How much does it cost to charter a yacht?

Those who are familiar with yachting know that the cost of a yacht charter is quite comparable to staying at a good hotel

If we look at the most inexpensive offers, in low season it’s quite possible to charter a small sailing yacht with 3 cabins for navigating it on your own (bareboat charter) at the price of 1,500-2,000 euro, and split the costs among 3 couples (6 people). In high season the average price of a good sailing yacht can be 3 to 6 thousand euro per week. A motor yacht charter will cost you more. Firstly, motor yachts themselves are more expensive. Secondly, you’ve got to add the cost of fuel (and motor boats consume quite a lot of it). Thirdly, as a rule, motor boats charter includes the services of a captain or a whole crew, unless it’s a compact cruiser with a couple of cabins that you can operate independently in case you have a license. 

However, it’s not quite fair to compare the cost of chartering a yacht with booking a hotel room. After all, a yacht is also your transport, which means freedom of movement and an opportunity to be in a new place every day. No hotel can give you such an opportunity, and if you want to have an activity holiday, every move from one place to another will cost you extra money. You can’t gain a lot of new impressions staying in one place.

Just like with a holiday on land, it all depends on the level of comfort that you expect, the size of the yacht and its type. One can say that chartering a 40-60 ft (12-18 m) sailing yacht with 3-5 double cabins is absolutely affordable: the price per person will be no more than a holiday at a regular 4* hotel. It is approximately the same for small motor yachts and cabin boats. Particularly if you have a small boat driving license, i.e. you can handle the boat on your own and don’t need to hire a captain. 

If we are talking about a larger yacht with a skipper or a whole crew, let alone a luxury superyacht, of course it won’t cost little. But the same can be said about renting luxury private villas, as it is simply a different level of comfort. So, a yacht charter is just another kind of holiday with a wide range of prices: from most affordable to rather expensive options. However, this kind of holiday, in our humble opinion, is a lot more exciting than the usual ‘land’ one.