Crewed Yacht Charters in San Blas or Bareboat Charters?
Simple answer: a fully private all inclusive catamaran charter is the only possibility to cruise San Blas. Bareboat charters are not available due to the peculiarities of the destination and Guna law requirements.
A bareboat catamaran charter is a type of yacht rental where the charterer hires the yacht without a crew. This means that the person renting the vessel is responsible for operating and navigating the yacht themselves.
Needless to say that, the peculiarities of the San Blas islands with the numerous reefs and hidden navigation hazards along with the fact that commercial charts used for navigating are not positioned correctly, make the San Blas Islands a sailing destination only to be safely approached by local captains.
The San Blas islands are a boat graveyard and the exterior reefs are dotted with shipwrecks of all kinds.
Bareboat charters are vey common in the BVIs, USVis, Bahamas, Saint Martin and most of the Mediterranean, including Greece, Croatia, Ibiza, etc.
Due to the high risk with weather variations and other hazards along with the high value of catamarans, only certain brands and hull lengths are offered for bareboat charters and most of the newer high end or bigger catamarans are mostly only offered on an all inclusive service.
Now check this BVI crewed all inclusive catamaran isn’t that something!
We in San Blas are more modest in our aspirations and firmly believe in the importance of a balanced charter experience which includes a great catamaran (of course not as great as some catamarans in the BVIs) and the overwhelming and up to this point untouched natural beauty of the more than 365 islands of our beloved archipelago of the San Blas.
Elsewhere, chartering a bareboat say for example in Martinique and provisioning for the days to come is extremely easy. You can bring your dinghy right next to the supermarket and load all the necessary food and drinks, all at decent prices and with European quality Standards. Try buying and onion in San Blas.... you will most likely not succeed and if you do, you will pay a premium which is for most cases not acceptable. Provisioning in San Blas is not straight forward since there are no supermarkets nearby and for example, the whole process of meeting the fishermen at the right place and time is not like going to Walmart... or Leader Price at Martinique.
The charterer of a bareboat also takes care of all operating expenses, including fuel, crew, port expenses, and insurance. Same as provisioning for food, newcomers to San Blas simply will not find where to refuel and no marinas because there are simply none. All expenses are covered in our crewed yacht charters in San Blas.
In the bareboat segment, the charterer has full control and responsibility for the yacht. They plan their own itinerary, decide where to go, and how long to stay at each location. Defining your itinerary for sailing the San Blas islands is not only painstaking process but also any error can lead to a bad optimisation of your precious time in the region.
When booking a bareboat charter, it is essential to have the necessary sailing experience and qualifications required by the charter company. Most companies will ask for a valid skipper's license and may request a logbook to prove previous experience. The charterer will also be required to sign a charter agreement and provide a security deposit.
For an all inclusive catamaran charter in San Blas there is no security deposit and oficial sailing qualification certificate and logbook required. That does not mean you will not be sailing the catamaran. Simply inform us of your intention of sailing and we will instruct our friendly captain to supervise the manoeuvres.
We will let you know if bareboat charters become available in San Blas but up to this point, chances are slim due to the circumstances described earlier.
