Bareboat in the Bahamas is cheaper than the crewed alternative and more demanding than the Caribbean equivalent. The water is shallow over enormous distances, the cuts between the banks and the ocean run hard with the tide, and the navigation is a matter of reading depth and timing rather than of avoiding rocks. It is a genuinely different skill from Mediterranean chartering.
Ask several charter companies what your week costs
What it costs
The Moorings publishes $5,579 to $24,179 for a 7 day charter for 2 people in the Abacos, with power charters from $6,655 and skippered packages from $12,479 on the same page. The bareboat entry is the lowest of the three, and the gap to skippered is more than double, which is the clearest published statement anywhere in this record of what handing over the helm costs.
Bareboat Bahamas: reading the water is the skill
Depths on the banks are measured in a few metres over many miles, and the chart is a guide rather than an answer. The local method is to read the color of the water with the sun high and behind you, and to move at the right time of day rather than the convenient one. Charter bases brief this thoroughly and it is worth taking seriously, because a grounding on sand is an inconvenience and a grounding on a coral head is not.
The cuts and the rage
Getting between the shallow banks and the deep ocean means passing through cuts, and a cut with an outgoing tide against an onshore swell produces a standing sea that is genuinely dangerous. Locally that is called a rage and the answer is to wait. Any bareboat itinerary in the Exumas should have slack built into it for exactly this.
Questions people ask about bareboat charter Bahamas
How much is a bareboat charter in the Bahamas?
The Moorings publishes $5,579 to $24,179 for a 7 day charter for 2 people in the Abacos, with skippered packages from $12,479 on the same page.
Is Bahamian bareboat harder than the Caribbean?
Different. The water is shallow over long distances, the cuts run hard with the tide, and the navigation is about reading depth and timing rather than avoiding rocks.
What is a rage?
A standing sea in a cut where an outgoing tide meets an onshore swell. It is dangerous and the only correct response is to wait for it to pass.