YACHT TRIPPER · THE WORLD BY WATER
Find the boat, see the coast.
Reviews of the best yacht charters and day trips on the water, coast by coast. Dubai Marina superyachts and Bosphorus sunset sails, Caribbean catamarans off Cancun and caldera cruises in Santorini, private island days in Croatia and Thailand. We read the reviews so you book the right deck.
Worth the airfare
Three sails that only work where the water is.
You can hire a boat almost anywhere now. But a superyacht out of Dubai Marina, a sunset crossing of the Bosphorus, and a run up to the Arch at Cabo are tied to those coastlines and nowhere else.
On the Marina
Dubai Marina by Superyacht
Nowhere else puts a white hull against a wall of glass towers like this. You board at Dubai Marina and slide out past the Palm and the Burj Al Arab, the city doubling in the water beside you. Most boats run a live BBQ or breakfast on deck, a swim stop off the coast, and a sunset return when the whole skyline lights up at once.
- 1 Dubai Marina: Luxury Yacht Tour with Breakfast or BBQ Option
- 2 Dubai: The Luxury Yacht Tour with Live BBQ Option
- 3 Dubai Marina Yacht Tour with Optional Breakfast or BBQ
Two continents
A Bosphorus Sunset Sail
The Bosphorus is the only strait where you cross from Europe to Asia and back between drinks. A small-group or private yacht carries you under the bridges past Ottoman palaces and wooden waterfront mansions, the call to prayer drifting across the water as the light goes amber. Tea or something stronger comes with it; the city does the rest.
- 1 Istanbul Bosphorus Sunset Cruise on Luxury Yacht
- 2 Istanbul: Sunset or Day Small-Group Yacht Cruise with Snacks
- 3 Istanbul: Bosphorus Sunset Cruise on Yacht with Live Guide
Land’s End
Cabo and the Arch at Sunset
Where the Baja peninsula runs out, the desert drops straight into the sea and the rock arch of El Arco frames the spot the Pacific meets the Sea of Cortez. A sunset sail noses right up to it past the sea-lion colony and Lover’s Beach, drinks flowing as the cliffs turn copper and the light goes down behind Land’s End. Whales breach offshore from December to March.
- 1 Cabo San Lucas Luxury Sailing Yacht and Dinner with a Chef
- 2 Cabo San Lucas Private Yacht Cruise with Open Bar
- 3 Your Own Private Luxury Yacht Experience in Cabo San Lucas
The boat everyone books
If you only book one charter.
More travellers reach for this one than any other on the site. A safe first booking on a coast you are still getting your bearings on.
The classics
The World’s Most Popular Yacht Charters
Dubai, Istanbul, Tenerife, Cancun, Cabo. The cruises and day trips travellers reach for first, on the coasts they most want under their feet.
Where to cast off
Pick the coast you want under you.
Dubai for skyline superyachts. Istanbul for a sunset between two continents. Cabo for the Arch at golden hour. Cancun for the reef, Tenerife for the whales, Puerto Vallarta for Banderas Bay. Start with the water you came for.
Before you book
How you want to spend the day on the water.
The kind of boat matters as much as the coast. Three ways to get out on the water, depending on the time you have and how much of the day you want to give it.
The Atlantic Islands
Volcanic islands, whales off the bow.
The Canaries sit in some of the calmest, most wildlife-rich water a charter can reach. Off Tenerife and Gran Canaria the resident pilot whales and dolphins surface beside the hull within the first hour, the volcanic coast rising dark behind them. You sail out for the sighting, drop anchor in a sheltered cove for a swim, and have the deck to the warm Atlantic light all afternoon.
See the best whale-watch sails off Tenerife →The Mexican Caribbean
Warm water, every shade of blue.
From Cancun and Playa del Carmen the catamarans run out to Isla Mujeres and the reef, the sea the kind of turquoise that looks edited. Over on the Pacific, Cabo and Puerto Vallarta trade it for the Arch, the sea lions and a sunset over the Sea of Cortez. Either coast, the day is built around the swimming.
See the best catamaran day trips from Cancun →The best part
The moment the engine cuts.
A good charter is never just the boat. It is the run out past the headland, the skipper who knows the cove with no name, and the moment the engine drops to nothing and the only sound is water on the hull. Someone jumps in first, the rest follow, and the coastline you came to see is suddenly all yours.
Browse every yacht charter →The cold North
Not every charter is a warm-water one.
Off Reykjavik the boats head out for the other kind of day on the water: humpbacks and minke whales breaching against black volcanic coast, puffins wheeling off the cliffs, and in winter the chance of the northern lights from the deck once the city glow drops away. You wrap up warm, the crew finds the whales, and the North Atlantic does the rest.
- 1 Reykjavík: Whale Watching Cruise on the Amelia Rose Yacht
- 2 Reykjavik: Northern Lights Yacht Tour
- 3 Reykjavik: Whale Watching and Dolphin Watching Yacht Cruise
How much water
How long do you want under sail?
Some trips are two calm hours and a sundowner. Some are a full day built around the swimming. And some are a private boat, a skipper and a whole coastline to yourselves. Pick how much water you want under you, and we will point you at the charter.
A couple of hours
Take the harbour at golden hour.A sunset cruise on flat, sheltered water: a glass in hand, the skyline sliding past, and the boat back at the dock before dinner. The easiest way to see a city from the sea.
A full day out
Make a day of it, swim stops included.A catamaran or motor yacht with the day built around the water: a run out to an island, an anchor drop over a reef, snorkel gear, lunch aboard and the speakers on for the ride home.
The whole coastline
Charter the boat and chase the bay.A private yacht and a skipper who knows the coast: the hidden beaches of Banderas Bay, the Marietas and their coves, the route set by you and the wind. The trip people plan a whole holiday around.
The home port
Some cities were built around the marina.
Dubai is the clearest case on the water: a whole district of berths under the towers, a fleet that runs from sleek day-cruisers to floating mega-yachts, and a coastline made for the photo. Breakfast or a live BBQ on deck, a swim off the Palm, and a sunset return when the skyline switches on. It is the most-booked charter city on this site, and you can see why from the first berth.
See all 50 Dubai charters →By coast
Pick a coast and cast off.
Dubai for skyline superyachts and a BBQ on deck. Istanbul for a sunset between two continents. Cancun for catamarans out to the reef. Santorini for the caldera at dusk. Miami for Biscayne Bay, Cabo for the Arch. Start with the water you flew in for.
More home ports
And the coasts just past the marquee names.
The Canaries off Tenerife, Barcelona and the Costa Brava, the Amalfi Coast from Sorrento, the Red Sea out of Hurghada, the Cyclades from Mykonos, the still water of Lake Como. More coastlines worth booking a deck on.
Cast off to sundowner
A perfect day afloat.
First charter and not sure what a day on the water looks like? Here is how the best of them run, from a calm morning cast-off to a swim stop at noon to a sundowner on the way back in.
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