Catamaran vs. Monohull
Catamaran vs. Monohull for Your First Charter — and Why Most People Get This Choice Wrong
Ask at any yacht-club bar from Tortola to Newport, and you'll start an argument that outlasts the rum: catamaran or monohull?
One side calls catamarans "floating apartment buildings." The other calls monohulls "hotels that lean." Both are right just often enough to keep the fight alive - and both are wrong about the thing that actually matters for your first week at sea. Because the choice is not really about the boat. It's about your crew.
After years of matching first-time charter guests with yachts across the Caribbean, here's the honest, no-favorites comparison — including who should absolutely not follow the crowd.
One side calls catamarans "floating apartment buildings." The other calls monohulls "hotels that lean." Both are right just often enough to keep the fight alive - and both are wrong about the thing that actually matters for your first week at sea. Because the choice is not really about the boat. It's about your crew.
After years of matching first-time charter guests with yachts across the Caribbean, here's the honest, no-favorites comparison — including who should absolutely not follow the crowd.
Content
- 2026/27 Winter Price Ranges
- What "All-Inclusive" Actually Includes (on a Crewed Catamaran)
- APA: The Three Letters That Confuse Everyone (Motor Yachts & Superyachts)
- The Three Line Items That Surprise First-Time Guests
- The Resort Math Nobody Does
- When Timing Changes the Price
- A Real-World Example: One Week, One Invoice
- Who a Private Charter Is Honestly NOT For
- Want the Exact Number, Not a Range?
2026/27 Winter Price Ranges
For a fully crewed, week-long Caribbean charter, here's what the market actually looks like this season. Two things jump out of that table. First, the "entry ticket" to a genuinely private, fully crewed week at sea starts around $22,000–$28,000 for the whole boat - not per person. Second, the per-person math lands surprisingly close to what many of our guests were already spending on high-end resorts. More on that below.
For a fully crewed, week-long Caribbean charter, here's what the market actually looks like this season. Two things jump out of that table. First, the "entry ticket" to a genuinely private, fully crewed week at sea starts around $22,000–$28,000 for the whole boat - not per person. Second, the per-person math lands surprisingly close to what many of our guests were already spending on high-end resorts. More on that below.
What "All-Inclusive" Actually Includes (on a Crewed Catamaran)
In the Caribbean - especially the BVI - most crewed sailing catamarans under ~80 feet are priced all-inclusive. That phrase does a lot of heavy lifting, so let's unpack it. Your weekly rate typically covers:
In the Caribbean - especially the BVI - most crewed sailing catamarans under ~80 feet are priced all-inclusive. That phrase does a lot of heavy lifting, so let's unpack it. Your weekly rate typically covers:
- The yacht, obviously - plus her captain and professional crew (usually a chef and often a first mate/stewardess)
- Three-to-five chef-prepared meals a day, tailored to your preference sheet - lobster night included, no upcharge for "I don't do cilantro"
- Standard ship's bar: wine, beer, rum, cocktails
- Fuel, water, mooring and cruising-permit fees within the area
- The toy box: paddleboards, snorkel gear, floating docks, often a powerful dinghy for water skiing or wakeboarding
APA: The Three Letters That Confuse Everyone (Motor Yachts & Superyachts)
Larger motor yachts and superyachts work differently. You'll see an attractive base rate - say, $80,000/week - followed by "+ expenses." Those expenses are handled through an Advance Provisioning Allowance (APA), typically 30–40% of the base rate.
Think of the APA as a prepaid expense account, not a fee:
Larger motor yachts and superyachts work differently. You'll see an attractive base rate - say, $80,000/week - followed by "+ expenses." Those expenses are handled through an Advance Provisioning Allowance (APA), typically 30–40% of the base rate.
Think of the APA as a prepaid expense account, not a fee:
- Before your charter, you wire the APA on top of the base rate.
- The crew provisions the yacht to your exact preferences - your champagne, your ribeyes, your favorite oat milk.
- The captain keeps every receipt - fuel, food, dockage, that last-minute case of rosé.
- At the end of the week, you get a full itemized accounting. Spend less than the APA? The difference is refunded. Spend more? You settle the balance.
The Three Line Items That Surprise First-Time Guests
1. Crew gratuity. The single most common "I didn't see that coming" moment in chartering. Customary gratuity is 15–20% of the charter rate, given at the guest's discretion for exceptional service. On a $30,000 catamaran, that's $4,500–$6,000. Nobody at the dock will chase you for it - but crews build their year around it, and guests who've had a spectacular week are usually delighted to hand it over. Just put it in the budget from day one.
2. The holiday premium. Christmas and New Year's weeks are the Super Bowl of chartering: rates jump 20–50%, and most yachts require a 7–10 night minimum. The same boat that's $28,000 in mid-January can be $36,000–$42,000 the week of December 26. Thanksgiving week and Presidents' Day week are the "junior varsity" version - premium, but modest.
3. The extras that aren't really "yacht costs." Premium wines and top-shelf liquor beyond the ship's bar, dockage if you insist on a marina slip instead of a gorgeous anchorage, scuba dives with outside operators, special dietary or celebration requests, and - on some itineraries - delivery fees if you board somewhere other than the yacht's home port. None of these are mandatory. All of them are worth knowing in advance.
1. Crew gratuity. The single most common "I didn't see that coming" moment in chartering. Customary gratuity is 15–20% of the charter rate, given at the guest's discretion for exceptional service. On a $30,000 catamaran, that's $4,500–$6,000. Nobody at the dock will chase you for it - but crews build their year around it, and guests who've had a spectacular week are usually delighted to hand it over. Just put it in the budget from day one.
