Boat rental in Costa Brava

Boat rental in Costa Brava starts from €195 a day for a 6-metre open boat, and the middle of 70 motorboat and RIB models sits at €455. Below: what each length costs, which Spanish licence covers it, what a skipper adds, how half days and weeks compare with a single day, and how the summer moves the price.

How a day on a motorboat is priced

A motorboat day on this coast is sold as the whole boat for your group, not as a seat on a shared excursion. The price you see belongs to the boat, and everyone aboard shares it. That simple fact changes how you should read every figure on this page: a €455 boat for ten people and a €455 boat for six are the same price, but not the same deal.

Three units: half day, day and week

The 70 models gathered in this section are priced first of all by the day. For 53 of them a half-day price is also known, and for 37 a weekly price. Two working modes run side by side: you take the helm yourself if you hold the right licence, or a professional skipper drives while you swim, eat and choose the coves. Hourly hire also exists on the coast, but the day and the half day are the units almost every rental is priced by, so they are the units this guide compares.

What a “from” price really means

Every daily figure in this section is the lowest daily rate a boat goes out for across its whole season. On most boats that lowest rate belongs to spring or autumn, not to August. A boat shown at €395 can cost €685 a day in the peak weeks of summer, as the price ladder in a later section shows. Treat “from” as the floor of the range, never as the quote for your dates. When you compare two boats, compare their prices for the same week, not their starting figures.

What can sit outside the day rate

The skipper, the deposit and, depending on the boat, fuel are the items that can turn a day rate into a different final bill. The documents asked for at the pier are short: an identity document, a credit card for the deposit and, for boats that need one, your boating licence. The skipper is a separate line priced by the half day or the day. In my experience, the cleanest comparison is to ask each quote the same three questions — is fuel included, is a skipper included, how large is the deposit — before you look at the headline number at all.

Seventy boats by length, layout and price

Length decides almost everything on a motorboat: how many people fit, which licence you need and how far up the price range you go. Splitting the 70 models into three length bands gives a clear picture.

Budget boats up to 6 metres

The cheapest day on the water belongs to the short open boats. The Mareti 600 Open, a 6-metre boat for 7 people with a 115 hp engine, starts at €195 a day, and the Orizzonti Andromeda of the same length takes 8 people from €215. The BravaBoats BF470 is the shortest model of all at 4.7 metres, carrying 4 people with a 60 hp engine from €220. Twelve of the 70 models start under €300 a day, and every one of them is 6 metres long or shorter — the Pacific Craft Open 545 from €225, the Beneteau Flyer 5.5 from €250, the Zodiac Medline 500 RIB from €260. These boats suit a couple or a family that wants a beach day with a swim stop or two.

The 6 to 8 metre middle

More than half of the section, 39 models, sits between 6.1 and 8 metres. This is where open boats grow a sundeck, a T-top for shade or a small cabin, and where engines reach 150–300 hp. Typical examples are the Beneteau Flyer 6.6 for 10 people from €360, the Axopar 22 T-Top from €430 and the Capelli Tempest 700 RIB for 12 from €445. The middle of the band is €470, so a group of eight to ten should plan around that figure rather than the €195 floor of the section.

Over 8 metres: cabins and long-range day boats

Fourteen models are longer than 8 metres. The Capelli Tempest 900 RIB at 9.55 metres is the longest, from €770 a day; the Jeanneau Cap Camarat 9.0 CC with 400 hp starts at €764 and the Axopar 29 Sun Top at €760. Length alone does not set the price, though: the Beneteau Antares 8 OB, an 8.23-metre cabin boat with a 150 hp engine, starts at only €350, while the 8-metre Nuva M8 Cabin is the most expensive model in the section at €790.

Open boat, RIB or cabin

Of the 70 models, 23 are RIBs — rigid-hull inflatables — and the rest are open boats, day cruisers and a few small cabin boats. The two families cost almost the same: the middle RIB starts at €450 a day, the middle motorboat at €470. RIBs win on capacity for their length: 14 of them are rated for 12 people, against 4 conventional motorboats with the same rating. A cabin matters if you want shade, a toilet or a place to change; for a swimming day a large sundeck usually matters more.

Which licence covers which boat length

Spain links the right to drive a recreational boat to its length, and this is the single fact that sorts the section into “I can drive it” and “I need a skipper”.

Why none of these boats is licence-free

From 1 October 2026 the licence-free category is limited to motorboats up to 5 metres and 15 hp, used in daylight and no further than 2 nautical miles from the port, marina or beach of departure, by drivers aged 18 or over. Not one of the 70 models fits: even the shortest, the 4.7-metre BravaBoats BF470, carries a 60 hp engine. If you want to drive without any qualification, the separate licence-free boats section starts from €95 a day.

The titulín and the PNB

The licencia de navegación, known locally as the titulín, allows you to drive recreational boats up to 6 metres with an engine of suitable power. It covers the 17 short boats in the first band — on paper. Engine power still matters, so check that the boat you choose matches what your qualification allows. The PNB raises the limit to motorboats up to 8 metres, provided you stay within 5 miles of the coast, which opens the whole 39-model middle band. For boats above 8 metres, operators on the coast ask for a PER or a higher qualification; one operator in Lloret de Mar states plainly that it rents to holders of a PNB, PER or higher, and otherwise offers a professional skipper.

Why a licence matters for Cap de Creus

The licence is not only about which boat you can drive but about where you can go. In Roses, operators point out that a boat rented with a qualification can reach the protected coves of the Cap de Creus Natural Park, which lie beyond the reach of licence-free boats and their 2-mile limit. If those coves are the reason for your trip, you need either your own licence or a skipper — the cheaper licence-free option will not get you there.

