Are you allowed to wear shoes on a yacht?

No — shoes come off the moment you step on board a charter yacht. The rule protects the teak decking, fiberglass surfaces, and the boat’s interior fabrics from black scuff marks and grit tracked in from the dock. Crews ask guests to leave shoes in a basket at the boarding step, and most yachts provide a small shelf near the swim platform for shoe storage. Soft, light-soled deck shoes — Sperry topsiders, Vans, boat-specific Crocs — are sometimes acceptable on the exterior deck if they’re brand-new and worn only on the boat. For shore excursions, water shoes and flip-flops live in the dinghy. What to expect aboard covers the etiquette rules.