Catamaran charter in Barcelona

Catamaran charter in Barcelona starts from €212 an hour for a 12-metre sailing catamaran, and the middle of 15 hourly rates is €375. The 20 models below take from 8 to 150 guests and sail with a skipper. Here is how hourly, half-day and day prices compare, what a seat costs at full load, and where the boats are based.

How a crewed catamaran charter works

Catamarans here are hired as a whole boat for one group, almost always with a professional skipper at the helm, and the price can be quoted in three different units.

The boat comes with a skipper

A catamaran rental in Barcelona is not a seat on a shared tour: you book the boat, and your group is the only one on deck. The Rent-Trip section on this page brings together 20 catamaran models, from an 11-metre power catamaran to event boats of 24 and 25 metres, and the market offers them in three working modes — with a captain, by the hour and by the day. Crewed charter is the norm in the city: operators describe professional captains as part of the charter package, and one 13.6-metre Lagoon 440 is offered on a skippered-only basis. A self-drive mode does not appear for any of the 20 models. In practice, the skipper decides the route, handles mooring and watches the weather, while the group swims, eats and sits in the shade of a wide deck.

The licence rule for rented boats

Spain allows small boats to be steered without a licence only for private and sporting use. When a boat is rented, the person who steers it must hold a boating qualification, even if the boat is small enough to have been licence-free before. For catamarans the question is mostly academic: the shortest model here is 11 metres long, far beyond the size of any licence-free boat, so a renter who wants to take the helm needs a recognised qualification in any case. With a professional skipper on board, the guests need no licence at all. That is why crewed charter dominates — it removes the paperwork and the responsibility for the boat from the group.

Three ways the price is quoted

Fifteen of the 20 models are priced by the hour, four by the day and one by the half day. The three units hide very different totals, so a figure is never comparable until it is converted into the time you actually plan to spend at sea. An hourly rate of €250 and a day rate of €700 can describe boats of similar size; the difference lies in what you are buying — a short outing in the first case, a full day in the second. The sections below convert one unit into another so that you can compare like with like.

Hourly rates from €212 to €1,200

The hourly rate is the most common price for catamarans in the city, and it ranges almost six-fold between the smallest sailing boat and the largest event catamaran.

Fifteen hourly rates side by side

Eight of the fifteen start below €400 an hour, two sit between €590 and €700, and five event catamarans start between €807 and €1,200. These are starting prices without dates: a quote for a Saturday in July can be higher than the figure in the table.

Length does not set the rate

It is tempting to read length as a price scale, but the figures do not support it. The Aventura 37, a power catamaran of only 11 metres, starts at €370 an hour, while the 12.6-metre Lagoon 421 starts at €250. The Bali 4.2 is longer than the Nautitech 40 and takes nine more guests, yet it is €25 an hour cheaper. Among the event boats the pattern repeats: the 25-metre Ocean Voyager 78 starts at €1,117, below the €1,200 of the Cala San Vicente, and the 24-metre Taiti 80 costs less per hour than the shorter Tahiti 78 and Ocean Voyager 115. Engine power, deck layout, permitted guest numbers and age all move the rate, so compare boats by the group they take and the total for your hours, not by metres.

From an hourly rate to a trip total

Most outings last two to four hours. Multiplying the hourly rate by the hours you need gives the first realistic total:

A minimum number of hours is not stated for these catamarans, so ask for it before you plan a one-hour sail and work out the total from that minimum, not from a single hour.

Day and half-day prices

Four catamarans are priced by the day and one by the half day, and these prices make most sense for a group that wants to leave the port in the morning and come back in the evening.

Four catamarans priced by the day

The Lagoon 380, an 11.6-metre sailing catamaran with 4 cabins, starts at €600 a day for up to 11 guests — the lowest day price in this section. The Lagoon 440, 13.6 metres long with two 54-hp engines and 4 cabins, starts at €700 a day and is offered with a skipper only. The Ocean Voyager 42, based in Marina Vela, takes up to 15 guests from €1,195 a day. At the top sits the Lagoon 630 Motor Yacht, a 20.1-metre power catamaran with 4 cabins, from €3,900 a day. The jump from €1,195 to €3,900 is not about guest numbers — the Lagoon 630 takes 12 guests by day — but about a far larger boat.