2. The holiday premium. Christmas and New Year's weeks are the Super Bowl of chartering: rates jump 20–50%, and most yachts require a 7–10 night minimum. The same boat that's $28,000 in mid-January can be $36,000–$42,000 the week of December 26. Thanksgiving week and Presidents' Day week are the "junior varsity" version - premium, but modest.
3. The extras that aren't really "yacht costs." Premium wines and top-shelf liquor beyond the ship's bar, dockage if you insist on a marina slip instead of a gorgeous anchorage, scuba dives with outside operators, special dietary or celebration requests, and - on some itineraries - delivery fees if you board somewhere other than the yacht's home port. None of these are mandatory. All of them are worth knowing in advance.
The Resort Math Nobody Does
Here's the comparison that changes how people think about charter pricing.
Three couples booking a top-tier Caribbean resort for a week will typically reserve three suites at $1,800–$2,500 per night. That's $38,000–$52,000 for rooms alone - before a single dinner reservation, a bottle of wine with room service, a cabana, a boat excursion, or the mysterious "$38 resort fee per day."
Now compare: a $28,000 all-inclusive crewed catamaran, split between six friends, is about $667 per person, per day - with a private chef, an open bar, water toys, a new anchorage every day, and precisely zero strangers at "your" pool. The resort wants that much for the rehearsal of your vacation, minus the ocean moving under you.
Even against premium cruises - $6,000–$9,000 per person for a decent suite - the math holds its own. And on a charter, the itinerary is yours, the wine list is yours, and the only people on board are the ones you actually invited.
Here's the comparison that changes how people think about charter pricing.
Three couples booking a top-tier Caribbean resort for a week will typically reserve three suites at $1,800–$2,500 per night. That's $38,000–$52,000 for rooms alone - before a single dinner reservation, a bottle of wine with room service, a cabana, a boat excursion, or the mysterious "$38 resort fee per day."
Now compare: a $28,000 all-inclusive crewed catamaran, split between six friends, is about $667 per person, per day - with a private chef, an open bar, water toys, a new anchorage every day, and precisely zero strangers at "your" pool. The resort wants that much for the rehearsal of your vacation, minus the ocean moving under you.
Even against premium cruises - $6,000–$9,000 per person for a decent suite - the math holds its own. And on a charter, the itinerary is yours, the wine list is yours, and the only people on board are the ones you actually invited.
When Timing Changes the Price
Charter pricing follows the sun and the school calendar:
Charter pricing follows the sun and the school calendar:
- Peak (mid-December – April): full rates, best weather, highest demand. January–March weeks on the best catamarans are typically spoken for 6–10 months out - which is why our October in-boxes get loud.
- Holiday weeks (Christmas, New Year's): +20–50%, minimum stays.
- Shoulder (November, late April – May): the insider's window - often 10–15% below peak, identical water, half the boats in the anchorage. If your dates are flexible, this is where the value hides.
A Real-World Example: One Week, One Invoice
Abstractions are nice. Invoices are better. Here's the actual shape of a mid-January week for six friends on a 50-foot crewed catamaran in the BVI:
Abstractions are nice. Invoices are better. Here's the actual shape of a mid-January week for six friends on a 50-foot crewed catamaran in the BVI:
- Weekly rate, all-inclusive (yacht, captain, chef, all meals, ship's bar, fuel, toys): $32,000
- Crew gratuity at 18% for a flawless week: $5,760
- Two dinners ashore at beach restaurants (purely optional - most guests do one): ~$600
- One night in a marina "for the shower of adulthood": $120
- All-in total: ≈ $38,500 → $6,425 per person, or about $918 per person, per day
- For that, each couple gets a private cabin with an en-suite head, a chef who learned their coffee order by Tuesday, and seven sunrises in seven different anchorages. Nobody needed a wristband, a reservation app, or a 7 a.m. sprint to claim a pool lounger. That's not a marketing line - that's the invoice.
Who a Private Charter Is Honestly NOT For
We'd rather tell you on the website than on day three: a charter is a shared-space vacation. If your group needs a nightlife strip, a different restaurant every evening, and 400 new friends to network with - take the cruise, it's genuinely the better product for you. The magic of a charter is the opposite: the same small gang of people you love, one spectacular floating house, and a week where the loudest thing at 2 a.m. is a turtle surfacing next to the hull.
We'd rather tell you on the website than on day three: a charter is a shared-space vacation. If your group needs a nightlife strip, a different restaurant every evening, and 400 new friends to network with - take the cruise, it's genuinely the better product for you. The magic of a charter is the opposite: the same small gang of people you love, one spectacular floating house, and a week where the loudest thing at 2 a.m. is a turtle surfacing next to the hull.
Want the Exact Number, Not a Range?
Ranges are honest, but your week deserves specifics. Send us your dates, group size, and a rough budget, and within 24 hours we'll come back with three specific yachts - full cost sheets, everything included, gratuity and APA spelled out in plain numbers. No pressure, no phone-tree interrogation, no "rates upon request."
The water's already warm. All that's left is the math - and now you have it.
Ranges are honest, but your week deserves specifics. Send us your dates, group size, and a rough budget, and within 24 hours we'll come back with three specific yachts - full cost sheets, everything included, gratuity and APA spelled out in plain numbers. No pressure, no phone-tree interrogation, no "rates upon request."
The water's already warm. All that's left is the math - and now you have it.
Related articles