Luxury catamaran
charter in Greece.
A 50-foot-plus catamaran with a professional crew is a different holiday from a bareboat — and a different market. Here is how luxury charter really works in Greek waters: what the crew does, what all-inclusive covers, and what a realistic week costs.
Luxury is the most abused word in yachting, so let us define it before we sell it. Most of what a catamaran charter Greece search returns are 38–46 ft sail-yourself boats — excellent holidays, not luxury products. A genuine luxury charter means a 50 ft-plus catamaran run by a professional crew — different rules on price, provisioning and planning. Here are those rules, honestly.
What luxury means on a Greek catamaran
In Greek charter practice the line is drawn by hardware and crew, not adjectives. A luxury catamaran is normally 50 ft or longer — a Lagoon 51 or Sixty 5, Fountaine Pajot Samana 59, Bali 5.4, Sunreef 60 and up — almost always a flybridge design, staffed by at least a skipper and a chef-host living aboard in separate crew quarters.
Equipment matters more in Greece, because the best anchorages have no shore power and no water hose. A watermaker and a generator that runs the air-conditioning overnight let you sleep in a silent Cycladic bay instead of queueing for a town quay. Below 50 ft those systems are the exception; at the luxury tier they are the entry ticket.
- Watermaker and generator — air-conditioning runs at anchor, not only in port
- Crew living aboard: skipper plus chef-host, a deckhand on 60 ft+
- Owner-version layouts: fewer, larger cabins with private bathrooms
- A real tender on davits, plus paddleboards and snorkel gear — seabobs on flagships
Crewed, skippered or bareboat
Greece sells the same islands in three formats. Knowing which one you are shopping for saves weeks of mismatched quotes.
Fully crewed
The boat comes with its own permanent crew — skipper and chef-host, sometimes a deckhand. They plan around the weather, cook, serve, clean and handle every line and port formality. The format this guide is about.
Skippered
A standard charter catamaran plus a professional skipper hired by the day. The skipper sails and advises; you provision and cook. The most affordable way to cruise Greece without a licence.
Skippered charter guide →Bareboat
You are the crew. Greek port police ask for an ICC or equivalent national licence, plus a second adult signing a co-skipper declaration. Cheapest per week — and all the work is yours.
Bareboat charter guide →What all-inclusive actually means in Greece
Read the listings carefully: all-inclusive rarely means one number covers everything. The standard crewed structure is a base rate for the boat, crew and insurance, with running costs travelling separately. Provisioning, fuel, port fees and the Greek cruising tax (TEPAI, a monthly fee scaled to boat length) are settled item by item or through an APA — an Advance Provisioning Allowance, typically 20–30% of the base rate, reconciled against receipts on the last day.
True fixed-price packages exist, mostly on smaller crewed cats and cabin cruises, where a set half-board menu makes the math predictable. Neither model is wrong: an APA buys freedom, because the chef provisions to your shopping list instead of a fixed menu. A quote that hides the second number is the only wrong model. Crew gratuity is a further line — customary, discretionary, never inside the rate.
Wherever you book, insist the written offer itemises every mandatory cost before any deposit. Our desk works inquiry-based for exactly this reason: every quote is built for your dates and party, cost lines in the open.
Private whole boat or by the cabin
A private charter means the whole catamaran is yours: your guest list, your route, your pace. Priced per boat per week, it rewards groups — six to ten people sharing a flagship often pay less per person than a comparable hotels-and-ferries trip. For a couple, a catamaran cabin charter sells the same crewed experience one cabin at a time, on a set route with shared meals, at a per-person price.
The honest trade: cabin charters fix the itinerary and the company; private charters fix nothing. If you want an extra night in a bay because the water is glass, only a private boat says yes.
What a luxury week actually costs
Market-typical bands, not our quotes — the number depends on boat, month and base. Figures are per boat per week, plus running costs or APA.
Lagoon 50/51 and Bali 5.4 class with skipper and chef-host — the core of the Greek luxury fleet.
Lagoon Sixty 5, Sunreef 60–70, Samana 59 — three-plus crew and owner-suite layouts.
June and September run the same boat and crew for less; September adds the warmest sea of the year.
Charters are priced and charged in euros — worth arranging a card without foreign-transaction fees before you fly. Every booking through our desk carries a 72-hour free-cancellation window, and the desk itself — Split-based, covering Greece group-wide since 2013 — quotes from people who know the individual boats.
Compare crewed-capable boats in the catamaran fleet, or send your dates through the charter wizard and let a broker shortlist for you.
What the crew actually does all day
The crew is what you are paying for, so here is their actual day.
Before you wake
The skipper has already read the wind. In July and August that means the meltemi, the dry northerly that stacks whitecaps across the open Cyclades. Good skippers plan each leg around it — sailing early, tucking behind high islands, or recommending the calmer Saronic or Ionian outright.
Underway and at anchor
Lines, fenders, anchoring stern-to on crowded quays, port-police paperwork, fuel and water logistics — none of it touches you. The chef-host runs breakfast and lunch around your swimming.
Evenings
Dinner is the chef’s — provisioned to your preference list — or a harbour taverna the crew booked while you swam. While you are ashore, cabins are tidied and the boat is reset for tomorrow.
To see a crewed week base by base, the Greece itinerary library maps sample routes from Athens, Lefkas, Kos and Rhodes.
Planning a luxury charter from the US
Getting there
Fly into Athens (ATH). The Athens-area hubs — Alimos marina and Lavrion — are both within about an hour of the airport, so a Saturday-morning arrival can board the same afternoon. Lefkas, Kos and Rhodes connect by short domestic flights.
Changeover days
Saturday-to-Saturday is the Greek default. Crewed boats are the flexible end of the market — outside peak weeks, mid-week starts and ten-day charters are often negotiable.
Charter beats ferries
Island-hopping the Cyclades by ferry means timetables, luggage drags and three hotel check-ins. A crewed catamaran moves while you swim or sleep and checks you in exactly once.
When to book
The genuine luxury fleet is small next to the bareboat fleet. For July and August the best boats are reserved the previous autumn; September holds availability longer.
Luxury charter questions, answered
How much does a crewed catamaran charter in Greece cost?
Market-typical bands: a crewed 50 ft catamaran runs roughly €12,000–18,000 per week in peak season; 60 ft-plus flagships start around €25,000. Running costs — provisioning, fuel, berthing, cruising tax — are extra, usually via an APA of 20–30% of the base rate. June and September deliver the same boat and crew for less.
What does all-inclusive mean on a Greek catamaran charter?
Usually less than the phrase implies. The standard structure is a base rate covering boat, crew and insurance, with provisioning, fuel, port fees and the TEPAI cruising tax settled separately or via an APA reconciled against receipts. Fixed-price packages exist, mostly on smaller crewed cats and cabin cruises — always ask for the written inclusion list before paying a deposit.
What is the difference between a private charter and a cabin charter?
A private charter gives you the whole catamaran — your route, your guest list, per-boat pricing that rewards groups. A cabin charter sells one cabin on a hosted catamaran with a fixed route, shared meals and per-person pricing — the affordable entry for a couple.
Do I need a licence for a luxury catamaran charter in Greece?
No. On crewed and skippered charters the professional skipper carries the qualification. A licence — an ICC or equivalent national certificate, plus a second crew member signing a co-skipper declaration for the port police — is only needed if you charter bareboat.
Sail Greece with a crew. Start the conversation.
Send your dates, party size and the level of service you want. A broker replies with crewed catamarans that fit, full cost lines included — and every booking stays free to cancel for 72 hours.