How to Choose Between Bareboat, Flotilla, Skippered, Crewed, and Cabin Charters

Updated

The main difference between these five sailing holiday types is how much control and responsibility you take on versus how much is handled for you. Bareboat charter means you skipper the yacht yourself, so you need the qualifications and experience to do that. Flotilla gives you your own yacht but with a lead boat and group support, which suits sailors who want independence with a safety net. Skippered charter puts a professional skipper on board, so no formal qualifications are needed from you. Crewed charter adds crew who handle cooking and hospitality as well as sailing. Cabin charter books you a single berth or cabin rather than a whole yacht, which is the cheapest and least independent option and works well for solo travellers or first-timers.

Sailing Choices is an independent agent that offers yachts from multiple suppliers and holiday companies, and its site is organised around exactly these categories, so you can compare them in one place rather than trawling individual operators.

The five options compared

Type Who sails the yacht Who else is on board Typical experience needed Best for
Bareboat charter You (the charterer) Your own group only You need the right qualifications and experience Confident sailors who want full independence
Flotilla You, with a lead boat and group Other boats in the flotilla Some sailing experience, less than bareboat Sailors who want independence plus support
Skippered charter A professional skipper You, your group, and the skipper None required Groups who want to relax without running the boat
Crewed charter Professional skipper and crew You, your group, and crew None required Groups wanting sailing plus hospitality and meals
Cabin charter Professional crew Other travellers you may not know None required Solo travellers, couples, first-timers, tight budgets

The site's own framing asks the same questions a beginner would: should you bareboat, join a flotilla, take a skippered or crewed charter, and do you have the right qualifications? It also notes that no previous experience is needed for some options, which points to the skippered, crewed, and cabin routes.

Matching the choice to your situation

If you have no sailing experience

Skippered charter, crewed charter, and cabin charter all remove the need to sail the boat yourself. Cabin charter is the most economical because you book a cabin rather than the whole yacht, but you share the boat with other travellers. Skippered and crewed charters keep the yacht to your own group.

If you sail but don't want full responsibility

A flotilla is the middle ground. You have your own yacht but travel with a group and a lead boat, so you get support without handing over the whole trip. This is often the step between a learn-to-sail course and a bareboat charter.

If you're qualified and want full control

Bareboat charter is for you. You take the yacht on your own terms, but you also take on the navigation, safety, and running of the boat. Sailing Choices lists bareboat yacht charters around the world.

If you want to learn first

The site also covers learn-to-sail courses, which is the usual route to building the qualifications and confidence that bareboat and flotilla holidays assume.

Where to find each option on Sailing Choices

The site provides direct entry points for the main categories. Its homepage links straight to Flotillas, Bareboat, and Other sailing holidays, and the full range it covers includes bareboat yacht charters, flotilla holidays from multiple providers, skippered charters, crewed charters, cabin charter, and learn-to-sail courses.

Because Sailing Choices is an independent agent rather than a single operator, you can compare these formats across suppliers in one place. The site states that booking through it gives you the same discounts you would get booking direct with operators, sometimes more, and that returning customers get extra discount across all the holidays it offers, not just with the provider they used before. It also says it works only with quality providers rather than listing every yacht available elsewhere.

A practical way to decide

  1. Decide whether you want to sail the boat yourself. If no, your choice is between skippered, crewed, and cabin charter.
  2. If you do want to sail it yourself, check whether you hold the qualifications and experience for bareboat. If not, a flotilla or a learn-to-sail course is the realistic next step.
  3. Decide whether you want the whole yacht to yourself. If budget or travelling solo is the priority, cabin charter shares the boat and lowers the cost.
  4. Use the Sailing Choices category pages to compare specific yachts and providers within the format you've chosen.

If you're unsure, the site's own suggestion is to call and talk it through rather than work through the options alone.