Yacht charter on the Amalfi Coast splits into two worlds that have very little in common. On one side the day charter: a boat with a skipper for four, six or eight hours, one price, all or nearly all included. On the other the weekly charter, where the figure you see is only a starting point and the items added afterwards — APA, fuel, mooring, delivery — can come to a third of the total.
Confusing the two is the commonest mistake. Anyone who searches for "Amalfi Coast yacht charter", finds a four-figure sum and panics is usually looking at a week rather than a day; anyone who finds €680 is looking at a day charter on a boat for eight. This page explains how both work, which marina to leave from, and what to ask before you sign anything.
Day charter: what a day costs
The day charters verifiable on GetYourGuide for this coast, at prices seen, are three:
| Charter | Departure | Duration | Price per boat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private tour with prosecco and snorkelling | Amalfi | 6 h | €715 |
| Four-hour private tour | Positano | 4 h | €680 |
| Private tour along the coast | Positano | 4–7 h | €750 |
These are boats for eight to twelve people with a skipper, fuel and usually drinks aboard. Divided by eight passengers, the six-hour charter from Amalfi works out at €89.38 each: near enough the cost of a shared tour, with the whole boat to yourselves. The full arithmetic at 2, 4, 6 and 8 people is on the private boat tours page.
Above that bracket you are into charter proper: boats of 12 to 24 metres with crew, arranged through brokers, at prices that are never published on a platform and are quoted on request. 
Above twelve metres a charter stops being a platform product and becomes a contract written around you.
Crewed or bareboat
Crewed. A captain, and on larger boats a deckhand, a hostess or a cook as well. It is the standard formula on this coast, and not only for comfort: berths at Amalfi and Capri are tight, the seabed drops away sharply, and the Punta Campanella marine protected area has precise anchoring rules that a local crew knows by heart.
Bareboat. You take the boat and handle it yourself. You need a patente nautica (Italian boat licence) — the exemption up to 40.8 CV covers small craft, not yachts — and genuine experience. It suits people who sail regularly and want a base for a week between the coast, Capri, Ischia and Procida. If you want the freedom of driving but on small boats, with no qualification, look instead at licence-free boat rental.
APA, delivery and the rest of the contract
These are the initials that separate the advertised price from what you will actually pay.
APA — Advance Provisioning Allowance. A float you hand to the owner or the captain before departure, used to cover fuel, mooring, provisioning, water and shore power, and port dues. At the end of the charter you get the statement: whatever is left comes back to you, whatever is short you top up. It is standard on multi-day crewed charters. The usual figure runs to something like a fifth or a quarter of the charter price, but it varies widely by boat and by broker.
Delivery and redelivery fee. If the boat is based at Naples or Gaeta and you board at Amalfi, the transfer is billed. Over short distances it is a modest line; on big boats over long distances it can weigh as much as a day of charter. Always ask at quotation stage, not afterwards.
Mooring. A berth at Capri Marina Grande in August is the least predictable item on the bill and has to be booked early.
Tips. Not obligatory in Italy. Charter operators in the area suggest 5–10% of the rental price, handed to the captain at the end of the charter.
Insurance and deposit. On bareboat a deposit is always required and is tied to the policy excess. On crewed there usually is none, because responsibility for handling the boat stays with the captain.
Which marina to leave from
| Marina | Where | Strengths | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amalfi, Molo Darsena | Via Lungomare dei Cavalieri | In the centre, five minutes from the cathedral | Few berths, full in August |
| Positano, Spiaggia Grande | In front of the main beach | Departure in the middle of the coast | Pier only, reached on foot down the steps |
| Marina di Stabia | Castellammare di Stabia | Large, well equipped, handy from Naples | About an hour's sailing from the coast |
| Marina d'Arechi | Salerno | Modern, plenty of berths, lower prices | Salerno to Amalfi is roughly 8 nautical miles |
| Capri, Marina Grande | Capri | The most sought-after berth in the area | The dearest and the hardest to get |
If the group is arriving by train, Salerno is the best logistical choice: the station is a few minutes from the Molo Masuccio and Marina d'Arechi is a short taxi ride away. The full picture on arrivals is on the getting to the Amalfi Coast page, while anyone starting from the Sorrentine peninsula will find the detail in boat tours from Sorrento.
Salerno has more berths and lower prices than the rest of the coast: it is about eight nautical miles from the Molo Manfredi to Amalfi.
Itineraries that work
One day. Positano, Li Galli, the Fiordo di Furore, Conca dei Marini, with two swim stops. That is the six-hour charter from Amalfi, and it gives the best ratio of coastline seen to time in the water.
Two or three days. The Amalfi Coast on day one, Capri on day two with a night in harbour or at anchor off Marina Piccola, the Sorrentine peninsula and the Bay of Ieranto on day three. One caveat: Ieranto sits in zone B of Punta Campanella and anchoring there is prohibited.
A week. The range widens to the Phlegraean islands: Ischia, Procida and, with time to spare, Ventotene. This is where a weekly charter earns its keep, because the Amalfi Coast alone is exhausted in two days of sailing.
On a multi-day itinerary sail changes the rhythm of the day: slower, quieter, far steadier at anchor.
The Capri day. The loop around the Faraglioni — Stella at 111 m, di Mezzo at 81 m with its natural tunnel some sixty metres long, