British Virgin Islands yacht charter,
arranged personally.

John Boullin
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Crewed BVI charters start around $15,000 a week, but at that price you get a captain only. Our advice: budget at least $30,000. That is where a real luxury week starts, with 2 to 3 crew, and a family of six to eight with a strong chef sits in the $30,000 to $60,000 band.

Most BVI yachts are all-inclusive, so on top you add only small local fees and the crew gratuity, commonly 15 to 20%. Some luxury yachts charge APA instead: a base rate plus 25 to 35% for food, drinks and fuel.

We quote the complete number from the first email. Full breakdown with examples: How Much Does a BVI Yacht Charter Cost?

Leonidas Marousos
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

High season runs December through April, and the peaks are Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year. Most holiday charters are booked between July and September, and the popular yachts go first, so we recommend booking earlier than that. February through April keeps the perfect sailing weather with slightly less calendar pressure.

Two seasonal quirks worth knowing. The Christmas Winds, strong easterly trades, often blow through late December and January; the Drake Channel keeps it all very sailable, but it is breezier than the postcard. And June through November is hurricane season: the quietest, cheapest months, best booked with a hurricane addendum in the contract and honest expectations.

Our favorite value windows are early December and May: high-season weather on the edges of high-season pricing. For what the calendar does to rates, see How Much Does a BVI Yacht Charter Cost?

Daniel Asmus
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Two pricing models for the same vacation. All-inclusive means one price covers the chef's food, the standard bar, fuel, and mooring fees; you step aboard and stop thinking about money. APA means a base rate plus an Advance Provisioning Allowance, typically 25 to 35%, an onboard budget the captain spends and reconciles, with the unspent part refunded.

The BVI is the world capital of the all-inclusive crewed catamaran, and for most groups here it is the better experience: no accounting, no fuel anxiety, just the week. The usual exclusions are premium alcohol and dinners ashore, which the contract lists explicitly. Larger motor yachts more often run APA.

Neither is universally cheaper; it depends on how your group eats, drinks, and cruises. We translate every quote into the same all-in language so you compare like with like: what is included in a crewed BVI charter.

John Boullin
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

The headline is the best in yachting: the BVI charges no VAT on charters, 0%, against 20%+ across most of the Mediterranean. What you pay instead is a short list of small per-person fees.

The main one is the BVI cruising tax, $4 to $16 per person per day depending on where the yacht is based (BVI-based boats sit at the low end, which is one reason base matters). Add a $10 per person environmental levy, national park fees of roughly $25 to $55 for the week, and mooring balls at $25 to $55 a night, usually inside the price on all-inclusive boats. Yachts starting from the USVI add a customs clearance, around $65 per person.

Every one of these is itemized in our first quote, so the number you approve is the number you pay. Full detail: the BVI cruising tax explained.

Chris de Kock
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

No. Our service is free to you. Like a travel agent, we are paid commission from the yacht's side, and the charter fee is the same whether you book through us or go direct. There is no markup for using a broker.

What you get for that same price in the BVI specifically: we know which catamarans and crews actually deliver, which chefs earn their reputations, which boats hold their all-inclusive promises, and we handle the preference sheet, the route, and any accounting questions afterwards.

The one thing we ask: pick one broker and work with them. The same inquiry sent to five brokers means managers see your name five times, and nobody can negotiate well for you after that.

Leonidas Marousos
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

It is the best first charter destination in the world, and that is not marketing. The islands sit in a ring around the protected Drake Channel, so navigation is line-of-sight, most hops are under an hour, mooring balls wait at day's end, and if anyone gets nervous, land is always in view.

The infrastructure flatters first-timers too: all-inclusive catamarans remove money decisions, crews here host more first charters than anywhere on earth, and the beach bars give every evening a destination. If the family loves it, and they will, the harder Caribbean and Med grounds are all still ahead of you.

Our first-timer formula: a crewed all-inclusive cat, seven days, the classic loop with the Baths, Jost Van Dyke, and Anegada if weather allows. Start with when to go, and tell us your group; the rest is our job.

December to April, for dry weather and steady trade winds. May to July is quieter and a good time to find a yacht. August to October is the peak of hurricane season, and October has the fewest catamarans offering dates. The BVI month by month.

Much less than in the Mediterranean. Across the BVI-based crewed catamarans we list, the median rate is about $32,000 a week in every month. Christmas and New Year weeks carry premiums and book early. When the rates change.

A BVI-based yacht saves the customs check-in and pays the lower BVI cruising permit. A yacht based in St Thomas (USVI) means easier flights, but the yacht has to clear into the BVI and pays the higher permit for foreign-based yachts. USVI or BVI start.

A classic week takes in Norman Island, Jost Van Dyke, Cooper Island, the Baths on Virgin Gorda and the North Sound. With calm weather it adds Anegada for the lobster and the empty beaches. The popular 7-day loop and the full route with Anegada.

Most BVI charters are on crewed catamarans. They are stable, spacious and usually all-inclusive, with a median of about $32,500 a week in high season, against about $92,500 for motor yachts. A motor yacht covers distance faster, which helps if you want Anegada and the outer islands. Sailing vs power catamarans.

Most crewed BVI catamarans take 6 to 10 guests. Only a few take 12, which is the usual maximum. Larger groups sail two yachts together. 12-guest catamarans.