As the name implies, in a crewed charter the yacht comes with a crew . In most circumstances this is at least a skipper and a cook, but the sky’s the limit if you are prepared to pay for it. Some motoryachts come with liveried crew in white flannels, all the watersports toys, chefs and even on-board Renoirs and helicopters. You do absolutely nothing that you don’t want to do on a crewed charter and the crew is there to ensure that you have a carefree holiday. Gourmet food will appear from almost nowhere and drinks will be served on demand. Crewed yachts vary in size and quality. You can choose a sailing yacht or motor-driven vessel.

There are literally hundreds of crewed yachts around the islands. You may be happy to book one direct, but it may be hard to know if it is the best choice for you. For this reason there are charter brokers. A good charter broker will use their knowledge to match your needs with the right boat and crew – the latter often being more crucial than the boat.

 BEST SAILING GROUNDS

The Caribbean has some of the finest sailing in the world. The Virgin Islands offer safe anchorages within a few hours or just minutes cruising of one another. It is less ‘exposed’ sailing and there is a beach bar or shack in virtually every cove, making it very lively and good fun. The Grenadines, the chain of small islands that links Grenada and St Vincent, are a little more exposed and have a rawer, more natural West Indian character. St Lucia, with its small charter bases at Rodney and Marigot Bay, is sometimes a starting point for the Grenadines and the island is served by direct flights from the UK. Also consider the small French islands around Guadeloupe that are easily reached from Antigua, which itself is a very big sailing centre. The part Dutch/part French island of St Maarten/St Martin also has excellent facilities, with some offshore cays to explore as well as the nearby islands of Anguilla and St Barts. Finally, the Bahamas offer limitless sailing grounds. Its super-abundant sand and shallow water (baja-mar in Spanish means ‘shallow sea’) makes for quite tricky sailing, but it has the bluest and most beautiful sea of them all.

HOW TO FIND A CREWED CHARTER YACHT

Some charter brokers are based in the Caribbean, others work in the metropolitan countries and are generally very knowledgeable, but often they do not provide a whole package with flights, so there is a third option, a Caribbean travel specialist or tour operator that will arrange the whole package for you.

Crewed charter facts and How to Book

Crewed Yacht brokers / charter companies working in the Caribbean

If you know which island you wish to sail from , please click by island below .