on fuel, food, drink and berths and accounts for with receipts before you leave. Caribbean charters run outside NOAA's 1 June–30 November hurricane season.
The captain proposes the day's run each morning, you decide where lunch is anchored, and the plan bends to the wind and to the cruising area in the contract. Nobody is aboard but your group and the crew.
It suits groups that can fill every cabin: friends, families, three generations on one deck (see multigenerational travel), and birthdays, anniversaries and proposals, which sit under romance and celebration travel.
It is the wrong format for a couple on their own: the fee is for the whole boat whether two people sail or ten, so a cabin on a small ship is the better buy, and the other cruise styles we plan cover it. It is also wrong for anyone who needs a fixed port schedule, or who is badly prone to motion sickness, because a yacht moves at anchor in a way a large stabilised ship does not.
The charter fleet · English Harbour, Antigua
How It Works
How a Crewed Charter Is Contracted and Paid
Four things decide the week before anyone steps aboard: the crew, the contract, the APA and what the rate leaves out.
The Crew
A captain runs the boat and the day, a chef cooks to the preference sheet you send ahead, and a deckhand or stewardess handles the tender, cabins and table. Under MYBA's guidance for captains and crew, the captain answers directly to you for how the provisioning money is spent.
The Contract
In the Mediterranean the usual form is the MYBA Charter Agreement. It fixes the charter period, cruising area, fee and payment dates, APA, security deposit and cancellation terms. Caribbean charters are often written on the CYBA E-Contract, drafted for inclusive charters on fully crewed yachts.
The APA
The Advance Provisioning Allowance is paid with the charter fee and covers your stay aboard: in practice fuel, food, drink, berths and port fees. The captain keeps you told of the balance, and you top it up if it runs low. Before you disembark, the MYBA terms have the captain present a statement with receipts and repay what is left.
Base Rate and Extras
The weekly rate pays for the boat and crew. Outside it sit the APA, a delivery fee if the boat comes to you from its base, VAT where the charter is taxed, and the gratuity. In the EU a vessel hired for 90 days or less is taxed where it is put at your disposal, under the VAT Directive's place-of-supply rules.
The Boats
Gulet, Catamaran or Motor Yacht
Three hulls, three kinds of week. The group and the coastline choose the boat.
Gulet
A wooden motor-sailer from Türkiye's coast. GoTürkiye puts the average at 70 to 80 feet, with a broad beam, two masts and four to six cabins. It motors more than it sails, and the wide aft deck is built for a long table. More in the gulet section.
Sailing or Power Catamaran
Two hulls, so it sits level at anchor and draws little water, which opens beach anchorages a deep-keeled yacht has to stand off from. The Greek islands and the Caribbean suit it.
Motor Yacht
Speed and range: more coast per day, and two islands in one day become realistic. The cost is fuel, drawn from the APA, so ask for the cruising speed and fuel burn alongside the rate.
How Many Can Sail
Under the Red Ensign Group Yacht Code, a commercially operated yacht of 24 metres and over carries no more than 12 passengers. Other flags set their own rules, so the boat's certificate, not the brochure, sets the number.
Where to Charter
Where a Charter Week Works
Croatia's Dalmatian coast charters too, and Türkiye has its own section below. A Galápagos "yacht" is a different product, a licensed vessel on a park-set route: see the Galápagos page.
Europe
The Greek Islands
Catamaran country. The Cyclades put a new island in reach most days; the Ionian, west of the mainland, sits outside the Aegean's seasonal north wind.
Explore →
Europe
Amalfi & the Italian Islands
Easier from the water than from its road. Positano, Amalfi and Capri are short hops apart, so the days go to the towns and the swimming, not the passage.
Explore →
Europe
The French Riviera
Short distances between harbour towns, restaurants at the quay and anchorages under the headlands. Motor-yacht water: lunch in one bay, dinner in another town.
Explore →
Caribbean
Antigua & the Eastern Caribbean
English Harbour and Falmouth Harbour, ten minutes apart, hold much of the Eastern Caribbean's charter fleet. A crewed week here pairs with a hotel either side and Barbados for the long-haul flight.
