How to plan and book a sailing holiday!

Chartering a yacht or catamaran is easy, and there is nothing quite like a sailing holiday to relax you, challenge you, help you to learn a new skill, or to ignite your sense of adventure.  We’d recommend it to everyone, and it’s easy to plan and book - just follow the steps below.

 1. What should I charter? 

If you have the RYA DaySkipper qualification or above (or international equivalent) then you’ll be able to charter ‘bareboat’ – if not, you can still charter, but you’ll need to charter with a skipper or pilot to drive the ship (usually about €150-200 a day).

Start by working out who is coming with you and how many cabins you’d like - a week is a long time to sleep in the saloon or communal area of the boat, so we’d recommend getting everyone a proper bed in a cabin. The Skipper will need their own cabin, so make sure you factor that in too.

Once you know how many cabins you’ll need, and how many people will be on board, you’ll be in a position to know if you should charter a yacht or a catamaran.  There are pros and cons to each: catamarans are bigger and better suited to kids, but they’re less fun under sail than a yacht. 

Sailing is for everyone, of all shapes and sizes. It works great for families, and it’s absolutely possible to sail with a baby! If you're after a little extra comfort then you can also charter a boat with a Hostess or chef!

 2. Where should I sail? 

All our charter bases are hand-picked and fantastic to sail from – we have bases in Greece, Croatia, Italy, France, Malta, Montenegro, Spain andTurkey in the Mediterranean, plus the Canary Islands, plus four bases in the Caribbean (Antigua, Bahamas, British Virgin Islands and Grenada. We can also charter in Scotland or England. You’ll have a brilliant week regardless of which of one you leave from.

You could read up on each sailing area in our destination guides to get a feel for what each is like, what weather to expect, and what there is to see and do (including a suggested itinerary to help you see where you could go (but you can, of course, choose your own route).

It's also possible to arrange one-way charters, where you start at one place, and finish somewhere else - just send us an email.

Another good way to choose where to charter from is to look at where it is most convenient for you to get to, and then choosing the nearest marina to that airport.  We can help with arranging transfers.

 3. Find and book your perfect boat 

When you know where to sail from, and what size boat you’d like, then you can use the pink search box on our site to find the right boat for you. You can filter the results to find your perfect yacht, based on the age or size of the boat or from selecting from all sorts of features.

Our yachts and catamarans in the Med and the Caribbean have live availability and pricing, so once you’ve found a boat, you can book it right away!  You’ll need to pay a 25% deposit to secure your yacht (with the balance to be paid 6 weeks before the charter start date). If you're not 100% certain about a boat, need to confer with someone, or need a little time to pull a crew together, then you can 'hold' a boat for 48 hours for just €20, which counts as the first installment towards your booking.

Price-wise, we work with our charter partners to offer very competitive prices, and we’re confident you won’t find better value boats on the market. We only work with charter operators who we know and trust though, so you can be sure you’re getting a quality yacht, at a great price.

After making the booking, one of our team will be in touch to confirm the details, but basically, you’re all set for a superb sailing adventure! This is all part of our five-star gold-trusted service! You’ll just need to sort out flights, but we can help you take care of the rest – from transfers and security deposit insurance, to adding an outboard, on board toys, or even wifi on board.

 Any questions?