By Klara Braga Jakobsen, Yacht Reviewer at DMA Yachting · Last updated: September 2026
On a crewed BVI catamaran, the chef is a third of the crew and half the experience. These ten boats are where that half shines.
Every boat here earned its slot with real food evidence: our own inspections during the BVI charter show week, five-star client reviews, or culinary awards won at the shows. We have also checked every named chef against each boat’s current crew list, so the cook we praise is the cook you get.
Rates run from $40,500 to $112,000 per week with the chef included on every one, ranked from 10 down to our number one.
10. GULLWING
“Two Desserts a Day”
GULLWING‘s owner has a serious sweet tooth, so the galley turns out incredible food plus two desserts a day, house policy. Chef Anna Kane trained at Ireland’s famous Ballymaloe cookery school and the Ashburton yacht chef academy, holds a wine tasting and pairing certificate, and leaves little welcome gifts on every bed.
She cooks on a 2024 Lagoon 55 with a toy garage that reads like a resort: an iAqua underwater scooter, four Blu3 tankless diving systems, transparent paddleboards, floating party docks, and a full beach setup with chairs, umbrellas, and games. Captain Will Hamilton has been teaching people to sail since he was 16, so guests who want to learn are in good hands.
The market has noticed; she is already carrying bookings into 2027. Book early, the sweet tooth is popular.
9. FOREVER YOUNG
“Beyond a 5-Star Chef”
FOREVER YOUNG is the most affordable entry here, with client praise money cannot buy: a family’s five-star review this July called Elena and Brian Christiansen “hands-down the best crew in all of BVI” and Elena “beyond a 5-star chef.”
Chef Elena Christiansen builds menus from French influences and flavors gathered across more than 40 countries, and she handles vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free requests as a matter of course. Captain Brian, a USCG 100 Ton captain with over a decade in the Caribbean, plans the days around the toys.
And the toys on this brand-new 55-foot power catamaran are absurd for the price: an e-foil, kite and wing foil gear, a mini sailing catamaran, a floating pool, and a giant 500-pound waterslide. For 6 guests at $40,500, nothing on this list gives more per dollar.
8. JUSTIFIED HORIZONS
“Gourmet Cooking on the Most Active Boat Here”
Chef Sara Hogan grew up living aboard a sailboat in the Caribbean from age 13, trained at Ashburton, and holds a USCG 100 Ton captain’s license of her own. It shows in menus that run from miso glazed sea bass and filet mignon to key lime pie and passionfruit creme brulee.
Around her, JUSTIFIED HORIZONS is the most activity-packed boat on this list: Captain Michael Plotner is a PADI Dive Instructor and e-foil expert who makes watersports the centerpiece, and First Mate Shelley Black opens the mornings with yoga on deck before getting everyone up on the e-foils.
Burn it all off, then eat like it is a restaurant. A Lagoon 65 for 10 guests that sails better than most charter catamarans.
7. OMAKASE
“Sushi Spreads and a Pizza Oven on the Flybridge”
OMAKASE is named after the Japanese phrase for “leave it to the chef,” and she means it. Chef and First Mate Kelly Sargent trained at The Avenue and Ashburton cookery schools and has cooked charter seasons in Greece, Croatia, the Bahamas, and the BVI. Expect gorgeous spreads with a Mediterranean tilt, sushi included.
The massive protected flybridge carries a pizza oven and room for a proper sunset party, and when we stepped aboard there were rosemary, thyme and lemon muffins coming out of the galley. Between meals there is a Fliteboard, Seabobs, a drone for vacation footage, and a games drawer deep enough for any rainy hour.
An award-winning 2023 Horizon power catamaran for 6 who want the food to lead the week.
6. JAN’S FELINE
“I Wish We Could Take Him With Us”
Chef Ludovic Jean-Baptiste ran his own pastry business in Martinique before taking over the galley on JAN’S FELINE, and it shows: French technique, Caribbean ingredients, and desserts good enough to plan the day around.
A July charter came back with the line every chef wants to hear: “Ludo’s food was absolutely delicious and indescribably good. I wish we could take him with us.”
