Guide · 9 minute read
A yacht charter in Dubai is held with a 25 percent deposit and the balance is paid on the day. Cancel more than seven days ahead and the deposit moves to a new date; cancel inside seven days and it is retained. Nothing is taken to ask about availability or to receive a quote.
By Roshan Shriwastav · Published
Asking about a date, getting availability and receiving a written quote costs nothing and commits you to nothing. Any operator asking for card details before you have a boat and a price is doing something unusual.
A quote should name the vessel, its licensed guest number, the hourly rate, the minimum hours and what is included. Without those it is not a quote you can compare.
Twenty-five percent is the market norm in Dubai and it holds one boat on one date and time. It does not hold "a boat of that size", and it does not hold a flexible date. That distinction matters at weekends in season, when the same slot is being asked about by several people.
A verbal hold is worth very little between October and April. Sunset slots on Thursday, Friday and Saturday are the most contested hours in the calendar and they go to whoever pays first.
The balance is due on the day, by card or bank transfer. Companies holding a UAE trade licence can usually be invoiced with a TRN and payment terms instead; individuals cannot.
Extras agreed in writing beforehand (catering, decoration, a photographer, jet skis alongside) are added to the balance rather than settled separately with each supplier, which is simpler on the day.
Cancel more than seven days before the charter and the deposit moves to another date, normally within six months. Cancel inside seven days and it is retained, because at that point the slot rarely resells.
If we cancel (which in practice means the captain judging conditions unsuitable), you choose between a new date and a full refund including the deposit. That decision is made on the morning rather than days ahead, because forecasts here change quickly and a cancelled charter on a day that turns out fine helps nobody.
New Year's Eve is the exception to all of the above. Charters on 31 December are priced per boat for the night and deposits are non-refundable, because there is no second chance to sell that date.
Most disputes about money on a Dubai charter trace back to a quote that was never comparable to the one next to it. Two numbers that look AED 300 apart can be AED 1,200 apart once fuel, marina fees and a minimum-hours rule are applied.
A quote you can actually compare names six things. If any are missing, ask for them before comparing on price, and treat an unwillingness to put them in writing as the answer to a different question.
On a properly quoted Dubai charter, the hourly rate covers the boat, the captain and crew, fuel for the agreed route, marina and departure fees, chilled water and soft drinks, ice, towels, life jackets and the sound system. Nothing on that list should appear again at the end.
What sits outside the rate is anything brought aboard for you: catering from AED 120 a head, a deck barbecue from AED 180, decoration from about AED 350, a photographer from AED 800, jet skis running alongside, and any alcohol, which is by prior arrangement and subject to UAE law. All of it is agreed in writing beforehand and added to the balance.
The one genuinely variable item is fuel on a route that changes substantially on the day. A charter that was quoted for the Marina and Palm and then runs out to the World Islands may attract a fuel adjustment. Ask about it if you expect to improvise, and it will be told to you as a number rather than a surprise.
Tipping the crew is normal in Dubai but genuinely optional, and it is not built into the rate. There is no service charge on a charter invoice and no expectation communicated on the day.
Where guests do tip, five to ten percent of the charter value split across the crew is the common range: call it AED 150 to AED 300 on a three-hour 48ft charter. Cash to the captain to distribute is the simplest method. Nobody will ask, and nobody will behave differently if you do not.
International cards work for the deposit without any special arrangement, and that is how most overseas bookings are held. The only thing worth checking is your own bank's limit on a single foreign transaction. A AED 3,500 deposit on an 85ft charter trips some card limits and the decline arrives without explanation.
Bank transfer from abroad works but is slower than people expect: two to three working days is normal, and a transfer sent on a Thursday will not clear before the following Monday. If your date is inside a week, pay the deposit by card and settle the balance however you like.
The balance can be paid on the day by card at the marina, which is what most visitors do. Quoting and invoicing are in dirhams; whatever your card issuer converts at is between you and them, and paying in AED rather than accepting a terminal's own conversion is almost always cheaper.
Most changes are easier than people assume, and the seven-day rule applies to cancellation rather than amendment. Moving the date, shifting the start time by an hour or two, adding an hour, or changing the guest count within the boat's licensed limit are all usually possible up to about forty-eight hours out at no charge.
What is harder is changing the boat, because a different vessel is a different booking and the one you want may not be free. Reducing the hours below the boat's minimum is not possible at all. And adding guests beyond the licensed number is never possible, at any notice, for any money.
The practical advice is to tell us early and in writing. A change requested three days out is administration; the same change requested at the pontoon is a problem, and occasionally an insurmountable one.
Twenty-five percent, which holds a specific boat on a specific date and time. The balance is paid on the day. Nothing is taken to ask about availability or to receive a quote.
Cancel more than seven days before and the deposit moves to another date within six months. Cancel inside seven days and the deposit is retained. New Year's Eve deposits are non-refundable at any notice.
You choose between a new date and a full refund including the deposit. The decision is made on the morning of the charter rather than days ahead, because forecasts here change quickly.
Yes, for the deposit and the balance. Bank transfer is also standard. Companies with a UAE trade licence can be invoiced with a TRN and payment terms; individuals pay a deposit and settle on the day.
No. Catering, decoration, a photographer or jet skis alongside are agreed in writing beforehand and added to the balance, so you settle once rather than with each supplier.
It is normal but genuinely optional, and there is no service charge on the invoice. Where guests do tip, five to ten percent split across the crew is the common range, about AED 150 to AED 300 on a three-hour charter on the 48ft.
Yes, at no charge more than seven days out, and the deposit moves with it. Start-time shifts and guest-count changes within the licensed limit are usually fine up to forty-eight hours ahead. Changing the boat is treated as a new booking.
There should not be. Fuel, crew, marina and departure fees belong inside the hourly rate. The one variable is fuel on a route that changes substantially on the day. Ask about it in advance if you expect to improvise.
Leave the date and roughly how many of you there are and we will come back with the boats that are free and what each costs. No deposit at this stage.
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