Bahamas yacht charter
Shallow water over white sand
Shallow water over white sand, low cays, calm anchorages and a short flight from Florida. December to May is the main season. It suits families with children best, and couples who want a beach to themselves.
The Bahamas are mostly shallow water over white sand, with hundreds of low islands and cays strung across it. You anchor off empty beaches, swim from the yacht in water a few metres deep, and spend most of the week outdoors, between the yacht, the tender and the sand. It is a short flight from Florida, which makes it one of the easiest winter charters for anyone travelling from North America.
Why go, and whom it suits
Families
This is one of the best places to charter with children. The water is shallow and warm, the anchorages are calm behind the cays, and the days revolve around swimming, snorkelling, sandbars and the tender. There are no long sightseeing days ashore to drag anyone through. The flip side is that there are few towns, so teenagers who want a harbour front at night may find it quiet.
Couples and honeymoons
The Exumas and the out-islands are made for this. On many evenings the only lights you see are the yacht's own. A honeymoon in the Bahamas is less about restaurants and more about having a beach to yourselves. Harbour Island adds a small, pretty town for a dinner ashore.
Friends and celebrations
It works best when the group likes the water: diving, fishing, water toys, beach lunches set up by the crew. Nassau and Paradise Island have the nightlife and the big resorts. Staniel Cay and Harbour Island have a few well-known bars. If the celebration needs a different restaurant every night, the Mediterranean will suit it better.
Low islands and cays
The Exumas are the classic Bahamas charter; Eleuthera and Harbour Island are quieter and more lived-in.
The Bahamas lie north of the rest of our Caribbean, Bahamas and Atlantic destinations, and their main cruising areas are these.
The Exumas
A chain of cays running south-east from near Nassau, with the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park in the middle. This is the classic Bahamas charter: short hops, sandbars, snorkelling on reefs and a long list of famous stops, Staniel Cay among them.
Eleuthera and Harbour Island
A long, thin island east of Nassau, with the Atlantic on one side and calm banks on the other. It has Harbour Island's pink-sand beach and town, and Spanish Wells' fishing harbour. It is quieter and more lived-in than the Exumas.
The Abacos
(page to follow). The northern islands, with sheltered water inside a barrier of cays, and loyalist settlements. Hurricane Dorian hit them hard in 2019; we can tell you how the places you have in mind stand now.
Nassau and Paradise Island
(page to follow). Where most charters start or end, with the airport, the marinas, the resorts and the island's nightlife.
The Berry Islands and Bimini
(page to follow). The islands nearest Florida, and the usual first stop for a yacht crossing the Gulf Stream.
When to go
The main season runs from about December to May. Days are warm, the air is drier, and the trade winds are steady. Christmas, New Year and Easter are the busiest weeks, and fees are highest then.
Some yachts stay through the summer, and the water is calmer and warmer then. But the Atlantic hurricane season runs officially from 1 June to 30 November, with most of its activity between mid-August and mid-October. A summer charter is possible, but plan it with that in mind, and read the contract's weather and cancellation terms with us before you sign.
Many of the yachts that winter in the Bahamas spend the summer in New England, so the choice of yachts in the islands is widest in winter and spring.
The seasonCalmer
What a week costs here
The charter fee is each yacht's own weekly rate. Her page shows it "from", which is her lowest season; the Christmas and New Year weeks cost more. Each yacht's rate is in its own currency, often US dollars here. The Bahamian dollar is pegged one to one to the US dollar.
Tax: the Bahamas charge VAT on charters in Bahamian waters, added to the fee at the rate in force, and each yacht's quote shows it (Bahamas VAT). The yacht's own papers for Bahamian waters are the captain's business, and we confirm them before we propose her.
APA, the Advance Provisioning Allowance, is paid with the balance: money held by the captain for fuel, food, drinks, dockage and similar costs, spent on your instructions and accounted for at the end, with anything unspent returned. Budget up to 40% of the charter fee for it; long or remote passages can need more. If the yacht is based in Florida and crosses to start your charter, there can be a delivery fee for the fuel, crew and berths of the crossing, stated before you sign.
Our guide sets out what a crewed charter costs, line by line.
The weekly rate on each yacht’s page. "From" is her lowest season.
An advance for fuel, food, drinks and berths, spent on your instructions and settled at the end.
Set by the country the charter starts in, added to the fee.
The northern Exumas, from Nassau and back
The yacht, the weather and how you like to spend the days decide the real route.
