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Choosing Your Charter Destination
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When it comes to chartering, the world truly is your oyster. One of the most compelling reasons for chartering a yacht is that it enables you to see the world from a very special vantage point of a boat. When compared to staying at a resort on shore, your charter yacht enables you to move about, visiting new and interesting places each day – often places that those visitors ashore never get to see.
Choosing your charter destination is an important first step to ensuring that your charter experience is everything you expect it to be and more. Here are some important aspects of choosing your charter destination to consider carefully.
While tropical paradise represents the quintessential charter holiday, be sure to get this selection – and how it affects other aspects of your charter - right before booking your trip.
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Quick Tips on Choosing a Destination
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- Honestly evaluate your sailing skills and experience; your enjoyment will depend on the comfort level of the skipper and crew with regards to the sailing skills required to successfully navigate, sail, anchor, moor, etc. in the region you select.
- Factoring in the season or time of year can make a big difference. Your holiday schedule may not align with seasons in the other hemisphere. Deep discounts on charters may be related to undesirable weather. Alternatively, some destinations are perfect all year. Know the implications before you book.
- Assess whether you want to escape from it all, stay in populated anchorages and marinas, or a little bit of both. While some destinations offer both, others cater best to one type of experience. Know before you go.
- Think about what types of cultural interests are appealing. Some locations offer plenty including opportunities to talk with native people in their own small communitues while others, due to increased tourist visits, offer a less dynamic cultural experience.
Read further for more details about each of these aspects of choosing a destination.
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Are you looking for a tropical escape? Or, maybe you prefer cool wind and water over humid, tropical locales. Whatever the case, consider what type of climate fits the bill for your charter as it will effect a number of other details as you plan your trip.
With tropical locations, you will likely pack fewer clothing items and spend more time with sunscreen (and maybe some sand) all over you. Alternatively, cooler climates may require packing more layers of clothing but will leave you feeling less hot and sticky from tropical humidity. Other considerations include assessing how others in your charter group deal with various climates and how that impacts their comfort and happiness.
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Sailing Skills and Experience
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For most people that consider a bareboat charter, there is a level of experience already evident to even be planning such an adventure. But, the skills required to navigate different regions vary and keeping this in mind not only makes for a safer adventure, it also reduces tension and pressure between the crew and skipper if difficult situations arise.
In areas such as the Bahamas and BVI, most sailors comfortable with handling a keelboat of reasonable size should do just fine. Further, charter companies and vendors in places like the BVI have been assisting charter boats for well over 30 years so rest assured that if trouble does arise, help is not far away.
Regions such as the South Pacific, Australia, and even the Grenadines present more complex sailing and navigational scenarios that come with more open water crossings, higher winds, and obstacles like reefs and limited navigational aids to rely upon. Most charter companies require a charter client to submit a sailing resume to help them and you determine if skill levels meet a specific region’s requirements for safe and happy chartering. Being honest when assessing skills here can help save a significant amount of anguish and money later.
For those considering a crewed charter, skills and experience are not as important to factor into the selection equation. But, it is important to consider only because it will affect which crewed charter you select. Do you (or some of your group) have sailing experience and enjoy taking the helm sometimes? If so, choosing a charter skipper and crew will ensure they are compatible with these interests.
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It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to many people that depending upon the time you plan to charter, some regions are a better choice than others. But, all to often, people interested in chartering “lock-in” to a desired location and try match it with their inflexible vacation schedule. When this happens, the result is usually a frustrated charter group complaining of too much heat and humidity, higher than desired winds, limited shoreside activities and attractions to enjoy due to it being the off-season, or a variety of issues that reduce the enjoyment of the charter.
Take a look at many options and weigh them out based upon when you can charter, your budget, and your skill level, and arrive – in conjunction with others joining you for the charter – at a region that will ensure an adventure that fits best with your schedule.
One thing to keep in mind that is many charter companies offer discounts in various regions during “off-season” times to keep their boats working. For example, each year, many of the large Caribbean charter companies offer 20%-30% off the price of chartering during the months of June through August. This period is much hotter than the average and also happens to coincide with hurricane season.
For saavy travelers that don’t mind the high temperatures and aren’t concerned about their charter being at risk due to hurricanes, this is a great way to go. If you are planning a special once-in-a-lifetime charter adventure, it may not pay to save the money – you’ll be better off going to the Caribbean at a different time.
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As chartering has become more prevalent around the world, the variety of locales for chartering have become increasingly more diverse. Winter time in the Caribbean can offer a busy, highly social experience for charter groups that like to party, meet new people, and don’t mind scraping for the last spot to anchor in a packed harbor. Additionally, summer in the Med provides great opportunities to people watch and be seen by others while you enjoy your holiday.
On the other hand, more desolate or exotic locations offer higher degrees of isolation for people wanting to get away from it all. For example, the Sea of Cortez (Baja, Mexico) offers incredible levels of isolation. People that have chartered there rave about spending two weeks without seeing another sailboat. Additionally, emerging charter locations such as Thailand or Brazil offer off-the-beaten-path cruising experiences simply due to the limited number of charter boats in the region.
Once again, this aspect affects a number of other factors including budget, when you charter, and how you plan other aspects of your charter such as provisioning. In remote locations, provisioning options from a local store can be rare and limit options to provisioning by the charter company.
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Chartering, when compared with other types of vacations, affords the opportunity to get out and see areas of various regions that most hotel guests rarely get a chance to see. This opportunity often enables charter groups to visit small villages, meet locals, and – in general – get to experience the various cultural aspects of whichever region they visit in a very direct and personal way.
For instance, a charter in the Tahiti years ago enabled our group to see and interact with a number of young children in a Tahitian elementary school. We were also able to attend a church in Bora Bora and hear the marvelous, distinct sound of Tahitian hymns being sung by those attending church. On the other hand, up-close and personal cultural experiences can be difficult, reminding us that some communities live each day dreaming of better health care, regular meals, and other things many of us take for granted.
Whatever the case, these experiences add immeasurably to the richness of chartering. Depending upon whether you want to get out and know the people or simply party with your peers, consider what you would like to experience culturally and pick your region accordingly.
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