Hiring a skipper instead of a licence

Without a qualification, or on a boat larger than your licence allows, a skipper is the standard answer, and on this coast he is priced as a separate line on top of the boat.

What a skipper costs

One operator in Roses charges €80 for a skipper for a half day of 4 hours and €140 for a full day of 8 hours. That turns the cheapest day in the section — the Mareti 600 Open at €195 — into €335 with a professional at the helm, and a €455 middle-of-the-range boat into €595. Split between eight guests, the skipper adds €17.50 each for the day. Rates differ from one base to another, so ask for the skipper's price in writing with the boat quote, and ask whether his meals or any overtime are extra.

When a skipper makes sense even with a licence

A skipper earns his fee in three situations. First, on a boat over 8 metres, where a PNB is not enough. Second, on a first visit, when you do not know which coves are sheltered from the day's wind or where anchoring is restricted. Third, for a group that wants everyone on the sundeck rather than one person watching the depth and the traffic. In my view, a first day with a skipper and a second day on your own licence is the most relaxed way to learn this coast.

How to compare a skipper quote with a self-drive quote

Add the skipper line to the self-drive day rate before you compare. A €450 boat with an included skipper and a €350 boat plus €140 for a skipper are almost the same day. Check also whether the skippered quote fixes the route or the number of hours, since a full day of 8 hours is the usual frame.

Half day, full day, week and price per guest

The daily rate is only one of the units, and the other two — the half day and the week — follow patterns worth knowing before you choose.

A half day costs about 70 percent of a day

For the 53 models with both prices, the middle half-day price is 70 percent of the full-day price. The gap varies a lot from boat to boat, so it pays to ask for both:

On the Beneteau Flyer 6, the extra half day costs just €20, so a full day is the obvious choice; on the Axopar 28 T-Top, a morning out saves €260. A half day suits a short swim run or an evening outing; anything involving a lunch stop in a distant cove needs the full day.

A week costs about six days

For the 37 models with a weekly price, the middle week costs 5.95 times the daily rate. The AS Marine 22 GL goes out for €2,220 a week against €395 a day, the AS Marine 570 Open for €1,710 against €295, and the Altamarea Wave 23 RIB for €3,950 against €650 — on that boat six separate days would cost €3,900, so the seventh day is almost free. If you plan more than four days on the water, ask for the weekly price before booking days one by one.

Price per guest

Divide the day rate by the number of people the boat is rated for and the picture changes. The Orizzonti Andromeda works out at €26.88 per person for 8 guests, the Mareti 600 Open at €27.86 for 7, and the Capelli Tempest 600 RIB at €28.33 for 12. The middle of the section is €47.50 per person, and the top is the Nuva M8 Cabin at €98.75 for 8. For a full group, a 12-person RIB at €340 is cheaper per head than most small boats; for a couple, the short open boats are the only sensible starting point.

Home ports and the summer price ladder

Where the boat is based and when you sail decide as much about the day as the model does.

Where the boats are based

For 57 of the 70 models the home port is known, and Roses dominates with 27 of them, followed by Empuriabrava with 11 and Palamós with 8. Platja d'Aro and S'Agaró account for 5, L'Estartit and Blanes for 2 each, Cadaqués and Begur for 1 each. Roses and Empuriabrava sit in the north, at the doorstep of Cap de Creus; Palamós and Platja d'Aro serve the central coast; Blanes is the southern end, closest to Lloret de Mar and Tossa. Pick the base for the coves you want to see: the further the coves are from the port, the more of your day goes on the passage.

How prices climb through the summer

For 53 models the price changes with the season, and for the middle boat the peak daily rate is 1.6 times its lowest rate; on the steepest boat it is 2.43 times. The AS Marine 22 GL from Roses shows a typical ladder:

• 1 January to 31 May: €395 a day.
• 1 June to 14 July: €475.
• 15 to 23 July: €560.
• 24 July to 20 August: €685.
• 21 to 31 August: €560.
• 1 to 10 September: €475.

The late-July and August weeks are the most expensive, and June and early September give most of the summer weather at a lower step of the ladder. If your dates are flexible, moving a trip from mid-August to early September saves €210 a day on this boat.

Age of the boats

Build years run from 2008 to 2026, and the most common year is 2023 with 11 models, followed by 2022 and 2025 with 8 each. 41 of the 57 dated models were built in 2021 or later. An older boat is not automatically a worse deal, but ask about the engine's age and the last refit when two similar boats differ sharply in price.

Before you book: comparisons and a checklist

Motorboat or another kind of vessel

A motorboat is the fastest way to move between coves, but it is not the only way onto the water here. The starting prices of the neighbouring sections give a sense of scale:

Questions to settle before you pay

Two quotes for boats of the same length can differ by hundreds of euros, and the difference usually hides in the details rather than in the boat. Settle these points first:

• Dates and season step: the “from” price is the low-season floor; ask for the rate on your exact dates.
• Unit: half day, day or week — and how many hours the half day and the day cover.
• Licence: up to 6 m with a titulín, up to 8 m with a PNB, above that a PER or a skipper.
• Skipper: included or extra, and at what rate; €80 for 4 hours and €140 for 8 hours is one benchmark on the coast.
• Fuel and deposit: whether fuel is in the price and how large the card deposit is.
• Home port: choose the base nearest the coves you want — Roses and Empuriabrava for Cap de Creus, Palamós and Platja d'Aro for the central coast, Blanes for the south.

Five figures to keep in mind

• Day rate: the 70 models start between €195 and €790, with the middle at €455.
• Half day: about 70 percent of a full day for the middle boat.
• Week: about 5.95 daily rates.
• Peak season: the middle boat costs 1.6 times its lowest rate at the summer peak.
• Per guest: from €26.88 a person on a full boat, €47.50 in the middle of the range.