Explore →
Caribbean
St. Barth's
Gustavia's harbour is the island's front door for anyone arriving by water. On a Caribbean charter it can be one stop within a wider week.
Explore →
South Pacific
The Lau Group, Fiji
Fiji's remote eastern islands, reached mainly by chartered yacht. A private charter from Savusavu runs seven to ten days inside the May–October dry season; the routing is on the Fiji page.
Explore →
Türkiye's Turquoise Coast
A Gulet of Your Own
The one boat on this page that belongs to one coast: what it is, where it sails, when, and who it suits.
The Boat
A wooden boat traditionally built on Türkiye's coast that has evolved into a motor-sailer. GoTürkiye notes the most popular are found in Bodrum, Marmaris and Fethiye, and that Bodrum's have their own shape.
The Routes
GoTürkiye's Göcek guide calls Göcek the starting point for many Blue Cruises, and lists the Yassıca Islands, Cleopatra Bay and Tersane Island nearby, then Gemiler Island, Butterfly Valley and Ölüdeniz toward Fethiye. Bodrum is the other classic start.
The Season
June to September is the core gulet season, with October as a shoulder month: warm water and fewer boats on the anchorages, as set out in the Mediterranean in October.
Whole Boat or Cabin
GoTürkiye notes you can charter a whole gulet or a single cabin for a week. This page covers the whole boat: one group, one crew, one route agreed each morning.
Signature Experiences
Charter Weeks to Start From
A starting point, not a menu. Every charter is shaped around the group on it.
June – September · 7 days
A Gulet of Your Own
A crewed wooden gulet on Türkiye's Turquoise Coast, Göcek to Fethiye or out of Bodrum. Captain, chef and a route agreed each morning: ruins by tender, lunch at anchor, an evening in a harbour town.
Plan This Trip
How a gulet charter works
May – June, September – October · 7 days
The Greek Islands by Crewed Catamaran
A crewed catamaran through the Cyclades, or the Ionian if the forecast says the Aegean's north wind is up. Shallow draft for beach anchorages and a level deck for lunch.
Plan This Trip
Greece in detail
December – April · 7 days
A Caribbean Motor Yacht Week
A motor yacht from Antigua with the range to put a different island under the bow most days. The Sailing Version itinerary linked below pairs a crewed week with hotel nights on Antigua and Barbados.
Plan This Trip
The Sailing Version itinerary
The Details
What We Handle on a Charter
The boat is the easy part. These are the pieces that decide the week.
Charter Brokers
Crew and the Preference Sheet
Crews change between seasons, so this year's captain and chef matter more than the boat's old reviews. We ask about both, and get your preference sheet to the chef before the provisioning is bought.
The Contract, Read With You
Before the deposit goes, we walk through the terms with you: payment dates, the cancellation scale, the cruising area, the security deposit and how the APA is set.
Embarkation Day
Flights timed to the boarding hour, the marina transfer, a hotel night first if the flight lands late, and soft bags the crew can stow.
Gratuity Guidance
MYBA's guidance says brokers generally suggest 5–15% of the gross charter fee for excellent service, at your discretion. You have the figure before the trip.
When to Go
Charter Season by Ground
The same boat in the wrong month is a different week. Pick the ground by the calendar first.
Greece & the Eastern Med
May – June · Sept – Oct
Either side of August. In high summer the Etesians, the seasonal north winds the Hellenic National Meteorological Service describes blowing mainly across the Aegean, can set a catamaran's route for it.
Türkiye by Gulet
June – September
The core gulet season on the Turquoise Coast, with October as a shoulder month. See the gulet section.
The Caribbean
December – April
Clear of the Atlantic hurricane season, which NOAA's National Hurricane Center sets at 1 June to 30 November. Antigua Sailing Week in late April fills English Harbour; plan around it or into it.
Fiji & the Lau Group
May – October
Fiji's dry season: cooler air, lower humidity and the steadiest diving conditions, as set out on the Fiji page.
Contract terms, tax rules, guest limits and season dates checked . Charter agreements are revised and VAT rates change; confirm current terms with the broker before signing.
Ready When You Are
Plan a Charter
Worth the Week
Tell me the coastline you're drawn to, your dates, how many are coming and how they split into cabins. I'll come back with specific boats and crews, the contract terms that matter, and the reasoning behind each, within one business day.
