Bareboat Charter
Bareboat chartering is where you hire a complete boat for a period (usually a week or weekend) with no skipper. The boats come fully equipped with everything you need to sail and to cook for yourselves. You will need to buy your own food, although some companies may offer a provisioning service for you. Sometimes this service can be based on your shopping list, or it may be an introductory pack which they've put together based on their experience of what most people need.
A bareboat holiday allows you complete flexibility to go where you please, when you please. It suits those who are confident handling a boat, are not of nervous disposition, who enjoy self catering, or are prepared to base their itinerary around restaurants!
Most companies will ask that you either:

• Take out insurance to cover damage to the boat or
• Leave a large deposit to cover any damage to the boat

You'll need to demonstrate sailing experience on similar sized boats. - check with the charter company for specific details. It's in your interest to be honest about your level of experience when enquiring about bareboat charter. Companies reserve the right to place a skipper on board if they feel your experience is not what you said it was. In these cases, you will pick up the cost of the skipper for the required amount of time, you may need to hire a larger boat to accommodate them and you might be stuck in a port if they have trouble finding you a skipper at short notice.

Skippered Charter
If you don't have enough sailing experience yourself but you still want to have the privacy of your own boat, then skippered charter might be an option. In fact, many experienced sailors will hire a skipper, because of their local knowledge and to ensure their holiday is less stressful.

You book a skipper for as long as you need them. It might only be for the first half of your charter.

Flotilla
A flotilla is a group of boats with a lead boat, which generally contains employees of the charter company who know the area well and have some mechanical skills to sort out minor boating problems as they occur.

Typically boat numbers are between 6 and 14, depending on the charter company. Skills and experience required will vary between companies, so you should check what is required.

This is a good option if you want the security of a lead boat to know that you have full back up and support close at hand with local knowledge. Most companies agree where to meet at the end of the day and you have the option to sail with the lead boat, on your own, or maybe with new-found friends within the flotilla, so you have some flexibility.

One option is to book a one week flotilla holiday followed by a week bareboat - this allows you to get to know the area alongside those with local knowledge and branch off when you feel the time is right.

Chartering by berth is great for single people, or those holidaying on their own but wanting to meet new people. It can also suit those who don't want to handle a boat on their own and want something a little different from a flotilla holiday. For chartering a berth there are two options

Adventure Cruises
We have an Adventure Cruising section which allows you to search for a berth on a boat which is cruising from a particular destination on a particular date. This type of holiday allows you to have a group holiday atmosphere without your own group. It's a great way to meet new people and you can fully participate in the sailing or you can sit back and relax - the choice is yours.

Crewed Yachts
No sailing experience required, these yachts are fully crewed. You can participate as much or as little as you want. The effect is that of a small private floating hotel and often the facilities on the boat are more luxurious than on charter boats, with many crewed boats having CD players, and other gadgets.