A half-day price with the skipper on top

The Bali 4.0, an 11.93-metre sailing catamaran with 4 cabins and 80 hp, is priced at €1,200 for a half day, with €90 added for the skipper. The full price of the half day is therefore €1,290. This is the only model here where the skipper appears as a separate line, which is a good reason to ask, for every quote, whether the captain sits inside the rate or is billed on top.

Day rate or hours: where the line falls

Hourly rates add up quickly. Four hours on the Bali Catspace cost €848, which is more than a whole day on the Lagoon 380 at €600, and four hours on the Bali 4.1 cost €960 against €700 for a day on the Lagoon 440. For a group of up to 11 that wants a long day at sea, a day-priced boat is often the cheaper route; for a two-hour sunset sail the hourly boats win. The question to settle first is how many hours you really want on the water.

Average day prices and per-trip offers

The market average for a catamaran day in the city sits at around €500, a reference point rather than the price of a particular boat. Operators at Port Olímpic also sell fixed trips of two to four hours: a medium catamaran for up to 26 people from €810 and a large catamaran for up to 125 people from €2,150. Set against the hourly table, three hours on the 26-guest Nautitech 40 cost €1,125 and three hours on the 126-guest Taiti 80 cost €2,421, so a fixed trip can undercut the hourly route for the same group size — if its length and inclusions fit your plan.

Guests, cabins and price per head

Group size is the first filter for a catamaran, and the models in this section cover everything from a family of 8 to a party of 150.

Three size bands

Nine models take up to 12 guests, five take between 15 and 35, and six are event boats for 78 to 150 people. A private catamaran in Barcelona for a family or a group of friends usually means the first band; a company outing of 30 means the second; a wedding party or a corporate event of 100 means the third.

Same length, three times the guests

Length tells you little about how many people can come aboard. Five catamarans between 12 and 12.85 metres take 11, 12, 12, 26 and 35 guests: the Lagoon 421 and the Bali Catspace are set up for a small group, while the Nautitech 40 and the Bali 4.2 take day groups of 26 and 35. The guest limit is set by the boat's certification and layout, not by its length, so ask for the permitted number for your type of trip rather than estimating it from the size.

Price per guest at full load

Dividing the hourly rate by the guest limit shows how much a full boat costs per person for one hour:

• Fountaine Pajot Taiti 80: €807 for 126 guests, about €6.40 per guest.
• Drassanes Dalmau Cala San Vicente: €1,200 for 150, €8 per guest.
• Bali 4.2: €350 for 35, €10 per guest.
• Nautitech 40: €375 for 26, about €14.42 per guest.
• Bali Catspace: €212 for 12, about €17.67 per guest.
• Aventura 37: €370 for 12, about €30.83 per guest.

The cheapest boat per hour is not the cheapest per person. A full Bali 4.2 costs less per head than a full Bali Catspace, even though its hourly rate is €138 higher. The calculation works only if the boat is full, though: for eight people, the €212 Catspace is still the better deal.

Day guests versus overnight berths

Day guests and overnight berths are different numbers. The Lagoon 630 takes 12 guests for a day but 6 for a week on board, and the Lagoon 440 takes 8 guests on 4 cabins. Cabin counts are known for seven models, from 3 on the Lagoon 40 and the Outremer 42 to 4 on the Lagoon 380, 440, 630 and the Bali 4.0 and 4.1. If you plan to sleep on board, start from cabins and berths rather than from the day limit.

Sailing, power and event catamarans

The 20 models fall into three types, and each type answers a different kind of trip.

Sailing catamarans from 11.6 to 13.7 metres

Twelve of the 20 models are sailing catamarans, from the 11.6-metre Lagoon 380 to the 13.7-metre Outremer 42. Seven of them take 8 to 12 guests and suit a quiet day along the coast with a small group. Five are set up for larger day groups — the Ocean Voyager 42 for 15, the Nautitech 40 for 26, the Outremer 42 and the Voyage 450 DC for 30, and the Bali 4.2 for 35. The Outremer 42 is a performance catamaran, built to sail faster than the cruising Lagoon and Bali designs, and it starts at €350 an hour from Port Olímpic.

