Buying
Buying a yacht in Dubai, and what is for sale
A used 45ft motor yacht for sale in Dubai goes for roughly AED 700,000 to AED 1.4 million, and a new one for two to three times that. The purchase price is the smaller decision: running the same boat costs AED 90,000 to AED 160,000 a year, every year, whether you use it or not.
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- Used 45ft motor yacht
- AED 700,000-1.4 million
- New 45ft
- AED 2-3.5 million
- Annual running cost
- AED 90,000-160,000
- Break-even against chartering
- Around 40 days a year
Dubai has an active used-boat market and a heavily represented new-boat market. Gulf Craft is built here, and most European yards have a dealer along the coast. Prices for used boats are softer than in the Mediterranean because the fleet turns over faster; prices for new boats are not.
Before the purchase, three things determine whether owning here makes sense. Do you have a berth: real availability, not a waiting list? Have you priced the annual running cost honestly? And how many days a year will you genuinely sail? Owners we know who sail fewer than twenty days regret the purchase; owners who sail forty do not.
We are a charter operator rather than a brokerage, so we do not list boats. What we do is put buyers in front of brokers we have worked with, arrange a survey and a sea trial, and give an honest second opinion on a specific boat: including the answer 'charter instead', which is the right one more often than the market admits.
What is included
- Introductions to brokers we have actually transacted with
- Survey and sea-trial coordination before you commit
- A second opinion on a specific boat, including the case against it
- Realistic annual running-cost modelling for that hull
- Registration, insurance and berth guidance after purchase
Worth knowing
- Never buy without a survey and a sea trial, however good the boat looks alongside.
- A berth is harder to secure than a boat in Dubai. Confirm one before you sign anything.
- If you will sail fewer than twenty days a year, chartering or membership is cheaper by a wide margin.
Before you buy a yacht in Dubai, charter the size you think you want
The most useful advice anyone can give a first-time buyer here is to charter the size you think you want, three or four times, across different months. It costs a fraction of a deposit and it answers the questions a brochure cannot: whether you actually use the flybridge, whether four cabins matter or two would do, and whether you go out often enough to justify owning anything at all.
Most people who charter monthly for a season either buy with a much clearer specification or decide that a membership does the job. Both outcomes are better than a boat sitting on a berth being paid for.
The honest crossover is roughly monthly use. Below that, chartering is cheaper on every measure and carries none of the tail.
What the running costs look like
Purchase is the visible number and the smaller commitment. Budget annually for the berth, servicing, insurance, registration and renewal, antifouling and hull cleaning, and a captain if you do not hold a UAE licence.
The climate is the item that surprises people. Heat, humidity and salt work on upholstery, canvas, brightwork and electronics far faster than in temperate water, and a boat left unattended through a Dubai summer shows it. Whatever maintenance figure you have in mind from another market, it is higher here.
Depreciation is real and varies enormously by builder and by how well the boat has been kept. A well-maintained, well-documented boat holds value; one with gaps in its service record does not, and in a market this small that gap is visible to every buyer.
Buying a yacht in Dubai on instalments
Retail boat finance exists here but it is smaller than people assume, and the ceiling is the thing to check first. ADIB's boat finance — the one UAE product that publishes its terms — goes to AED 3 million for UAE nationals and AED 1 million for expatriates, over a maximum of 48 months, on a minimum salary of AED 8,000 with salary transfer. There is also up to a 210-day holiday before the first instalment falls due.
Run that against the prices at the top of this page and the shape becomes clear. A used 45ft at AED 700,000 to AED 1.4 million is inside the expatriate ceiling only at the bottom of its range, and only if you are financing the whole thing. AED 1 million over 48 months is AED 20,833 a month before any profit is added — and ADIB publishes no rate, so treat that as the floor rather than the payment. Add the AED 90,000 to AED 160,000 a year this page already quotes for running the boat, which is another AED 7,500 to AED 13,300 a month, and a financed 45ft is a commitment somewhere north of AED 28,000 a month for four years.
