Sailboat charter in Phuket

Sailing yachts in Phuket start from ฿7,350 a day for a two-cabin Beneteau Oceanis Clipper 323 based at Yacht Haven Marina, and the 35 models on this page run from a 7.6-metre racer to a 31.7-metre crewed superyacht. Below: how a sailboat charter in Phuket is priced by the day and by the week, what the season does to rates, who may sail without a skipper and where the boats are based.

Bareboat, skippered or crewed: three ways to take a sailing yacht

A sailing yacht here comes in three formats, and the one you pick decides the price, the paperwork and who is in charge on deck.

What each charter format means

A bareboat charter hands you the yacht without crew: you sail, anchor and plan the route yourself. A skippered charter adds a professional at the helm, so the group can swim, snorkel or learn the ropes while someone else carries the responsibility. A crewed charter goes a step further — the boat comes with its own crew, and on the island this format belongs to sailing superyachts of 30 metres or longer. All three are sold by the day or by the week. Of the 35 models on this page, 24 carry a daily price and 11 a weekly one; nine of those weekly prices belong to bareboat cruising yachts and two to crewed superyachts. Settle the format first, because a crewed price set against a bareboat price compares two different products.

Sailing experience for a bareboat

Sailing without a skipper calls for proof of experience: the bareboat base at Ao Po Grand Marina asks for Level 2 sailing experience, meaning 10 days or 200 miles as skipper on a yacht of equivalent size. The bar is about the size of the boat as much as the hours — a log kept on a 10-metre boat says little about handling a 15-metre yacht with four or five cabins. If nobody in the group meets it, the answer is simple: hire a skipper, the alternative offered to crews without the qualification. In my view this is the first thing to settle before looking at prices, since it decides which boats are open to you at all. Put together your record — days or miles as skipper and the length of the yachts — before asking for a bareboat price.

Who should pick which format

• Experienced skippers: once your logged skipper time matches the yacht's size, you can take a cruising monohull bareboat and plan your own route.
• Mixed groups: if one person sails and the rest want to swim, a skippered boat frees everyone, including the person who would otherwise spend the day at the helm.
• Beginners: a one-design racer or a classic yacht offered with a skipper lets newcomers feel the boat while a professional keeps control.
• Large parties on a week-long cruise: a crewed superyacht takes 8 to 10 guests in 4 or 5 cabins, with the crew handling navigation and the route.

Daily prices across the island's sailing fleet

Of the 35 models, 24 are priced by the day. The spread runs from ฿7,350 to ฿220,900, but most boats sit in a much narrower band.

Daily price bands by boat type

The cheapest boats on the island

The lowest daily price on this page is ฿7,350 for a Beneteau Oceanis Clipper 323 with 2 cabins and 4 berths, based at Yacht Haven Marina. Just above it come the 11.8-metre Catalina 375 at ฿8,200, the 10-metre Bavaria Cruiser 32 at ฿8,550 and the Bavaria Cruiser 33 at ฿9,000 — all two-cabin boats, all from the same marina. These are compact cruisers for two couples or a family of four, not party boats for a crowd. One detail is easy to miss: the Catalina 375 sleeps 4 in two cabins by one count and 6 by another, so confirm the berth figure for the specific boat before counting heads. For a party of four, the cheapest band works out at about ฿1,840 to ฿2,250 per person a day.

What pushes the daily price up

Cabin count matters less than you might expect: three-cabin boats run from ฿10,100 to ฿15,400 a day, while the four- and five-cabin models sit at ฿12,200 to ฿14,200. The real jumps come from people, not hulls. Racers, classics and boats offered with a skipper cost ฿14,500 to ฿33,500, and the largest day-priced yacht, the four-cabin Pithak Shipyard 104, costs ฿220,900. In sailing yacht rental in Phuket the first question is therefore not "how big?" but "who sails?" — a five-cabin Dufour 520 Grand Large at ฿14,200 costs less than a 7.6-metre Platu 25 offered with a skipper at ฿14,500. Decide on crew first, then compare boats within that tier.

