A Broker's Guide to Choosing Your First Charter

The most common first question we get isn't about price. It's some version of 'which boat should we choose?' — usually asked by someone staring at a fleet page full of unfamiliar shipyard names and speed figures that don't mean very much out of context. Here's how we'd actually think it through.

Start with the shape of your day, not the boat. A group of six friends who want to move fast between three beach clubs needs a very different vessel to a family of eight who want one calm anchorage and a long lunch. Speedboats and RIBs are built for the first kind of day — light, quick, low on formality. Motor yachts and sailing yachts suit the second — more deck space, shade, and somewhere to retreat if the wind picks up.

Guest count matters more than it seems. Every yacht has a 'maximum guests cruising' figure that's genuinely about comfort, not just a legal limit — a boat rated for twelve will feel noticeably different with six aboard than with twelve. If your group is close to a yacht's stated capacity, it's worth sizing up rather than sizing exactly to fit.

Day or week is usually the easiest decision, oddly. If you're staying in Ibiza and want one or two exceptional days on the water around a longer land-based holiday, day charter is the obvious route. If the whole point of the trip is life at sea — waking up in a different cala each morning — a weekly charter, generally on a larger motor or sailing yacht with overnight cabins, is worth the larger commitment.

Budget conversations are easier than people expect. Prices vary by season — low, mid and high — and by boat, but almost every charter can flex around water toys, catering and route to fit a range. Our advice, always: tell your broker the shape of the day you're imagining, and let them work backward to the right boat, rather than starting from a name on a page.