What Size Yacht Do You Need for Your Party?
Almost every charter yacht carries a legal maximum of 12 guests overnight, whatever its length — above that, a vessel is classed as a passenger ship under international rules and very few yachts are certified for it. Length therefore buys space and crew per guest, not more guests. For six to eight people, a 30 to 40-metre yacht is the usual fit; for ten to twelve, 45 metres and up.
The 12-guest ceiling, and why it matters first
Under the international SOLAS convention, a vessel carrying more than twelve passengers is treated as a passenger ship and must meet passenger-ship construction and safety standards. Almost no yacht is built or certified to that standard, so the practical ceiling on a charter is twelve guests sleeping aboard. A 70-metre yacht with nine cabins is still, in most cases, a 12-guest yacht.
This is the fact to start from. If your party is fourteen, the answer is not a bigger yacht — it is two yachts, or a yacht plus a villa ashore, or a day charter where more guests may be permitted for hours but not overnight.
How length maps to cabins
| Length | Cabins (typical) | Guests | Crew (typical) | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24–30 m | 3–4 | 6–8 | 3–5 | A family or two couples |
| 30–40 m | 4–5 | 8–10 | 5–8 | Two families, a small group of friends |
| 40–50 m | 5–6 | 10–12 | 8–11 | Full party of 12 with space to spread |
| 50 m and above | 6+ | 12 | 11+ | 12 guests with more crew and more deck per person |
What is sourced and what is not. The 12-passenger threshold is the SOLAS convention as applied to commercial yachts. The cabin and crew counts are indicative industry patterns from listed charter fleets and from arranging these charters — individual yachts vary, and a 40-metre with four large cabins is a different proposition from one with six small ones. Ask for the deck plan.
Cabins are not the whole answer
Two yachts with five cabins can suit completely different parties. Three things beyond the count matter more than people expect.
- Cabin configuration. Double beds, twin beds, or convertible. A group of friends wants twins; couples want doubles; a family with children wants a mix and probably an adjoining door. A yacht with five doubles is wrong for eight single friends however good it looks.
- Where the master is. On larger yachts the owner's suite is on the main or upper deck, apart from the guest cabins below. If two families are sharing, that asymmetry needs to be agreed before the charter, not discovered on it.
- Crew-to-guest ratio. Eight crew for eight guests is a different week from four crew for eight guests. The ratio is most of what separates a 40-metre's price from a 30-metre's, and it is the thing you feel every hour aboard.
Bigger is not automatically better
A 55-metre for six people means three empty cabins, a crew of twelve looking after six, and a base fee — plus the APA on top — that is twice what a well-chosen 40-metre would cost. Space per guest is real, and some parties want it. But the honest question is whether you want space or whether you want the number. They cost very differently. How the base fee climbs with length, and what the APA does on top of it, are in what a yacht charter really costs and APA explained.
Children, and who counts
A child is a guest for the purposes of the twelve. Infants in a cot are sometimes accommodated beyond it at the captain's discretion, but do not assume. Nannies, security and other staff travelling with you are also guests unless they are formally engaged as crew — which is possible on some yachts, and something to arrange with the broker, not on arrival.
Day charters: the exception
For a single day without overnight guests, some yachts are permitted to carry more than twelve under different rules, depending on flag and local regulation. If you want twenty people aboard for an afternoon, ask specifically about the yacht's day-charter certification — it is a different question from the overnight one and has a different answer.
Common questions
Can a yacht ever take more than 12 guests overnight?
A small number of very large yachts are certified as passenger vessels and can. They are rare, priced accordingly, and usually not the right answer. For a party above twelve, two yachts cruising together is the usual solution and often the better week.
What size yacht for a family of five?
A 24 to 30-metre with three or four cabins is comfortable, with room for a nanny or grandparents. Prioritise a convertible cabin for the children and check where the crew mess is — on smaller yachts it is closer to guest space than you might expect.
Does a bigger yacht mean a rougher or calmer ride?
Calmer, generally, and stabilisers matter more than length. A 35-metre with zero-speed stabilisers is more comfortable at anchor than a 45-metre without. Ask whether the yacht has them before you compare on length alone.
How many crew is enough?
As a rough guide, one crew member per guest is the point at which service feels effortless; below two-thirds of that, you will notice. It is one of the clearest reasons two yachts of the same length are priced apart.
Matching the yacht to the party
Tell us who is coming — couples, families, friends, children, staff — and what the week is for, and we will shortlist by configuration rather than length. Sometimes the right answer is smaller than you were about to book. Send us the party and the dates.