St. Thomas Yacht Charter: Crewed Week or Day Boat?
A crewed St. Thomas yacht charter lists a median $31,500 for a high-season week; a private day boat runs $1,150 to $2,400. See which fits and where you board.
A St. Thomas yacht charter comes in two kinds: a private day boat that has you back at the dock by late afternoon, or a crewed yacht that’s your home for the week. They share a harbor and a page of search results, but a day boat is priced by the day, for the boat, and a crewed yacht by the week, with a captain and a chef aboard.
We compare what the day boats publish with what a crewed week costs on the yachts based here, then cover where you board and whether your week can cross into the British Virgin Islands. If you’re still choosing an island group, our guide to Caribbean crewed charter destinations compares them, and the US Virgin Islands charter page covers the territory as a whole.
What is a St. Thomas yacht charter?
A St. Thomas yacht charter is a private boat with its crew, booked for a day or for a week or more. For a week or longer the choice is wide: 268 crewed yachts list the US Virgin Islands as a cruising area, and 49 crewed yachts name St. Thomas as their home port (Vital Charters listings analysis, October 2026).
Most visitors to St. Thomas never see the charter side of the island. St. Thomas and St. John received 1,553,170 cruise passengers in 2025 and 723,563 visitors by air (USVI Bureau of Economic Research, cruise arrivals; USVI BER, air arrivals). A cruise passenger gets a few hours ashore; a charter guest wakes up off St. John. Our guide to the US Virgin Islands by yacht takes the islands one at a time.
A day boat and a crewed week are both sold as private St. Thomas charters, which is why both turn up in a search for the best boat charters in St. Thomas. On a day boat you sleep ashore, and on a crewed yacht you sleep aboard.
Day boat or crewed week: which St. Thomas charter fits?
A St. Thomas private boat charter by the day fits a group that wants one day on the water. The day boats that publish a rate ask about $1,150 to $2,400 for a full day before extra guests and, on some boats, fuel (operators’ published rates, read 11 October 2026). A crewed week fits a group that wants the yacht to be the vacation.
| What differs | Private day boat | Crewed yacht week |
|---|---|---|
| Time aboard | A half day, or a full day of six to eight hours | A week, the unit the rates are quoted in |
| Where you sleep | Ashore | Aboard, in your own cabin |
| Who is aboard | Your group and a captain | Your group, a captain and a chef |
| How it’s priced | By the day, for the boat | By the week, for the yacht |
| What sits outside the price | Extra guests, fuel on some boats, the captain’s tip | Taxes and fees where they apply, and the crew gratuity |
| Passports | US citizens: only if the day crosses to the BVI | US citizens: only if the week crosses to the BVI |
The day boats below are the ones that kept coming up when we searched for the best boat charters in St. Thomas in October 2026. The list isn’t ranked or rated: the table shows only what each operator publishes about itself, and every boat in it comes with a captain. Sportfishing charters are a separate category and aren’t covered.
| Day boat operator | Departs from | Boat | Guest limit | Published full-day rate, US Virgin Islands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stormy Pirates | American Yacht Harbor, Red Hook, or Cruz Bay | 42-foot power boats | 12 to 14 | $2,400 list for eight hours, six guests and fuel included |
| Someday Charters | Yacht Haven Grande, Charlotte Amalie | 36-foot Aquila power catamaran | 12 | Not published |
| Sweet Pea Charters | Red Hook, or Cruz Bay | Sailing catamaran | 12 | $1,450 for six and a half hours, four guests included |
| OTL Charters | Not stated on its rates page | 40-foot Deep Impact powerboat | 12 | $1,600 for one to six guests, fuel extra |
| Big Blue | Sapphire Marina, or Cruz Bay | Powerboats | 12 | $1,150 for six and a half hours, up to six guests |
| Nate’s Custom Charters | Compass Point Marina | Aventura 36 | 12 | Not published |
| Phoenix Island Charters | Not stated on its home page | Boats for 6 and 11 guests | 6 or 11 | From $1,445 for a full day on the 11-guest boat, fuel added |
Each operator’s own website, read 11 October 2026. Rates change, so check before you book.
Several of these St. Thomas charter boats also run day trips to the British Virgin Islands. Every guest needs a passport for a BVI day, and the three boats that publish a BVI customs charge put it at $75 to $85 a person on top of the charter.
See which crewed yachts cruise the US Virgin Islands for a group your size.
What does a crewed charter from St. Thomas cost?
A crewed St. Thomas yacht charter costs a median of $31,500 for a high-season week, all-in, and the middle half of yachts ask between $25,000 and $40,500 (Vital Charters rate analysis, October 2026). Divide each yacht’s week by its own guest count and seven nights, and the median is about $571 per guest per night before taxes, port fees and the crew gratuity.
