Skippered and Crewed Charter Guide

Putting a professional on the boat removes the qualification problem, the navigation problem and most of the anxiety. It also changes who is in charge, how much space you have, and what the week costs.

Four staffing arrangements

Most Australian charters fall into one of four shapes.

Skipper only. One professional runs the vessel. You cook, clean and handle your own gear. The skipper may sleep in a crew berth, a forepeak, or on a saloon settee, and on smaller boats that means a cabin or a shared space is gone.

Skipper plus host or deckhand. Two crew. The second person handles meals, tidying, tender runs and guest wrangling, which in practice is what stops a holiday turning into a rostered chore. Two crew berths now come out of the accommodation.

Full crew with a cook or chef. Three or more, typical on larger vessels.

Sail guide on an otherwise self-skippered boat. A professional joins for the first day or two, or for a difficult passage, then leaves the boat with you. Good compromise if your paperwork is fine but your local knowledge is not.

The consistent cost is space. Crew accommodation reduces usable guest cabins. Always ask which specific cabin or berth the crew will occupy on the boat you are booking, not on the model generally.

Shared trips versus exclusive charter

A shared or scheduled trip sells individual places on a published departure. You travel with strangers, the route is fixed, and the price per head is much lower. Reef day catamarans and multi-day liveaboards commonly work this way.

An exclusive private charter buys the whole vessel. You set the dates, the group is only your people, and the itinerary has some flexibility. Large day vessels can go a long way in this direction: the directory includes a monohull with a day capacity of up to 49 people, which is a function-and-event proposition rather than a sailing holiday.

A vessel commonly has three different numbers: a day passenger limit, an offshore limit which is often lower, and an overnight berth count which is usually much lower again. Check which number an operator is quoting. "Up to 40 guests" and "sleeps 8" can both be true of the same hull.

Per-person and whole-vessel pricing

Per-person pricing suits couples, solo travellers and anyone happy to share. Liveaboards sold per berth are priced this way, and a berth may be in a shared cabin unless you pay a single or twin-share supplement.

Whole-vessel pricing is a flat charter fee for the boat, with crew either included or added as a daily rate per person. Divided across a full group it can undercut per-person rates substantially. Divided across a half-full group it is expensive, and the operator will not discount for empty cabins.

When you compare quotes, get both onto the same basis: total cost, for your actual group size, for the actual number of nights, including crew fees, fuel, provisioning, park fees and any levies. Costs sets out the line items that commonly sit outside the headline rate.

Who is in command

This is the part guests find surprising. On a Class 1 passenger charter a professional master is responsible for the vessel and its passengers, and their decisions on route and safety are final.

That means a skipper can refuse an anchorage you had your heart set on, shorten a passage, change the destination, cancel a tender run, or stay put for a day. Weather is the usual reason.

Frame itinerary requests as preferences ranked in order, and ask the skipper on day one what is realistic given the forecast. Groups that do this get more of what they want than groups that arrive with a fixed plan. See safety and commercial vessel rules for how Certificate of Survey conditions on operating area and minimum crew constrain the master's options before weather even enters it.

How much sailing you actually get

Do not assume you will be handling lines. Many skippered charters are run so guests can relax, which means the crew does everything and the guests sit down. If you want to steer, trim, set the anchor or learn to reef, say so at booking and repeat it on arrival.

Be realistic about limits. Guests are generally kept off the foredeck under way, away from winches under load, and off the rig entirely. On a busy day trip with a full passenger load there is no hands-on sailing available at all, regardless of what you would like. If sail training is the point, look at whether the operator runs a tuition product, or consider a tall ship voyage where working the vessel is the expectation rather than a favour.

Catering models

Four models cover most of the market. Fully inclusive, where crew plan, buy and cook everything. Pre-provisioned, where the operator stocks the boat to a list you approve and you cook, or crew cooks from that stock. Self-provisioned, where you shop and load yourself. And a split arrangement where breakfast and lunch are aboard and dinners are ashore, which suits cruising grounds with pubs and restaurants.

Dietary requirements, allergies and children's food all need to be in writing well before departure, not mentioned at the dock. Galley space and refrigeration are finite, and a coeliac or serious allergy needs planning from the first shop. Provisioning and catering covers quantities, storage and alcohol.

Tipping and gratuities in Australia

Tipping crew is not standardised in Australia and no operator can tell you a fixed rule. Overseas percentage conventions of 10 to 20 percent of the charter fee are quoted on some international broker sites and do not reflect ordinary Australian practice, where crew are paid award or contract wages.

Tipping is genuinely optional here. Many leave a cash amount at the end of a good week, given to the skipper to share. If you want a number, ask the operator directly what their guests usually do and treat the answer as a range rather than an obligation. Anything you plan to add should be budgeted separately from the quote.

Accessibility and guests who cannot swim

Ask specifics rather than whether a vessel is "accessible". Boarding is the hard part: fixed gangway or a step from a pontoon, transom steps, swim ladder rungs, and whether a tender transfer is involved. A tender transfer rules out many mobility limitations on its own.

Aboard, ask about door widths, companionway steps down to cabins and heads, handholds, and whether a head is reachable without using a ladder.

Non-swimmers are usually fine on a skippered charter, and should say so at booking. Crew will fit a lifejacket, keep them in the cockpit in a seaway, and use a flotation aid or noodle for swim stops. Children need correctly sized lifejackets, which you should confirm exist in the right sizes rather than assume. Families and groups goes further on this, and corporate and racing charters covers the briefing needs of large mixed-ability groups.

Put it in writing before you board

Confirm by email, before you pay the balance: the named vessel; exact crew numbers and roles; which cabin or berth the crew occupy; embarkation and disembarkation times and places; the catering model and who buys what; dietary requirements; what fuel, park fees and levies are extra; the cancellation and weather-cancellation terms; whether a shortened or relocated itinerary is refundable; the passenger limit applying to your booking; and your ranked itinerary preferences with the skipper's initial view on them.

If an operator will not confirm these in writing, treat that as information. Compare options in charter types, check the self-skippered route in the bareboat guide, and use the operator directory to see who runs the vessel and under what business.

Sources

• Australian Maritime Safety Authority, domestic commercial vessels: https://www.amsa.gov.au/vessels-operators/domestic-commercial-vessels
• Bureau of Meteorology marine and ocean forecasts: https://www.bom.gov.au/marine/
• Operator fleet pages cited on each operator profile, reviewed 11 September 2026.

Specifications and policies change. Confirm details with the operator before booking.