A flotilla is six to twelve chartered yachts sailing the same route with a lead boat carrying a skipper, an engineer and a host. You sail your own boat, you moor it yourself, and somebody competent is half a mile away when it goes wrong. It is the answer for crews who can sail but have never chartered, and for families who want company.
What it costs
Read on 11 September 2026, Seafarer Sailing's flotilla guide states yacht rentals between 2,200 and 4,622 pounds and weekly skipper fees of around 1,415 to 1,595 if you take one, with flights to European destinations averaging 315 pounds per person and mooring fees named as a further cost. That is one of the few complete flotilla budgets published anywhere, and it is on a guide page rather than on the company's own bareboat listings, which carry no figure at all.
Flotilla against bareboat
The boat is the same boat and the price is close to the same price: what a flotilla adds is a lead crew, a briefed route and a fixed schedule. Against The Moorings' Greek bareboat entry of 2,634 USD for two people over seven days, a flotilla sits in the same band. What it removes is the two decisions that spoil inexperienced charters: where to go tomorrow and what to do when the wind is wrong for it.
What the lead crew does
A morning briefing on the day's passage, the harbour at the other end and the weather. A radio watch through the day. An engineer who will come out to a fouled propeller or a failed starter motor. A host who books the tavernas and runs the social side, which is a larger part of a flotilla's appeal than most people admit before they go. What the lead crew does not do is sail your boat for you.
Where flotillas run
Greece overwhelmingly, in the Ionian out of Lefkas and Corfu and in the Saronic out of Athens, because the hops are short and the harbours are close. Croatia and Turkey carry them too. Almost nothing runs in the Caribbean, where the distances and the mooring balls make the format pointless. Seafarer lists twelve Greek bases; Nautilus Yachting runs flotillas in Greece, Turkey and Croatia.
Questions people ask about flotilla holidays
How much is a flotilla holiday?
Seafarer Sailing publishes yacht rentals of 2,200 to 4,622 pounds a week and skipper fees of around 1,415 to 1,595 if one is taken, with flights averaging 315 pounds per person, read on 11 September 2026.
Do you sail your own boat?
Yes. You sail it, moor it and provision it. The lead boat briefs the passage, keeps a radio watch, sends an engineer when something breaks and organizes the evenings. It does not sail your yacht for you.
Is a flotilla cheaper than a bareboat?
About the same. The boat is the same boat; the flotilla adds a lead crew and a fixed route. The Moorings' Greek bareboat entry is 2,634 USD for two over seven days, which is the same band.
Where do flotillas run?
Mostly Greece, in the Ionian from Lefkas and Corfu and the Saronic from Athens, with Croatia and Turkey behind it. Almost none run in the Caribbean, where the distances make the format pointless.