The median and the range cover the 45 St. Thomas-based crewed yachts with a published 2026-27 high-season rate. Thirty-nine of them price all-inclusive, so the rate already covers meals, drinks and fuel for a normal week. For the other six, “all-in” adds the provisioning allowance to the rate, so you can compare them with the all-inclusive yachts. Our Virgin Islands all-inclusive rate guide shows what the rate covers line by line, and the crew tipping guide covers the one cost that’s always yours.
View data table
| Guests the catamaran sleeps | Yachts | Median high-season week | Lowest rate | Highest rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 6 | 12 | $22,050 | $13,500 | $26,000 |
| 7 to 8 | 14 | $31,550 | $24,500 | $43,500 |
| 9 or more | 12 | $32,500 | $25,000 | $46,000 |
St. Thomas-based crewed sailing catamarans with a 2026-27 high-season rate, by the number of guests each sleeps. All-in asking rates; plus-expenses rates include the provisioning allowance. Excludes taxes, port fees and crew gratuity. Vital Charters rate analysis, October 2026.
The price step comes between catamarans sleeping up to six and those sleeping seven or eight: about $9,500 at the median. Past that, a catamaran for nine or more guests adds under $1,000. A couple books the whole yacht too, and the smallest St. Thomas-based crewed yachts sleep four. Motor yachts are the outliers. Only six St. Thomas-based motor yachts and power catamarans publish a rate, and their median week is about $76,000.
For the math per day and per guest, see what a week costs per day.
Where do St. Thomas charters leave from?
St. Thomas charters leave from two main harbors: Red Hook on the east end and Charlotte Amalie on the south coast. American Yacht Harbor in Red Hook takes yachts up to 120 feet and Yacht Haven Grande in Charlotte Amalie takes them up to 656 feet (IGY Marinas, American Yacht Harbor; IGY Marinas, Yacht Haven Grande), so the largest motor yachts board in Charlotte Amalie.
The two harbors suit different arrivals. Cyril E. King Airport is two miles west of Charlotte Amalie (Virgin Islands Port Authority), so boarding there is a short taxi ride. Red Hook is at the far end of an island that’s 12 miles long (NOAA Coast Pilot 5), but it’s the harbor closest to St. John: the ferry from Red Hook to Cruz Bay takes about 15 minutes (VIPA ferry schedules).
Two smaller marinas also appear as home docks in the day-boat table above: Compass Point Marina in Benner Bay and Sapphire Marina on the east end.
The yacht chooses the boarding dock, and listings rarely name it: only one of the 49 St. Thomas-based crewed yachts names even its harbor. Confirm the dock when you book, then plan flights and the first night around it. If your yacht is based in the BVI instead, our USVI to BVI ferry and water taxi guide covers getting across to meet it.
Can a St. Thomas charter visit the BVI?
Yes: 48 of the 49 crewed yachts based in St. Thomas also list the British Virgin Islands as a cruising area (Vital Charters listings analysis, October 2026). Jost Van Dyke and the west end of Tortola lie about nine nautical miles from Red Hook in a straight line, by our measurement from chart positions, which is about an hour and a quarter at seven knots.
Two things decide whether your week includes the BVI: passports and the yacht’s BVI license. The passport rule applies to every guest: “Traveling by air or sea, persons must present a passport to enter and depart the British Virgin Islands” (BVI Tourist Board). The captain handles the formalities, and our guide to charter entry requirements lists the documents.
As for the license, some St. Thomas-based yachts can enter the BVI any week, and others only a set number of times a year (Government of the US Virgin Islands, April 2025). Of the 49 St. Thomas-based yachts, 19 state an unlimited license in their listing, nine state a restricted one and the other 21 don’t say. Ask early whether the BVI is open to your yacht for your week.
A short answer page covers St. Thomas charters and the BVI, and the BVI versus USVI comparison sets a week in each side by side.
Can you stay in US waters all week?
Yes. A crewed charter can stay around St. Thomas and St. John all week, and US citizens don’t need a passport to travel between the mainland and the US Virgin Islands (USA.gov). Guests of other nationalities need whatever a visit to the United States requires.
On a charter that stays in US waters, St. John is the center of the week. The island lies about two miles east of St. Thomas (NOAA Coast Pilot 5), and “two-thirds of the island of St. John is national park” (National Park Service). On the park’s south shore the yacht ties to a mooring instead of anchoring (NOAA Coast Pilot 5), so you swim or take the tender to the beach. Trunk Bay has what the Park Service calls “a one-of-a-kind underwater snorkeling trail” (NPS, Trunk Bay).
Closer to St. Thomas, Christmas Cove has the floating pizzeria Pizza Pi, and the taco boat Lime Out has platforms on both islands. On the north side of St. Thomas, the crew can take you ashore at Magens Bay. St. Croix lies 32 miles to the south (NOAA Coast Pilot 5), a passage of four to five hours at seven knots by our arithmetic, so it suits a longer charter.
