The Bahamas is a catamaran cruising ground for a reason that has nothing to do with comfort. Great Bahama Bank is shallow over enormous distances, the Exuma anchorages are sand patches a metre or two deep, and a boat drawing two metres spends the week going around things a boat drawing one metre goes over. The catamaran is the local answer to the chart.
Draught is the whole argument
Much of the interesting Bahamian cruising happens in water a monohull cannot enter, and the tide range is small enough that waiting does not help. A catamaran drawing around a metre can anchor where the water is clearest and cross banks a deeper boat has to skirt. That is why the local charter fleet is overwhelmingly catamaran, and why the monohull saving available in Croatia or Greece largely is not on offer here.
What it costs
The Moorings publishes $5,579 to $24,179 for a 7 day charter for 2 people in the Abacos and does not split hull types. Sunsail's published Caribbean figures give the clearest sense of the catamaran premium: about $3,500 for a low-season bareboat monohull against about $5,700 for a low-season catamaran, rising to about $7,000 and about $10,000 in high season. Bahamian catamarans sit at the upper end of that shape.
What else the two hulls buy here
Shade and a swim platform, which matter more in the Bahamas than in the Mediterranean because the week is spent in the water rather than under way. Four cabins with doors for a group of six or eight, and a cockpit that seats everyone. And a flat boat at anchor, which is the difference between a comfortable lunch and a rolling one when the swell wraps into an Exuma anchorage.
Questions people ask about catamaran charter bahamas
How much is a catamaran charter in the Bahamas?
The Moorings publishes $5,579 to $24,179 for a 7 day charter for 2 people in the Abacos across hull types. Sunsail's Caribbean figures put a low-season catamaran at about $5,700 against about $3,500 for a monohull.
Why are Bahamian charters mostly catamarans?
Draught. The banks and the best Exuma anchorages are shallow, and a catamaran drawing about a metre reaches water a deeper monohull cannot.
Is a catamaran better for a group in the Bahamas?
Usually. Four cabins with doors, shade, a swim platform and a boat that stays flat at anchor suit a week spent largely in the water.