by Frances Stanford

Created on: June 16, 2009

There are many decisions that go into choosing a Caribbean charter yacht. The first thing you have to decide is whether or not you want to sail the yacht yourself. In order to do this, you will need to have specific licenses and training and provide the applicable documentation to the company that you deal with. Such companies require not only proof that you have the necessary training but they also need proof that you have had experience skippering a yacht.

The typical Caribbean charter yacht is a bareboat. There are various sizes of such yachts available for your needs depending on the size of your party. They range from yachts suitable for a day cruise in which you just want to spend the day on the bay and return to port at night to large yachts with 4 and several bathrooms.

If you do not have any yachting experience, you can choose a crewed charter in which you have nothing to do but relax and enjoy the trip. The skipper is a freelance skipper hired by the company and you have the catering crew on board to cook your meals. You also have the option of having a skipper only and taking care of the cooking and cleaning on your own.

A private yacht with a full crew is a luxurious option in choosing a Caribbean charter yacht. In this situation there is a permanent captain and crew assigned to the yacht. The price of such a charter is all-inclusive - it includes your meals and drinks. You even have your own bar staff to tend to your needs and meals are prepared according to your individual tastes. These yachts tend to be much larger than the typical bareboat yachts and have more amenities.

Although taking a luxury charter to the Caribbean is very similar to a cruise, there are advantages. You can visit smaller places on the islands and thus visit less crowded beaches because the yachts can enter ports that are too small for the large cruise ships. You won't have to deal with large crowds on or off the yacht because everyone on board is friends or part of a family.

The next decision you have to make in choosing a Caribbean charter yacht is where you are going to go and the duration of the trip. If you are skippering the boat yourself, you can virtually choose any Caribbean destination and duration that is within your budget. You will, however, have to provide an outline of your itinerary to the company that owns the yacht.

If you opt for a charter with a skipper or a full crew, you will likely have to choose a specific destination within the Caribbean. This means you will have to find out the various Caribbean islands that the company does visit and narrow down your choices to one of these locations. This choice also depends on the length of time you want to spend sailing. For example, those who like to sail on a yacht for a short time, but want to spend most of their time exploring the islands themselves usually charter a yacht to the British Virgin Islands. Chartering a yacht to the Grenadines, on the other hand, means you will have a longer and more exposed sail.

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