Boat Hire Abroad

Many people assume that boat hire abroad will be stressful and full of hidden charges. In my experience, boat hire abroad is pretty much as easy as doing it at home and about ten times more enjoyable due to the exotic locations.

The best way to handle boat hire abroad is rather surprisingly just to turn up at a marina. While quite a lot can be done online, you may find that when dealing with boat hire abroad, the way to the best deal is to just head to the marina and go speak to the harbour master who will give you a list of operators that currently have boats available. The first thing you will need to know of course is exactly what kind of boat you wish to hire, this is obviously something that should be known before arriving. Most boats specialise in particular types of excursions such as scuba, group parties or island hopping for example. You should always ensure to ask the harbour master as many questions as you can about the operators you are choosing between. Remember his opinions are unbiased and I have often had the best excursions when they have been recommended to me by a friendly harbour master.

Now, any time that I've attempted boat hire abroad, the following charges have applied. The total price will consist of fuel charges, captain and crew wages, harbour fees if you intend on docking at another harbour temporarily and occasionally some other miscellaneous expenses. I would also like to add that if you are one of the lucky people that can actually operate a boat, crew hire obviously isn't required and the price drops dramatically. You should always be open to a little bit of haggling but try not to go over board. You should also remember that boat operator's care about their reputation a lot more than taxi drivers therefore even though they are aware that you are a tourist, you can generally trust them

Another thing to remember is that in most countries it is necessary to have a little conversation about your plans with the harbour master before heading out to sea. You simply need to tell him where your going and when you will be back so that any necessary actions can be taken on the off chance the boat has mechanical problems or worse. I have never had any problems and have found no matter where in the world I am boat hire is designed for tourists and therefore English is always spoken and absolute cluelessness about boats is happily tolerated. Therefore should you be interested in what can turn out to be a life long memory, I recommend you go for it.