If crystal clear, turquoise waters, long white sandy beaches and warm sunny days sound like your idea of a perfect luxury yacht charter, then St Martin is a guaranteed winner.
The picturesque Caribbean island of St Martin (Photo: Roger W via Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0)
Fusing two distinct European cultures (French and Dutch), high class dining and a relaxed way of life, the small Caribbean island is truly magical. For yachting visitors, the attractions are no less apparent, with cool trade winds, moderate seas and short distances between several popular regional spots such as Anguilla, St Barths and the Leeward Islands, making a private yacht charter itinerary easy to fill. Those shopping around for crewed yacht or bareboat charters in St Martin are spoiled for choice, so we’ve done our own research and picked out three companies that we’d recommend for a memorable sea-faring adventure.
Ritzy
Ritzy have forged an extensive network since the company began offering yacht charters almost a decade ago. They offer almost 100 yachts across St Martins and neighbouring St Barts at varying price points, with their listings catering to every preference, whether you’re looking to charter a catamaran, sailboat, or motorboat, and crewed or bareboat. Booking on the platform is simple, with users asked to provide key details about their trip, such as guest numbers, dates of travel, favoured itinerary, and special requests. They’re then sent a short-list of yachts based on your custom criteria. When we searched for St Martins charters, the most affordable option we found was a 16-metre sailing yacht that accommodates up to 6 guests and is available from $9,800 per week.
Boatbookings
Boatbookings have a total of 33 yachts available in St Martin, 5 of which are for sailboat charter, 15 for catamaran charter and 13 for motor yacht charter. If you’re a fan of motor-fuelled power, then the smallest motor yacht on offer is 16 metres, with shorter options available in the catamaran and sail yacht categories. As for price, the cheapest charter we could find was for a 12-metre catamaran available for $3,050 per week. This vessel was also one of only two bareboats listed during our search. Other notable website features are a comprehensive section dedicated to comments and star ratings from previous charter guests. The search function also allows you to specify yachts with specific on-board amenities such as fishing and scuba gear.
Dream Yacht Charter
For bareboat charters, Dream Yacht Charter would be our top pick, with their fleet of over 850 yachts in over 45 global destinations – an impressive growth given the company was founded in 2000 with just six yachts. In St Martin they offer an impressive 55 yachts as bareboat, including 38 catamarans, 16 sailing yachts and 1 power catamaran for those who love speed. Alternatively, for those who prefer to kick back and let a crew do the work, there were 63 crewed vessels available during our search. As for website functionality, the search process is simple and easy to use, although we noticed you do need to click through a few times to find the price for bareboats, rather than it being visible immediately.