Above the retail ceiling it stops being a consumer product. A larger hull is financed as an asset rather than a purchase, arranged through a specialist marine lender against a survey and a valuation, priced case by case and structured over a longer term. That market exists in the UAE and is worth approaching through a broker rather than a branch. What does not exist, at any size, is a lender who will skip the survey — which is the same advice this page gives cash buyers, for the same reason.
Buying sensibly
Get a survey, on any boat, at any price. It is the single cheapest insurance in the transaction and it is the thing buyers skip when they have fallen for a hull. A surveyor looks at structure, engines, systems and the things a walkthrough cannot show.
Check the registration and the paperwork trail properly, including that the seller is entitled to sell. Ask for the service history and read it rather than accepting that one exists. And take a sea trial in real conditions rather than a flat morning — the boat's behaviour in chop tells you more than an hour at anchor does.
If the plan is to charter the boat out to offset costs, factor that in before buying rather than after: commercial use requires commercial registration, commercial insurance and a higher survey standard, and the sizes that charter well here are 48ft to 85ft rather than whatever is most impressive.
Ask about Buying a boat on your date.
Leave the date and the headcount and we will come back with what is free and what it costs. No deposit, and no obligation to book.
- No deposit to enquire
- A reply within a couple of hours
- Licensed boats, licensed crew, price all-in
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Questions people ask
How much does a yacht cost in Dubai?
A used 45ft motor yacht runs AED 700,000 to AED 1.4 million; a new one AED 2 to 3.5 million. Larger boats scale steeply: an 80ft new build starts around AED 12 million.
Is it worth buying a yacht in Dubai?
It depends almost entirely on use. Running a mid-size yacht costs AED 90,000 to AED 160,000 a year regardless of whether you sail. Below about forty days a year, chartering or club membership costs less and carries none of the maintenance.
Can you buy a yacht in instalments in Dubai?
Yes, within a low ceiling. ADIB's boat finance runs to AED 1 million for expatriates and AED 3 million for UAE nationals, over a maximum of 48 months, on a minimum salary of AED 8,000 with salary transfer. Anything above that is arranged as marine asset finance through a specialist lender rather than as a retail product.
What would a financed 45ft actually cost a month?
AED 1 million over the 48-month maximum is AED 20,833 a month in principal alone, and no UAE lender publishes its profit rate, so the real instalment is higher. Running the same boat costs AED 90,000 to AED 160,000 a year on top, which is another AED 7,500 to AED 13,300 a month.
Can foreigners buy a boat in the UAE?
Yes. Non-nationals can own and register a vessel in the UAE, subject to the registration process and proof of a berth. A broker handles the paperwork as part of the sale.
Do you sell yachts?
No. We charter and manage boats rather than broker them. We will introduce you to brokers we have worked with, coordinate a survey and sea trial, and give an honest opinion on a specific boat.
What should I check before buying a used boat in Dubai?
A full survey out of the water, a sea trial under load, engine hours against service records, and a confirmed berth. Heat and salinity age boats faster here, so service history matters more than it would in Europe.
The questions people ask before booking this
- 62ft vs 85ft yacht charter: where the extra money goes62ft vs 85ft yacht charter, in one number: the 85ft costs AED 3,200 an hour against the 62ft's AED 1,400, more than double, and the extra buys thirteen more guests, three more crew, a jacuzzi, formal dining for eighteen and a four-hour minimum instead of three.
- Dubai Harbour, the marina almost nobody visitsDubai Harbour is a large marina and cruise-terminal development between Dubai Marina and Palm Jumeirah, holding over a thousand berths: the largest marina in the region.
- When you need a licence to rent or drive a boat in DubaiNo.
Tell us when, and we will tell you what is free.
Weekends and sunset slots go first between October and April. Leave the date and the headcount below, or message us on WhatsApp. If your date is close, WhatsApp is quicker than any form.
- No deposit to enquire
- A reply within a couple of hours
- Licensed boats, licensed crew, price all-in
WhatsApp only — messages and calls