Private in this trade means the whole boat is yours and somebody else runs it. Nobody shares your cabin, nobody else is on the charter, and a captain and usually a cook come with the yacht. That is a different product from a bareboat with a skipper bolted on, and the published figures show how different: crewed starts at roughly four times bareboat in the same water.
Private Caribbean catamaran charters: what crewed costs in each island group
The Moorings publishes crewed ranges on its destination pages. Read on 11 September 2026, a crewed week runs 13,134 to 49,584 USD in the British Virgin Islands, 13,949 to 64,890 in St Lucia, 22,423 to 53,606 in St Martin, 22,619 to 49,919 in the Exumas and 14,449 to 29,249 in Belize. The bottom of each range is a four cabin sailing catamaran with a captain and cook. The top is a large motor yacht with a full crew.
Crewed against a bareboat with a skipper
A skipper added to a bareboat costs 240 a night in St Lucia, 310 in St Martin and 330 in the BVI, which is between 1,680 and 2,310 on a seven night week. Set that against the same company's bareboat entry of 2,464 in St Lucia and the skippered week lands near 4,150. A crewed yacht in the same water starts at 13,949. The gap is the cook, the larger boat, the provisioning and the fact that nobody in your party has to be qualified or on watch.
Sailboat charter Caribbean with crew: what the price includes
The Moorings runs a skippered charter package in the BVI at 6,284 to 24,834 and in the Exumas at 14,559 to 18,199, which sits between the two ends and bundles the crew with the boat. Above that, a crewed charter is normally quoted all inclusive of food, soft drinks, fuel within reason and the crew's own costs. What is nearly always outside it is alcohol beyond a house allowance, dockage when you choose a marina over an anchorage, and the crew gratuity, which the trade treats as ten to twenty percent.
Where a private charter is worth the money
In the Windwards and the Grenadines, where passages are open and the anchorages are less forgiving than the BVI, a captain who knows the water changes the week rather than merely relieving you of the work. In the BVI, where the channel is sheltered and mooring balls are everywhere, most parties who take crew do it for the cook rather than the seamanship. In the Bahamas the reason is draught: local knowledge of where the banks shoal is worth more than a chart plotter.
Questions people ask about private yacht charters caribbean
How much is a private crewed yacht in the Caribbean?
The Moorings publishes crewed weeks from 13,134 USD in the BVI and 13,949 in St Lucia, rising to 64,890 at the top of the St Lucia range, read on 11 September 2026.
Is a crewed charter all inclusive?
Usually food, soft drinks, fuel and the crew are inside the price. Alcohol beyond a house allowance, marina dockage and the crew gratuity are normally outside it, and the gratuity is conventionally ten to twenty percent.
Is a skipper cheaper than a crewed yacht?
Much cheaper. A skipper on a bareboat is 240 to 330 a night depending on the base, so a skippered St Lucia week lands near 4,150 USD against 13,949 for the cheapest crewed yacht there.