The northern Exumas from Nassau and back. The yacht, the weather and how you like to spend the days decide the real route.
Board in the afternoon at a Nassau or Paradise Island marina. Dinner on board.
Cross the bank to the top of the Exumas, a few hours. Iguanas on the beach at Allan's Cay, then a swim and snorkel off Highbourne.
Take the tender up the mangrove creek to the beach on the Exuma Sound side. Anchor off a long empty beach for the night.
The headquarters of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. Walk to Boo Boo Hill, and snorkel on reefs where no fishing, shelling or taking of any kind is allowed.
Thunderball Grotto at slack tide, and the swimming pigs at Big Major's Spot nearby, with the captain's guidance.
A beach day: sandbars at low tide, a lunch set up ashore by the crew, and a slow start back north.
Cruise back across the bank, which takes much of the day, and disembark. Alternatively, end at Staniel Cay or Great Exuma and fly out, which saves the run back but can carry a delivery fee, stated before you sign.
The yachts that cruise here
Most of the yachts we show in the Bahamas are motor yachts of 24 metres and more, with a few catamarans.
Many of the same yachts cruise the Virgin Islands or New England in other seasons.
Draft matters here more than almost anywhere. A yacht with a shallow draft, a catamaran, or a large yacht with a capable tender gets closer to the sandbars and into more anchorages. We ask about this when we propose a yacht.
The yachts on this site are a selection, not the limit of what we arrange: ask about any yacht, of any size.
Chartering in the Bahamas
Rene GaspersicYour broker
Where do Bahamas charters usually start?
Most start in Nassau, which has the main airport and the marinas. Some start in the Exumas, at Staniel Cay or Great Exuma. A few start in Florida, with the yacht crossing the Gulf Stream first.
Do we need a passport?
Yes. Check the entry rules for your nationality before you travel; we can point you to the official page.
Can we start in Florida?
Sometimes. The crossing to Bimini or the Berry Islands takes several hours over open water, and it depends on the weather. Most guests fly to Nassau and meet the yacht there.
Is it good for small children?
Yes. Shallow, warm, calm water and short hops make it one of the easiest places for young children. Ask for a yacht with a good swim platform and shade on deck.
What about hurricanes?
The official season is 1 June to 30 November. Most charters are in winter and spring, outside it. For a summer or autumn week, the captain watches the forecasts, and the contract says what happens if a storm forces a change.
Can we fish?
Often, yes. Ask us when you enquire: the crew know the local fishing rules and see to any paperwork. Fishing is not allowed inside the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park.
Can we swim with the pigs?
At Big Major's Spot near Staniel Cay, yes. Follow your captain's lead on feeding them and on how to behave around the animals.
Is the water deep enough for a large yacht?
On the banks it often is not. Large yachts anchor further out and use their tenders, and the captain plans the route around the yacht's draft.
What is the weather like in winter?
Warm days, cooler evenings, and steady trade winds. Some days are windier than others, and the captain picks sheltered anchorages for those.
Do we pay VAT?
Yes: VAT applies to charters in Bahamian waters, at the rate in force, and each yacht's quote shows it.
Can we combine the Bahamas with the Caribbean?
It is a long way. The Bahamas lie north of the Caribbean, and the Virgin Islands are a long passage away. Most people choose one or the other for a week. Some do the Bahamas in spring and the Virgin Islands on another trip.
The Bahamas or the Virgin Islands?
Bahamas | Virgin Islands | |
|---|---|---|
The water | Shallow sandbanks, sandbars, very light colours | Deeper water, reefs, green hills |
Distances | Short in the Exumas; longer crossings between island groups | Short everywhere; islands in sight of each other |
Ashore | Few towns; beaches and cays | Beach bars, small towns, national parks |
Getting there | Nassau, a short flight from Florida | St Thomas from the US; the BVI via St Thomas or Puerto Rico |
Formalities | One country | Two: customs and immigration between BVI and USVI |
Talk to a broker
Tell us roughly when, how many of you there are, and what the week is for: a family winter break, a honeymoon, a birthday with friends. Dates and budget can stay loose. We come back with a short list of yachts that fit, say plainly what each one is like, and stay your contact from the first email to the last day on board.
Rene Gaspersic
charter broker
Email info@soretoyachting.com · Phone +44 7342 933198 · WhatsApp +44 7342 933198
Plan
Bahamas.
Two short steps. Dates and budget can stay loose. We reply personally, by email, phone or WhatsApp.