It's the first question every new charterer asks, and the one most companies answer badly — because most only sell one option. We sell both, so here's the straight version.
Go bareboat if…
You hold a Day Skipper, ICC or equivalent, you've handled a boat in the last two years, and — this is the real test — someone else aboard trusts your decisions at 2am in a crowded anchorage. Bareboat weeks cost roughly half the crewed equivalent, and the freedom is genuine: your route, your rhythm, your anchorage all to yourselves.
Go crewed if…
Everyone else. Seriously: if there's any doubt, a skippered week teaches more in seven days than a season of cautious bareboating, and you still steer as much as you like. Add a host and the week becomes a floating hotel — many families find crewed works out cheaper than bareboat once restaurants and provisioning are counted honestly.
- Licence check: bareboat needs recognised certification plus a checkout sail with our base manager.
- The middle path: hire a skipper for the first two days, then sail alone — our most popular compromise.
- Kids under 10: crewed, every time. An extra pair of qualified hands changes the whole week.
“The best sailors I know still take a skipper in unfamiliar waters. It's not surrender — it's local knowledge on tap.” — Capt. Amara Diallo