Two power catamarans

Two models run on engines rather than sails. The Aventura 37, 11 metres long for 12 guests, starts at €370 an hour from the Reial Club Nàutic. The Lagoon 630 Motor Yacht is in another league: 20.1 metres, 4 cabins and a day rate of €3,900. A power catamaran covers distance faster and does not depend on the wind, which matters for a fixed schedule; a sailing catamaran gives a calmer, quieter day.

Event boats for 78 to 150 guests

Six event catamarans carry the large groups. The Ocean Voyager CAT 80, 18 metres long, takes 78 guests from €700 an hour; the Fountaine Pajot Tahiti 78 takes 100 from €950; the Ocean Voyager 115 takes 115 from €980; the Ocean Voyager 78 takes 120 from €1,117; the Fountaine Pajot Taiti 80 takes 126 from €807; and the Drassanes Dalmau Cala San Vicente takes 150 from €1,200. An event catamaran in Barcelona is the only option on this page for a group above 35 people, and it is also where the price per guest is lowest.

Build years and what they tell you

Build years are known for ten models, from 2002 for the Lagoon 380 to 2020 for the Outremer 42. Age does not line up neatly with price: the 2002 Lagoon 380 starts at €600 a day and the 2007 Lagoon 440 at €700, while the 2019 Lagoon 40 and the 2018 Bali 4.1 are priced by the hour at €249 and €240. Treat the year as a question about condition and refits, not as a price label, and ask when the boat was last refitted if the year matters to you.

Marinas, summer demand and the booking request

Where a catamaran leaves from shapes the route and the time you spend reaching open water, and the month you choose shapes the price and the choice.

Port Olímpic and its large boats

Port Olímpic is the base for six of the models, including most of the event boats — the Ocean Voyager CAT 80 and 115, the Cala San Vicente and the Tahiti 78 — as well as the Lagoon 421 and the Outremer 42. Fixed two-to-four-hour trips for medium and large groups also leave from here. The marina sits by the city beaches, so trips along the coast start quickly.

Marina Vela

Marina Vela is the base for five models: the Lagoon 40 and 440, the Voyage 450 DC, the Ocean Voyager 42 and the 25-metre Ocean Voyager 78. It is a modern marina at the southern end of the waterfront and works well for both small sailing boats and event catamarans.

Port Vell and the Reial Club Nàutic

Port Vell, the old harbour by the city centre, is the base of the Bali 4.1 and as one of the two bases of the Tahiti 78. The Aventura 37 leaves from the Reial Club Nàutic. Port Fòrum also appears among the bases used for crewed boats in the city. For seven of the 20 models the marina is not stated, so confirm the departure point before you plan transport for the group.

May to September, booked from winter

The high season for boat hire in the city runs from May to September. Demand starts early: by March, about 45% of the boats are already booked for the season, out of more than 220 boats of all types offered for hire in the city. For a Saturday in July or a group of 100, start looking in winter, when the widest choice of boats and dates is still open.

What to put in a request

A request that gets a comparable answer names five things: the date and the hours you want on the water, the number of guests, the type of boat (sailing, power or event), the departure marina, and what you expect inside the price — skipper, fuel, drinks. With those five, two quotes for the same model can be set side by side; without them, a figure is only a starting point.

Key points before you choose a catamaran

• Hourly rate: 15 catamarans start between €212 and €1,200 an hour, with the middle at €375; multiply by your hours before comparing.
• Day rate: four day-priced models start between €600 and €3,900; four hours on an hourly boat can cost more than a day.
• Group size: 9 models take up to 12 guests, 5 take 15–35 and 6 take 78–150; length does not predict the number.
• Price per guest: at full load an hour costs from about €6.40 per guest on the largest boats to about €30.83 on a small power catamaran.
• Skipper and licence: catamaran charter in Barcelona is crewed; steering a rented boat yourself requires a boating qualification.