Every list of charter destinations is somebody's opinion. This one is built only from figures the companies print on their own pages, read on a single day, which makes it a ranking of what you can actually verify rather than of where anyone thinks you should go. The order is by published entry price, and the reasons are what that price buys.
Yacht charter destinations: the ranking, and the criterion
- Croatia: The cheapest entry anywhere in this record. The Moorings starts a seven day charter for two at 1,885 USD, the lowest weekly figure it publishes in the world, and Croatia Yachting publishes weeks from 600 EUR at Trogir and Dubrovnik. A thousand islands inside two hundred miles of coast, a marina every twenty miles and no passage longer than an afternoon, which is why it is also the largest fleet in the Mediterranean.
- Greece: The Moorings starts a Greek week for two at 2,634 USD and Nautilus prices a low season two to three cabin monohull at around 900 GBP, which is the cheapest real week in the Mediterranean. Three cruising grounds that barely resemble each other: the gentle Ionian, the windy Cyclades and the Saronic in between. It asks more of a skipper on paper than anywhere else, because Greek law requires a certificate and a VHF license.
- The British Virgin Islands: The easiest week in the Caribbean and the most expensive of these three to enter: The Moorings starts a seven day charter for two at 3,284 USD and Conch Charters publishes catamarans from 6,999 a week. Sixty islands inside one sheltered channel, mooring balls in almost every bay and twenty mile days. It invented the bareboat catamaran holiday and still runs the largest fleet of them.
The published entry prices, in order
Read on 11 September 2026, The Moorings starts a seven day charter for two at 1,885 USD in Croatia, 2,464 in St Lucia, 2,634 in Greece and Grenada, 2,974 in Antigua, 3,144 in Belize, 3,284 in the British Virgin Islands, 4,199 in St Martin, 4,529 in the Exumas, 5,579 in the Abacos and 7,224 in Turkey. That single company's own pages are the only like for like comparison of eleven grounds anywhere in this record.
The cheap grounds nobody ranks
Thailand, where Click and Boat lists 295 boats at an average of 1,215 EUR a day and a crewed catamaran costs less than a bareboat one in the Caribbean. Slovenia, at 436 EUR a day, the cheapest average on the Adriatic. Sweden, at 738 EUR a day for an archipelago of thirty thousand islands. Montenegro at 805. All four are cheaper than the famous grounds and none of them appears on a normal destination list.
The best yacht charter destinations: how to choose rather than how to rank
Match the ground to the crew, not to the photographs. The best bareboat charter destinations for a first week are the BVI, the Ionian and the Abacos: sheltered water, short hops and a mooring ball waiting each evening. A crew that can sail wants the Cyclades, the Grenadines or Scotland. A crew that wants to swim and eat rather than sail wants Croatia or the Balearics. The price differences between those are smaller than the difference in whether the week works.
Questions people ask about yacht charter destinations
Which destination is cheapest?
Croatia. The Moorings starts a seven day charter for two at 1,885 USD there, the lowest weekly figure it publishes anywhere, and Croatia Yachting publishes weeks from 600 EUR at Trogir, read on 11 September 2026.
Which is best for a first charter?
The British Virgin Islands, the Greek Ionian or the Bahamian Abacos: sheltered water, hops of five to twenty miles and a mooring ball or a town quay every evening.
What is the most expensive?
Of the grounds publishing an entry price, Turkey at 7,224 USD for seven days and two people with The Moorings, followed by the Abacos at 5,579 and the Exumas at 4,529.
Which are the superyacht charter destinations?
The French Riviera is the one ground in this record where superyacht weekly rates are published: YachtCharterFleet lists named yachts from 161,700 USD a week for a 51m Narasaki to 1,277,000 for an 82m Abeking & Rasmussen, read on 11 September 2026. Elsewhere the large end is brokered and quoted on enquiry.