The boat is a brand-new Lagoon 78 with a crew of four led by Captain Kirk Robinson, who has 22 years of Caribbean charters behind him. E-foils and underwater lights fill the days, an outdoor movie screen fills the evenings, and the kitchen keeps pace with all of it.
5. NAUTI NICKEL
“Exceptional Fine Dining, an Everyday Treat”
NAUTI NICKEL sits at the top of this list’s price range, and the food justifies it. Chef Jennifer Lang is Le Cordon Bleu trained and blends French technique with Caribbean flavors, pacing her menus around active water-toy days on a Sunreef 80 for 10 guests.
A guest’s five-star review this July said it best: Captain Michael and Chef Jen “run a great operation, with exceptional fine dining an everyday treat.”
The operation around the dining is scaled to match: a crew of five, a 2024 refit, and two tenders, including RONIN, a 40-foot, 1,200 horsepower sport boat with an air-conditioned pilothouse that lands you at every dock like a celebrity. Snorkel outings and beach picnics run from the second tender while dinner is plated on time.
4. AEOLUS 77
“Genuinely Michelin-Worthy”
When we walked AEOLUS 77 at the BVI charter show, the verdict was simple: the onboard dining is genuinely Michelin-worthy, on an award-winning 2024 Lagoon 77 with the service to match.
Chef Jamison Laxton holds Le Cordon Bleu certification in gastronomy and nutrition and cooked as a sous chef on a 55-meter Feadship in the Mediterranean before taking over this galley. She delivers plated dinners and sushi-style spreads backed by fresh-baked pastries and desserts timed for full days on the water, and Stewardess Chene Nel brings WSET wine and spirits training plus a cocktail masterclass, so the pours keep up with the plates.
Our brokers have booked her six times since 2026 alone, including a 40th-anniversary charter the guests called the most amazing vacation of their life. She books close to a year out, and the dining is a big part of why.
3. PALOMA
“A Cape Town-Trained Chef and a Purple Hippo”
PALOMA earned her slot at the 2025 BVI show culinary competition, where Chef Bianca Cox took runner-up in the dessert category. Bianca grew up in Cape Town, trained through the Superyacht Chef introduction and advanced courses there, and has more than five years of Caribbean yacht-chef seasons behind her.
The rest of the crew keeps the food-and-drink theme going: deckhand and steward Brandon Knodl focuses on mixology, running cocktail-led afternoons and sundowners off the swim platform.
She is a 2024 Lagoon 65 for 10 guests with a beautiful master suite, a rare four-bunk kids’ cabin, and a toy lineup led by Harry the purple hippo, which makes her the family pick of this list: serious desserts, silly floats.
2. ENDLESS HORIZON
“Best Dessert at the 2025 BVI Show”
ENDLESS HORIZON walked away from the 2025 BVI show with first place for dessert in the culinary competition, plus runner-up in the main-course category, and the chef who won them is still aboard. Chef Ulrika Fredrikson has cooked on her since 2022, leans Asian and Mediterranean, and is known for her homemade bread.
When we stepped aboard at the show, the crew threw a Tahitian-themed cocktail party with tuna tartare served in coconuts and sticky rum cake, and the marble-finished interior looks straight out of a magazine.
A Sunreef 80 for 8 guests with a crew of four, including a dedicated fourth crew member who keeps kids entertained while the adults linger over dinner. All food and drinks, wines included, are in the rate.
1. SIETE MARES
“Best Main Dish in the Show. Literally.”
SIETE MARES was the most decorated boat of the 2025 BVI show: Best in Show for her class, first place for the main course in the culinary competition, first place in the table-setting competition with hostess Sarai Ben Ari’s strikingly original Nordic theme, and runner-up for Best Crew.
The galley is now in the hands of Chef Maxime Hughes, Cape Town trained, with 75,000 nautical miles and a circumnavigation behind her and events from the Monaco Grand Prix to Oyster regattas on her record. Her galley-down layout keeps a full bar in the saloon, and the whole boat runs green: reef-friendly amenities, natural cleaning products, and purified-water filtration instead of plastic bottles.
A brand-new Lagoon 78 for 8 guests with a hydraulic swim platform, gym equipment, and a Williams jet tender. The dining table is the trophy cabinet.
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