Charter Guide

Yacht charter costs — Monaco and the Mediterranean

How yacht charter rates are quoted, what sits alongside the base fee, and what a Monaco week actually costs end-to-end. Every figure a first-time client needs before signing a MYBA charter agreement.

In short

Base fees start around €25,000 per week for a small sport yacht and range up to €1,000,000+ for a 70m+ superyacht. A 35m motor yacht in regular summer season is typically €120,000–€180,000 base fee, plus 30% APA and 20% VAT. Event weeks (Grand Prix, Yacht Show, Film Festival) price 30–100% above regular season.

Last reviewed 3 September 2026 · By the concierge desk, Luxury Yacht Charter Monaco · Monaco

The three headline numbers

Every yacht charter quote comes down to three headline numbers: base fee, APA (Advance Provisioning Allowance) and VAT. The base fee is the yacht itself for the week. APA is a working fund for running expenses. VAT depends on the yacht's flag and where it cruises. Gratuities are a fourth, discretionary line added at the end. Everything else — transfers, event tickets, restaurants ashore — sits outside the charter quote and is paid directly by the client. Understanding these four buckets is the foundation of a comfortable charter.

Base charter fee — what you pay for the yacht

The base fee covers the yacht, its full crew (captain, first mate, engineer, chef, chief stewardess, deckhands, service crew), the yacht's hull and P&I insurance, and standard maintenance for the charter period. In the Mediterranean, weekly rates start from around €25,000 for smaller day-boat-style yachts (12–18m sport yachts) and rise into six and seven figures for large superyachts. Typical ranges: 20–25m sport yachts, €25,000–€60,000 per week; 25–35m motor yachts, €60,000–€150,000; 35–50m superyachts, €150,000–€400,000; 50–70m superyachts, €400,000–€900,000; 70m+ mega-yachts, €900,000 and up, sometimes materially so. Event weeks (Grand Prix, Monaco Yacht Show, Cannes Film Festival) price 30–100% above regular season.

APA — the working fund

The Advance Provisioning Allowance is a working fund clients provide before the charter to cover running expenses — fuel, food and beverages, dockage at each port, laundry, communications, tender fuel, chef's market purchases. It is quoted as a percentage of the base fee and is typically 25–35% on a Mediterranean motor yacht, higher on a fast, fuel-heavy yacht running long passages. APA is your money, held on the yacht's account and drawn against with receipts through the week. Any unused balance is returned at the end. Our full APA guide walks through a worked Monaco-week example line by line.

VAT and tax treatment

VAT on yacht charter in the Mediterranean depends on the yacht's flag, the country where the charter starts, and any reduction schemes that apply. French-flagged and French-starting charters attract 20% VAT with an occasional reduction if the yacht spends time outside French waters. Italian charters are 22% with similar reduction possibilities. Monegasque-starting charters carry French VAT rules in practice. Croatian charters are 13%. Every charter agreement states the exact VAT treatment; the concierge confirms it before you sign so there are no surprises at reconciliation.

Gratuities

A gratuity of 5–15% of the base fee is customary at the end of the charter and is left entirely to the client's discretion. 10% is a good default for a well-run week; 12–15% for a genuinely exceptional charter where the crew went materially beyond the standard brief. Gratuities are paid to the captain in cash on the last morning aboard, or by bank transfer within a few days, and are distributed by the captain across the crew. Gratuities are never automatic, never deducted from APA, and never inflated by the concierge or the broker.

What sits outside the quote

Personal expenses ashore — restaurants, hotels, shopping, spa, event tickets — are paid by the client directly. Concierge time booking those experiences is normally included; the payments themselves are not. Air travel to and from Nice, private aviation, helicopter transfers, private drivers ashore and any residential accommodation before or after the charter are all handled separately. Event-week passes (Grand Prix grid access, Yacht Show tickets, Film Festival credentials) are arranged through the appropriate partners and priced at market.

A worked Monaco week — 35-metre motor yacht

Consider a 35m motor yacht chartered from Monaco for one summer week (not an event week) at €140,000 base fee. APA at 30% is €42,000, transferred a month before boarding. VAT at 20% on the base fee is €28,000. Total pre-charter transfers: €210,000. Over the week the captain draws roughly €35,000 against APA (fuel for a Monaco–Saint-Tropez–return itinerary at moderate speed, dockage in Saint-Tropez and Cannes, chef-led provisioning). Unused APA of €7,000 is returned at the end. A 10% gratuity of €14,000 is added on the last morning. All-in for the week, excluding personal expenses ashore: €217,000.

A worked Monaco week — 50-metre superyacht, Grand Prix week

Consider a 50m superyacht chartered for the Monaco Grand Prix week at €600,000 base fee (event-week pricing). APA at 30% is €180,000. VAT at 20% is €120,000. Total pre-charter: €900,000. Fuel over the event week is limited (the yacht is mostly moored inside Port Hercule) but berthing during Grand Prix week is a heavy line item — €25,000–€60,000 for a prime berth. Provisioning for a week-long hosting programme with 40–80 day guests through the week runs into six figures. Grand Prix pass costs are outside the charter and paid separately. A 10% gratuity of €60,000 is added at the end. All-in for the week, excluding Grand Prix passes and personal expenses: roughly €1.0–1.1M.

What drives price up or down

The single largest driver of week-on-week price is the season and event calendar. A yacht chartered on the same route, same guest count, in early June vs the Grand Prix week can be double or more. Fuel-heavy long-range passages (Monaco to Sardinia, Monaco to Corsica) push APA up meaningfully. Slower coastal charters — Monaco to Saint-Tropez and back at 12 knots — sit at the lower end of APA draw. Larger yachts scale non-linearly: a 70m yacht is not just twice a 35m yacht in cost, it is often four to six times, because everything scales — crew, fuel, insurance, dockage.

Getting a proper quote

A real quote takes yacht identity, exact dates, guest count and outline itinerary. Rough figures without those inputs are guesses. When you engage a concierge, expect a shortlist of two to four specific yachts, each with a written quote showing base fee, APA percentage and value, VAT treatment, and an outline of the expected APA draw for the itinerary you've briefed. That level of transparency should be the standard, not the exception.

Frequently asked questions

What is a typical weekly yacht charter cost in Monaco?+

Is APA on top of the base fee?+

Yes — APA is a separate working fund on top of the base fee, quoted as a percentage (usually 25–35%). It covers fuel, food, dockage and running expenses. Unused APA is returned at the end.

Do we pay VAT on a Monaco yacht charter?+

In practice, yes — Monegasque-starting charters carry French VAT rules and are taxed at 20% of the base fee, with possible reductions if the yacht spends significant time outside EU waters. The charter agreement states the exact treatment.

What's a normal gratuity for the crew?+

5–15% of the base fee is the customary range, with 10% a fair default for a well-run week. Gratuities are paid to the captain on the last morning aboard and distributed across the crew.

What isn't included in the yacht charter quote?+

Air travel, private aviation, ground transfers before and after the charter, personal expenses ashore (restaurants, shopping, hotels), and event tickets (Grand Prix, Yacht Show, Film Festival). Everything you eat and drink aboard is inside APA.

By the concierge desk · Monaco

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