What a Mediterranean Yacht Charter Costs, All In

The invoice is a formula, not a rate

Charter brokers advertise one number: the base weekly rate. It covers the yacht, the crew, and the yacht's own insurance, and almost nothing that happens during the week. The invoice is a formula — base rate, plus APA, plus VAT, plus gratuity, plus delivery if the boat has to move.

The APA, or Advance Provisioning Allowance, is customarily 25% to 35% of the base rate, collected before boarding and held by the captain to pay for fuel, food, drink, dockage, and port fees as they occur. It is a deposit rather than a fee — the captain accounts for every receipt and returns anything unspent. Budget as if none of it comes back.

VAT is generally owed where the charter begins, and the Mediterranean is not one jurisdiction. France applies roughly 20% and Italy roughly 22%; Croatia charges about 13% on qualifying multi-day charters, and Greece runs reduced rates of roughly 5% to 13% for licensed yachts. Rates and apportionment rules change often enough that the current figure is worth confirming with your broker and your CPA before funds move.

The crew gratuity is discretionary in name and customary in practice: MYBA guidance spans 5% to 15% of the base rate, and roughly 10% is the usual outcome. Delivery and repositioning fees are the final line, charged when the yacht is not already in your cruising ground.

The formula at three price points

Here is how the formula lands at three price points. These are illustrative scenarios assembled from the customary ranges above — not quotes, and not Luxemetry calculator output.

The multiplier lands between roughly 1.45 and 1.6 times the brochure number before any delivery fee. Turned around: the advertised rate is about two-thirds of the invoice.

Every line scales off the base rate. A discount negotiated on the base compounds through the APA, the VAT, and the gratuity — and so does a premium.

• $50,000 a week, Croatia. APA at 25% ($12,500), VAT at roughly 13% ($6,500), gratuity at 10% ($5,000). Invoice about $74,000, or 1.48 times the advertised rate.

• $150,000 a week, France. APA at 30% ($45,000), VAT at roughly 20% ($30,000), gratuity at 10% ($15,000). Invoice about $240,000, or 1.60 times the advertised rate.

• $400,000 a week, Italy. APA at 25% ($100,000), VAT at roughly 22% ($88,000), gratuity at 10% ($40,000). Invoice about $628,000, or 1.57 times the advertised rate.

Before signing, ask the broker to state four numbers in writing: the APA percentage, the VAT rate and the country it is owed in, the delivery fee, and the crew's gratuity custom. The advertisement carries none of them.

July is a surcharge on the whole formula

Peak Mediterranean season is July and August, and brokers price it. September typically runs roughly 20% to 30% below peak on the same boat, with the same crew, the same itinerary, and the warmest sea of the year.

The premium is quoted on the base rate, and the formula multiplies it. Take the $150,000 France scenario: a 25% July premium lifts the base to $187,500, and at the same 1.60 multiplier the invoice moves from about $240,000 to about $300,000.

That is roughly $60,000 for choosing July. Nothing else changes — not the yacht, not the crew, not the APA percentage.

May, June, and September are the arbitrage, and late August is also when the anchorages are fullest. The peak premium buys the boat in the weeks it is least private.

The invoice is still cheaper than the boat

The reflex after a $240,000 invoice is to conclude that owning must be cheaper. Luxemetry's charter-vs-own model says otherwise at almost any realistic usage.

The model prices a Sanlorenzo SD96 charter at about $191,700 a week all-in — a 30% APA plus a blended 12% for delivery, tax, and gratuity on its $135,000 base rate. Six weeks aboard costs about $1,150,200 a year. Owning the same boat is modeled at about $2,429,924 a year once depreciation is counted.

The pattern holds across the fleet. A Benetti Oasis 40M charters at about $369,200 a week against roughly $4,218,262 a year to own; a Ferretti Yachts 720 at about $78,100 against roughly $1,262,609. On those three boats, ownership only wins beyond 11.4 to 16.2 weeks aboard per year.

Note that the model's blended multiplier — 1.42 times the base — sits at the conservative end of the band this article priced. Charge the charter side the full 1.60 and six weeks on the SD96 still costs about $1,296,000 against $2,429,924 to own. The brochure rate is two-thirds of the invoice, and the invoice is still the smaller number.

Three desks: live charter math, related guides, methodology

I keep three sheets on this desk. The figures already on this page — why a $150,000 week invoices near $240,000 — are the error signal. APA, delivery, and VAT are line items, not tips.

Charter vs own at https://luxemetry.com/charter-vs-own and the yacht 10% rule guide sit next to this invoice. Do not stack a purchase running-cost on a charter week.

How those lines are framed is on https://luxemetry.com/methodology . A broker quote is a different desk.