How Much Does a St Barts Yacht Charter Cost?

For a crewed yacht charter in St Barts, we recommend budgeting from about $60,000 to $80,000 a week for a catamaran and $80,000 to $100,000 for a motor yacht, with most of our clients booking in the $80,000 to $150,000 range. Those are charter fees only, quoted before APA and gratuity: your running expenses come on top, though unusually for a luxury destination, VAT does not. The one exception to all of it is New Year’s week, which prices like its own market, and we cover it separately below.

The quick version:

• Catamarans: budget from $60,000 to $80,000 per week
• Motor yachts: budget from $80,000 to $100,000 per week, and this is a motor yacht destination
• Where most of our clients land: $80,000 to $150,000, with the top of the fleet running $150,000 to $400,000+
• On top: an expense account (APA) of roughly 30%, plus crew gratuity
• Not on top: VAT. St Barts charters run at 0%, and we explain why below
• New Year’s week: its own pricing universe, covered in its own section

You will find cheaper numbers online. Day boats run sunset cruises out of Gustavia, and rental platforms list “from $724 per day.” That is a different product in a different industry. The figures on this page are for what we actually book: a private crewed yacht, with a professional crew and a chef, for your group alone.

What the Charter Fee Covers, and What Comes on Top

The charter fee buys the yacht and its full crew for the week. Everything the trip consumes sits in a separate expense account.

APA, the Advance Provisioning Allowance, is quoted at 25 to 35% of the charter fee in St Barts. We tell clients to plan on roughly 30%. It is paid before the charter and works like a trip account the captain spends transparently on your behalf: fuel, berths, food, drinks, and anything you ask for along the way. You see the receipts, and whatever is unspent comes back to you at the end. St Barts is a plus-expenses market almost across the board; the all-inclusive pricing you may know from smaller Caribbean catamarans is the exception here, not the rule.

Crew gratuity is customary rather than contractual: 15 to 20% of the charter fee for a good week, handed to the captain at the end for the whole crew.

One thing we always say out loud, because charter pricing has a reputation for hiding it: when we quote you a St Barts yacht, the headline number is the charter fee, and the APA and gratuity come on top. Every figure on this page is the charter fee before APA and gratuity, and no number here pretends otherwise.

The Tax Picture: 0% VAT (Yes, Really)

Here is the part that surprises clients who have chartered in the Mediterranean. Charters in St Barts carry 0% VAT, arranged through a fiscal agent, and our brokers have verified that this applies even to EU-flagged yachts. Compare that with the South of France, where the same caliber of yacht carries 20% VAT on the charter rate.

On a $150,000 week, that difference alone is $30,000. It is one of the quiet reasons the world’s biggest charter yachts cross the Atlantic every winter: the season is beautiful, and the tax treatment does not punish the client for coming.

The island does apply small local taxes to some visitor stays. Whether and how they touch a charter depends on how the trip is structured, so we confirm the exact line items on your written quote rather than publish a number that may not match your booking.

A Worked Example: One Week on a 100 ft Motor Yacht

Say we place your group of 8 on a 100 ft motor yacht at $120,000 for the week:

• Charter fee: $120,000
• APA at 30%: $36,000
• Crew gratuity at 15 to 20%: $18,000 to $24,000
• VAT: $0

All in, that week costs roughly $174,000 to $180,000. The APA is not padding: Gustavia berths, fuel for the Anguilla and Tintamarre runs, and provisioning at St Barts prices are what it exists for. If the plan is quiet anchorages and simple menus, the captain spends less and you get the difference back.

What Moves the Price

Season

The charter season runs December through April, and that is when the fleet is actually here. January through April is peak pricing with the widest choice of yachts. Late April into May is the value window: same island, same boats before they leave for the Mediterranean summer, softer rates. We break down the whole calendar in our guide to the best time for a St Barts charter.

Yacht Type and Size

The gap between a catamaran and a motor yacht is the biggest budget lever you control, and in St Barts it matters more than in most destinations because of what the fleet is.

There is also open water and real Atlantic swell between these islands, which is part of why most of our St Barts clients end up on motor yachts. We compare the 2 options honestly in our guide to catamarans vs motor yachts in St Barts.

New Year’s Week

New Year’s in St Barts does not price like the rest of the Caribbean season. It does not really price like anything else at all. The world’s biggest charter yachts converge on one small harbor for one week, most of them are booked the better part of a year out, and rates go to multiples of an identical week in January. If that week is the goal, start early and read our New Year’s yacht charter guide, which covers timing, the Gustavia berth question, and the yachts we rate for it.

If you are weighing the two festive weeks against each other, our guide to Christmas week versus New Year’s week in St Barts covers which one actually fits your group.

If the Budget Does Not Stretch

We would rather point you somewhere great than squeeze you into the wrong boat. If the numbers above are past the budget, the honest alternative is the BVI: the same flight path into the Caribbean, sheltered cruising that suits catamarans beautifully, and typical bookings around $30,000 to $60,000 a week. St Barts is about the scene, the French table, and the biggest yachts in the hemisphere; the BVI is about easy water and value. Different weeks, both good.

How We Quote a St Barts Week

Tell us the dates, the group, and what a perfect day on board looks like, and we come back with specific yachts at real all-in numbers, fee, APA estimate, and gratuity convention included, from the St Barts fleet. No teaser rates, no “price on request” theater. That first conversation costs nothing and usually saves people weeks of guessing.

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