Sailing in the Bahamas is not Caribbean sailing with different islands. The water is shallow over enormous areas, the passages are governed by tide and light rather than by distance, and the weather comes from the north in winter rather than the east. Crews who arrive expecting the British Virgin Islands find a much more interesting and more demanding week.
What a Bahamas sailboat charter costs
The Moorings publishes a 7 day bareboat charter for 2 in the Abacos from 5,579 USD, on a page running to 24,179, with power charters from 6,655 and skippered packages from 12,479 beside them. That bareboat floor is the highest of any Caribbean ground in this record, which reflects how close the Bahamas is to its market rather than anything about the sailing.
The Abacos, and why most first Bahamas sailing trips go there
A sheltered sound running about sixty miles behind a barrier chain of cays, with settlements at Hope Town, Man-O-War, Green Turtle and Marsh Harbour. The hops are short, the water inside the sound is protected, and there is somewhere to eat most nights. The catch is the shallow water: the sound carries depths that require attention and the passages through the cays out to the ocean need settled weather.
The Exumas, and what they ask of you
A chain running a hundred and thirty miles southeast from Nassau, with the clearest water in the region, almost no settlements and very little shelter from the west. It is the better cruising ground and the harder one: anchoring rather than moorings, provisioning that has to be planned from Nassau, and a real need to watch for fronts. Most companies will charter it bareboat to crews with a convincing CV.
The winter front, which is the planning problem
Bahamian winter weather is dominated by cold fronts sweeping down from the American mainland every week or so, bringing a clocking wind that ends in a hard northwesterly. Anchorages that are perfect in the prevailing easterly become untenable, and the skill of a Bahamian week is knowing where to be when a front arrives. That, rather than the sailing, is what a skipper is worth here.
Questions people ask about Bahamas sailing charter
How much is a Bahamas sailing charter?
The Moorings publishes a 7 day bareboat charter for 2 in the Abacos from 5,579 USD, on a page running to 24,179, read on 11 September 2026.
Abacos or Exumas for a first charter?
The Abacos: a sheltered sound with short hops and settlements down both sides. The Exumas have better water and far less shelter, and need more planning.
Is the Bahamas harder than the Caribbean?
In a different way. The water is shallow over huge areas, passages depend on tide and light, and winter cold fronts bring a hard northwesterly that makes many anchorages untenable.
Do I need a skipper in the Bahamas?
Not by regulation, but the value is higher here than in the eastern Caribbean: knowing where to be when a front arrives is the real skill of a Bahamian week.