Which boat is best for a St. Thomas catamaran charter?
The best boat for a St. Thomas catamaran charter is the one whose cabins match your group. Of the 39 crewed sailing catamarans based in St. Thomas, 13 are Balis, and Lagoon and Leopard supply six each (Vital Charters listings analysis, October 2026). Fountaine Pajot, Royal Cape and Voyage make up most of the rest.
The typical boat here is recent and mid-sized: the median St. Thomas-based crewed sailing catamaran is 54 feet long. Across all 49 yachts the median build year is 2022, the median guest count is eight and the median cabin count is four. Thirty-two of the 40 yachts that state a crew size carry two people, typically a captain and a chef. Only one of the 49 is a sailing monohull, so a crewed St. Thomas sailboat charter almost always means a catamaran.
Count cabins before you count berths: decide who shares, then shortlist. If you’d rather start from a ready-made list, the page of ten best crewed yachts in the USVI gives rates and crews for each.
When is the best time for a St. Thomas yacht charter?
For a St. Thomas yacht charter, February and March are the driest months: Charlotte Amalie’s airport station averages 1.90 inches of rain in February and 1.86 in March, against 6.06 in November, its wettest month (NOAA 1991-2020 climate normals). The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 (National Hurricane Center).
Crewed yacht rates in St. Thomas don’t follow the calendar the way hotel rates do. Of the 44 St. Thomas-based yachts that list both a high-season and a low-season rate, 41 charge the same for each (Vital Charters rate analysis, October 2026), so pick your weeks by the weather.
The winter season opens with the USVI Charter Yacht Show, set for November 14 to 17, 2026 at Yacht Haven Grande (Virgin Islands Professional Charter Association), where crews present their yachts to brokers. Our guide to the best time to charter in the Caribbean compares the months across the region.
How do you book a crewed charter from St. Thomas?
Booking a crewed charter from St. Thomas takes five decisions, in this order: group and cabins, dates, US waters or the BVI, yacht and crew, then what the rate includes. Guest count and passports rule yachts and routes in or out before price does, so they’re settled before you choose a yacht.
- Count guests and cabins. Decide who shares before you look at yachts. Past 12 guests, the 12-guest rule explains why two yachts is the usual answer.
- Fix the dates, or a window. A flexible week opens more yachts than a fixed one.
- Decide on the BVI. If the week will cross, every guest needs a passport and the yacht needs to be free to go.
- Shortlist by crew. Ask for the captain and chef named in each proposal, and confirm they’ll be aboard for your dates.
- Read what the rate includes. All-inclusive covers meals, drinks and fuel; the gratuity sits outside it.
A broker runs your shortlist across the agencies that list these yachts, quoting from the same published rates.
The bottom line
A St. Thomas yacht charter is either a day on a private boat or a week on a crewed yacht, and only the second has you sleeping aboard. A week can stay in US waters or cross to the BVI in a morning.
Work out your group size, your dates and whether everyone has a passport, then start a yacht search at Vital Charters and we’ll shortlist crewed yachts that fit.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to rent a catamaran in St. Thomas?
A crewed sailing catamaran based in St. Thomas lists a median of $31,000 for a high-season week, all-in, and the middle half ask between about $24,000 and $33,000 (Vital Charters rate analysis, October 2026). The rate covers the yacht, crew, meals and drinks for the week. A private day catamaran is a separate booking, priced by the day.
Do you need a passport for a St. Thomas yacht charter?
US citizens don’t need a passport for a St. Thomas yacht charter that stays in the US Virgin Islands. Every guest needs one once the charter crosses to the British Virgin Islands. Decide on the BVI before you book, because it changes the route the captain can plan.
How many guests can a St. Thomas charter take?
Twelve is the limit on most charter boats in St. Thomas, whether you book by the day or by the week, a limit US law sets for small charter boats in the US Virgin Islands (46 U.S.C. § 4105). A few day boats are certified for more. Crewed yachts stop at 12 guests.
Is a crewed charter from St. Thomas all-inclusive?
Most crewed charters from St. Thomas are all-inclusive, which covers meals, drinks and fuel for a normal week. Day boats work differently: several add fuel and BVI customs charges to the rate. Read the inclusions line on any quote before you compare two prices.
Can you charter a yacht in St. Thomas for one day?
Yes. A private day boat in St. Thomas comes with its captain for a half or full day on the water, and you sleep ashore. Crewed yachts with cabins and a chef are priced by the week. Ask a broker whether a specific yacht accepts a shorter charter.
A crewed week from St. Thomas
Tell us your group size and dates, and we’ll shortlist crewed yachts based in St. Thomas that fit, with what each week includes and whether it can cross to the BVI.