Weekly rates and the November–April season

Eleven models are priced by the week, and many day-priced boats also carry a weekly range. That range is where the calendar shows.

Weekly prices for bareboat models

How wide the weekly range runs

Across the 16 models that come with a weekly range, the top figure is 1.91 to 3.78 times the bottom one, and for half of them it is more than 2.2 times. The Bavaria Cruiser 37 has the narrowest spread, ฿61,400 to ฿117,400; the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 409 the widest, ฿60,000 to ฿226,800. The island's high season runs from November to April, yet a quote will not always say which end of the range applies to which week. Is the ฿60,000 bottom figure the price of a December week? Ask rather than assume — and ask for the total on your exact dates instead of the "from" figure. A narrow range leaves little to gain from moving your dates; a wide one is where a week earlier or later can change the bill most.

Week or seven separate days

A weekly price is not automatically cheaper than seven daily ones. For the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 409 the lowest weekly price is ฿60,000, while seven days at the lowest daily rate of ฿10,500 add up to ฿73,500 — the week saves ฿13,500. The Bavaria C45 goes the other way: ฿98,700 for the week against ฿90,300 for seven days at ฿12,900. The Hanse 400 shows how much the format moves the figure: ฿24,200 a day as a skippered boat at Chalong Pier, from ฿58,700 for a bareboat week. Each pair compares the lowest prices for the same model, which may belong to different boats of different age. Before choosing a week, multiply the daily rate by seven and compare totals for the same boat.

Cabins, berths and length: fitting the boat to your group

The price of the boat tells only half the story. Divide it by the berths and the larger yachts start to look like the better buy for a full group.

Price per berth on day-priced cruisers

Two, three or four cabins

Three-cabin boats are the core of sailboat rental in Phuket: 17 of the 35 models have three cabins, 7 have four, 6 have two and 2 have five. A two-cabin cruiser suits two couples; three cabins fit a family or three couples; four and five cabins take groups of 8 to 10. The arithmetic favours filling the boat. A 10-berth Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 479 works out at ฿1,220 per berth a day, against about ฿1,840 on the four-berth Oceanis Clipper 323 — a third less per person. Berths and cabins do not move in step, though: the Sun Odyssey 419 has 8 berths in 3 cabins. Count cabins for couples who want a door they can close, and berths for friends who do not mind sharing.

Length and what it means on board

• 7.6 m: the Platu 25 is the shortest boat on this page, a one-design racer for up to 5 people, offered with a skipper.
• 10–12 m: the Bavaria Cruiser 32 (10 m), Bavaria Cruiser 34 (10.4 m), Catalina 375 (11.8 m) and Bavaria Cruiser 40 (12 m) cover most two- and three-cabin cruising.
• 14–16 m: the Sun Odyssey 479 and Bavaria C45 (14 m), Bavaria Cruiser 46 (14.3 m), Dufour 520 Grand Large (15.2 m) and Bavaria Cruiser 56 (15.9 m) carry three to five cabins.
• 30 m and up: the two crewed superyachts measure 30.2 m and 31.7 m and take 8 and 10 guests.
• Experience and size: the bareboat rule is set on a yacht of equivalent size, so a log from a 10-metre boat is weak evidence for a 15-metre one.

Racing designs, classics and crewed superyachts

Not every sailboat on the island is a family cruiser. Racers, classic designs and crewed superyachts form a small group with prices and terms of their own.

Racers and classics by the day

A day on a one-design or a racer

A racing yacht for the day costs ฿14,500 to ฿23,500, and both the Platu 25 and the Jeanneau JOD 35 come with a skipper. The Platu 25 is a one-design boat — every hull built to the same specification — so a day aboard feels closer to a regatta than a cruise, for up to 5 people. The JOD 35 is larger at 10.6 m and takes 9, which brings the cost to about ฿2,610 per person with a full boat. Neither is made for lounging: racing hulls trade cabin space for speed, and no cabin count is given for either boat. If the group wants to trim sails and feel the boat accelerate rather than sunbathe, these two make more sense than a cruiser at the same price.