No booking fees · Response within one business day · Fully bespoke
What It Costs
What a Private Charter Actually Costs
Priced per boat per week, not per person
A crewed charter is quoted for the whole boat and crew by the week, and the APA and the gratuity are then worked out as shares of that fee, so a per-person band would move with every guest added to the same boat and describe none of them.
What actually sets the number
- Boat type, length and season, with the guest limit on the certificate: 12 for a commercial yacht of 24 metres and over under the Red Ensign Group Yacht Code
- The APA, a percentage of the fee set in each contract and reconciled against receipts before disembarkation
- Where the boat is put at your disposal: in the EU a hire of 90 days or less is taxed there, so the VAT differs between Greece, Italy and Croatia
- Crew gratuity, which MYBA guidance puts at 5–15% of the gross charter fee, at the charterer's discretion
Tell me the dates and the party and you get a real quote, not a range. Source: MYBA guidelines for charter yacht captains & crew.
Common Questions
Private Yacht Charters — FAQ
Common questions about a crewed charter: the APA, the fee, guest limits, the gulet season, tipping and VAT. More detail on the full FAQ page.
Yes: the unspent APA is repaid before you disembark, against a statement of account with receipts. The Advance Provisioning Allowance is paid alongside the charter fee and covers your running costs aboard, in practice fuel, food, drink and berths. Under the MYBA Charter Agreement the captain reports the balance during the week, and you top it up if it runs low. Each contract sets its own percentage, so compare boats on fee plus APA.
The fee covers the boat and its crew; the APA, any VAT, a delivery fee and the crew gratuity sit on top. The MYBA contract treats the charter fee, any delivery and re-delivery fee, the security deposit and the APA as separate lines, and the security deposit is held rather than spent. Flights, hotel nights either side and marina transfers sit outside all of them.
Usually no more than 12 guests: the Red Ensign Group Yacht Code caps commercial yachts of 24 metres and over at 12 passengers. The code, issued through the UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency, covers yachts certified for more than 12 in a separate part. Other flags set their own limits, and a smaller boat's cabin count often caps the group first. Above the limit, the answer is two boats sailing in company.
June to September is the core season, with October as a shoulder month of warm water and fewer boats on the anchorages. October trades a little certainty in the weather for quieter water and ruins without the crowds, and our post on the Mediterranean in October makes the case for it. After October, winter weather closes the route. The boats and routes are in the gulet section above.
MYBA guidance says brokers generally suggest 5–15% of the gross charter fee, for excellent service, entirely at your discretion. The range comes from MYBA's guidelines for charter captains and crew, which also say a gratuity must never be solicited, in words or in writing, when the final account is settled. It is calculated on the charter fee only, not on the APA or VAT.
Yes, within the cruising area in the contract and the captain's judgement on weather and safety. The captain proposes each day's run in the morning, and a longer lunch or an extra night in a harbour you like is a conversation, not a change fee. What cannot move without agreement in advance is the cruising area itself, so ask before signing if you might want to cross into another country.
Usually yes: in the EU, a charter of 90 days or less is taxed where the boat is put at your disposal. That rule comes from the EU VAT Directive's place-of-supply provisions, and each country applies its own rate. The same boat can therefore cost a different amount starting in Greece, Italy or Croatia. Ask for VAT as its own line in the quote, and confirm the rate with the broker at contract stage.
It can be, if the boat is chosen for them: a level deck, shallow anchorages and a crew used to children matter more than length. A catamaran is the usual answer, because it sits flat at anchor and can stop close to a beach. Ask whether the boat carries child-size life jackets, and keep passages short with a swim stop every day. The wider planning for three generations together is on the multigenerational travel page.
From the Journal
Read More on the Charter Grounds
Season
The Mediterranean in October
Croatia and Türkiye's Turquoise Coast after the summer boats have gone, with the sea still warm.
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Destination Guide
The Middle East Guide
Türkiye's coast and interior alongside the rest of the region, and the seasonal logic for each.
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Destination Guide
The Caribbean & Mexico Guide
Choosing the island is the decision that outranks every other one on the trip.
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