Antigua has three hundred and sixty five beaches, a hurricane hole that the Royal Navy chose in 1725 and still one of the best protected harbours in the eastern Caribbean, and a bareboat market that sits between the easy BVI and the demanding Grenadines. It is a day sail from Guadeloupe, Montserrat and Barbuda, and a bareboat week here is a coastal week rather than an island hopping one.
Yacht rental Antigua: what a bareboat week costs
Read on 11 September 2026, The Moorings prices a seven day charter for two in Antigua from 2,974 USD up to 15,999, and states additional costs for two people from around 1,600 on top. That puts it above St Lucia at 2,464 and Grenada at 2,634 and below the British Virgin Islands at 3,284. Sailo lists a much smaller day market on the island, four boats at an average of 1,455 USD a day with the cheapest at 1,280 and the dearest at 1,630.
What a bareboat requires
No license is legally required to charter here, but every fleet asks for a sailing resume from the person named as skipper and most want recent experience on a boat of comparable size, usually within the last three or four years. A recognized certificate such as an RYA Day Skipper or an ASA 104 satisfies almost every base without argument. Where the resume is thin the base will insist on a skipper for the first day or for the whole week, which is quoted as a daily rate on top.
Sailing Antigua: where the week goes
Out of Falmouth or English Harbour along the south coast to Carlisle Bay and Jolly Harbour, north to Deep Bay and Dickenson Bay, then across to Green Island and Nonsuch Bay on the east coast behind the reef. Barbuda is thirty miles north and the classic overnight, with fifteen miles of empty pink sand beach and an anchorage that needs eyeball navigation because the charts are old. Guadeloupe is forty miles south for a longer week.
The season and the harbour
December to April is the settled season and the most expensive. Antigua Sailing Week at the end of April and the Classic Yacht Regatta before it fill English Harbour and lift prices for those two weeks specifically. May to July is quieter and cheaper with the same trade wind. From August the hurricane season closes most of the fleet, though English Harbour itself is one of the recognized holes boats run to.
Questions people ask about antigua bareboat charter
How much is a bareboat charter in Antigua?
The Moorings prices a seven day charter for two from 2,974 USD to 15,999, plus additional costs from around 1,600 for two people, read on 11 September 2026.
Do you need a licence to bareboat in Antigua?
No license is legally required, but every fleet asks the named skipper for a sailing resume and most want recent experience on a comparable boat. An RYA Day Skipper or ASA 104 certificate satisfies almost every base.
Can you sail to Barbuda on a bareboat?
Most fleets allow it, thirty miles north as an overnight. The approach needs eyeball navigation in good light because the charts of the lagoon and its reefs are old, so bases restrict the arrival window rather than the trip.