Crewed sailing superyachts

At the top of the market, two sailing superyachts are offered by the week with crew. A 30.2-metre yacht designed by Dudley Dix takes 8 guests in 4 cabins from ฿899,900 a week; the 31.7-metre Sparkman & Stephens 104 takes 10 guests in 5 cabins from ฿1,365,000 a week. Their cruising areas run well beyond the island — the Andaman Sea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Langkawi are named among them. With every place taken, the Sparkman & Stephens 104 works out at ฿136,500 per guest for the week, or ฿19,500 per guest a day. The Pithak Shipyard 104, priced by the day at ฿220,900, sits between the two worlds with 4 cabins. Ask whether the weekly price covers the route you have in mind, since the named cruising areas stretch from the Andaman Sea to Indonesia.

Marinas: Yacht Haven, Ao Po Grand, Chalong and Boat Lagoon

Sailing yachts on the island are based in marinas rather than on beach piers, and the base decides the journey from your hotel to the boat.

Where the boats are based

Yacht Haven and the cruising fleet

Yacht Haven Marina is the base for 15 of the 35 models, from the cheapest two-cabin cruiser to the five-cabin Dufour 520 Grand Large at ฿14,200. Several of the same boats are described as based in Thalang District, the district in the north of the island where the marina lies. With most of the day-priced cruising fleet in one place, comparing boats here is straightforward: same marina, same transfer, different yacht. Two-, three-, four- and five-cabin boats all start from this one base, so the group can choose by size alone. If you stay in the south of the island, count the drive to Thalang into the first day of the charter — or ask whether a boat at Chalong fits the plan.

Ao Po Grand, Chalong and Boat Lagoon

Ao Po Grand Marina in Pa Klok is home to the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 419 (3 cabins, 8 berths, ฿11,200 a day) and the Beneteau Oceanis 40.1 (3 cabins, 8 berths, ฿15,400 a day). Chalong Pier, in the south, has the skippered Hanse 400, while Boat Lagoon Marina is the base of the Pithak Shipyard 104, with 4 cabins at ฿220,900 a day. For 16 of the 35 models no base is named at all, including every boat priced by the week. Treat the marina as part of the price. Ask for the exact base before comparing two boats, because time on the road eats into a day charter far more than into a week.

Sailboat or catamaran, and checks before you book

A sailboat is one of three ways to take a private yacht from the island. The choice between them, and a few checks on the quote, decide whether the trip fits the budget.

Sailboat, catamaran or motor yacht

A sailboat charter in Phuket is the cheapest way into a private yacht by the day: monohulls start at ฿7,350, catamarans at ฿11,200 a day and motor yachts at ฿160,000 per trip. The gap reflects what you get for the money. A catamaran's two hulls give more deck space and a flatter ride at anchor, which matters with small children aboard; a monohull heels under sail and rewards a crew that wants to actually sail. A motor yacht covers distance fastest and needs no sailing skill from anyone on board. So what is the day for? Swimming stops and space point to a catamaran, sailing itself points to a monohull, and a long run in a few hours points to a motor yacht.

Six checks for any charter quote

• Format: confirm whether the price is bareboat, skippered or fully crewed, since a professional aboard can multiply the cost.
• Experience: for bareboat, have your record ready — 10 days or 200 miles as skipper on a similar yacht — or plan for a skipper.
• Unit: compare day prices with day prices; for a week, multiply the daily rate by seven before trusting a weekly figure.
• Dates: November to April is high season and weekly ranges are wide, so ask for the total on exact dates.
• Berths and cabins: match cabins to couples and berths to the group, then divide the price by the people aboard.
• Base: get the marina name and plan the transfer from your hotel before comparing two boats.