What does a crewed yacht charter cost?

It is the first question almost everyone asks us, and the honest answer is that the advertised rate is only part of it. Every yacht page on this site shows a price as "From €X a week, plus VAT and APA". Here is what that line means, what else you pay, when you pay it, and how to work out the real cost of your week before you sign anything.

The parts of the price

The price is for the whole yacht, not per person. Six guests or twelve pay the same fee for the same yacht and week, although more guests usually means more food and drink from the APA.

The charter fee

The fee is the yacht's own weekly rate, set by her owner for each season. It pays for the yacht and her professional crew. Four things move it.

• Size.

  Length and the number of cabins matter most. A small crewed catamaran or motor yacht can start from around €10,000 a week; a large superyacht with a crew of thirty can cost €1 million or more, and the very largest about €3.5 million. Most families and groups of friends find the yacht they want well within that range.

• Season.

  A yacht's page shows her lowest season. July and August in the Mediterranean, and Christmas and New Year in the Caribbean, cost more.

• Currency.

  Each yacht's rate is in her own currency, often US dollars outside Europe. We never convert a rate; your quote is in the yacht's currency.

• Length of the charter.

  A week is the norm. When a yacht accepts a shorter charter, it is usually priced at one-sixth of the weekly rate for each day. Over Christmas and New Year, expect a minimum of 7 nights, up to 10 on some yachts, and a holiday rate up to about 18% above the winter rate.

The yachts on this site are a selection. We arrange charters on many more, at every size and price, so if the yacht you have in mind is not here, ask us.

VAT and local taxes

VAT is charged on the charter fee, not on the APA, at the rate of the country where the charter starts. Croatia's tax authority, for example, treats the APA as money spent in the guest's name, so it carries no VAT of its own; the fuel, food and berths bought with it carry their usual tax in their price.

Some routes change the figure. In Italy and France the rate can be reduced for time spent outside EU waters, and a week that starts in one country and crosses into another can be taxed in part by each. We confirm the rate for your route in the quote, and the contract states it.

Some countries add a local tax. In Croatia every guest pays a small tourist tax for each night on board, collected by the yacht's operator. National parks and marine reserves charge entry, and town harbours charge for a berth; these are paid from the APA.

The APA

APA stands for Advance Provisioning Allowance. It is not a fee: it is your money, paid in advance to the captain, who spends it on your instructions during the week. It pays for:

• fuel for the yacht, the tender and the water toys;

• food and drinks, chosen from the preference sheet you fill in before the charter;

• berths in marinas and town harbours, harbour dues and park fees;

• anything else you ask for on board, such as a special bottle or a dinner ashore booked by the crew.

How it is accounted for. The captain keeps the receipts and can show you the running total whenever you ask. If the fund runs low during the week, you top it up. At the end of the charter you receive a full account, and whatever has not been spent is returned to you.

Delivery fees

Every yacht has a base. If you join or leave her somewhere else, or end in a different port from the one you started in, a delivery fee pays for the fuel, crew and berths of the extra passage. In some countries it carries VAT. A one-way week, for example Split to Dubrovnik or on into Montenegro, is the common case. We state any delivery fee in the quote, before you sign.

The crew tip

A tip is never in the contract and never required. It is how guests thank the crew when the week has gone well. Guests commonly leave 10–15% of the charter fee in the Mediterranean, and up to 20% in the Caribbean. It is usually handed to the captain on the last day, in cash or by transfer, and shared among the crew. It does not come from the APA unless you ask the captain to take it from there.

When you pay

Our charters use the MYBA charter agreement, the standard contract for crewed yacht charters. Under it, the usual sequence is:

1. 01On signing the contract

   Half of the charter fee.

2. 02About a month before the charter

   The other half, with the APA, the VAT, any delivery fee and any other agreed charge.

3. 03On the last day

   The APA account; anything unspent comes back to you, and the tip if you leave one.

Your written quote lists the charter fee, the VAT rate for your route, the APA percentage, any delivery fee and any local taxes, all before you sign.

A worked example

Take a yacht with a fee of €60,000 for a week, starting in Croatia. This is an example to show the arithmetic, not a quote:

The same fee in other countries, with the APA budgeted at 40%:

If the week uses €18,000 of the APA rather than €24,000, €6,000 comes back to you at the end.

How to spend less for the same week

1. 01Go in June or September.

   Most yachts are in a lower season, and the harbours are calmer.

2. 02Start and end at the yacht's base.

   A round trip carries no delivery fee.

3. 03Choose the yacht for the people, not the length.

   A yacht with exactly the cabins you need costs less than a larger one with empty cabins.

4. 04Think about how you will cruise.

   Short hops and some evenings ashore use less of the APA than long passages and every meal on board.

5. 05Ask what changes the price.

   We tell you plainly which yacht costs more and why.

Questions about the cost

For more questions about money, contracts and life on board, see our yacht charter questions. To see how a charter comes together from the first email to the last day, read how a crewed yacht charter works.