How to Plan a Caribbean Yacht Charter Vacation

The global yacht charters market is cruising full speed ahead, according to this year’s Yacht Charters Global Market Report, which predicts that the segment will surge from $14.42 billion in 2022 to $15.71 billion in 2023. 

Continued growth is especially good news for anyone looking for a luxurious water-based getaway in the Caribbean, where countless yachts of varying sizes offer everything from daytime excursions to multiday, multi-island itineraries. Here are some of the top choices for yachting around the region. 

Around the Caribbean

Travel advisors looking for guidance about how to find the best experiences for their seafaring clients may do well to contact companies such as Kensington Yacht. The operator has a team of specialists who help determine the most appropriate destinations and yachts for clients based on their interests and budgets. Curated itineraries can include land experiences, hotel and villa stays and even private jet and helicopter transfers in destinations such as the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands and St. Lucia. 

Also organizing yacht vacations in multiple destinations is Dream Caribbean Blue, which operates out of Scrub Island Resort, Spa & Marina, a private island near Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. The company’s vessels also visit the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Bahamas and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Fraser, an international company focused on charters as well as yacht sales, offers still more options, with 55 different charters available in the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles and both the Leeward and Windward islands. In the Leeward Islands, for example, guests can board the 144-foot King Baby, which sleeps 10 passengers for multiday tours around St. Barths, the U.S. Virgin Islands and St. Kitts and Nevis. 

Antigua

Carlisle Bay Antigua is an excellent example of a resort hotel that offers customized daytime yachting excursions for guests. Guests can arrange charters of a Fjord 36 motor yacht and choose from activities such as snorkeling in the waters off Great Bird Island, taking private sunset cruises and visiting Stingray City, Antigua’s best place to view stingrays up close.  

The Bahamas

Atlantis Paradise Island Bahamas has partnered with Aquazeal, a yacht operator based at the resort’s Marina Village, to offer an array of options that range from day trips to multiday charters. With a fleet of yachts that range in size, the company is well-equipped to serve the needs of various group sizes. 

Recently returned to the yachting scene in the Bahamas is The Moorings, which has relaunched its Abacos Islands charter with a seven-night itinerary that stops at multiple cays and small towns. Yachting will also be part of the allure at The Residences at Montage Cay, which is billed as the first-ever “branded island” from Montage International. The 53-acre private island resort, which is slated to open in late 2024 in the Abacos Islands, will have a 50-suite Montage hotel and a 47-slip deepwater marina. 

British Virgin Islands

Private charter options in the British Virgin Islands, meanwhile, include Nomada at Sea, a Lagoon 620 catamaran operated by Nomada Hotel Group, which has properties in California and the British Virgin Islands. 

An example seven-day charter itinerary might depart from Tortola and visit destinations such as Peter Island, Salt Island, Cooper Island, Virgin Gorda, Scrub Island, Anegada Island Jost Van Dyke and Norman Island (rumored to be Robert Louis Stevenson’s inspiration for his novel “Treasure Island”). 

Puerto Rico 

Travelers who want a luxury yacht experience but don’t have the time for a multiday itinerary will do well at Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Puerto Rico. The hotel can arrange a private daytime excursion for up to 12 guests on a 65-foot yacht, with a scenic visit to the bay of Old San Juan. 

U.S. Virgin Islands 

One of the newest yachting options in the U.S. Virgin Islands is offered by the recently opened Morningstar Buoy Haus Beach Resort at Frenchman’s Reef, an Autograph Collection Hotel and the soon-to-open The Westin Beach Resort & Spa at Frenchman’s Reef. The two properties are teaming up to offer a new fleet of eight vessels for day and night excursions. Frenchman’s Reef also plans to unveil new, bespoke “stay and sail” packages that will combine land and sea components.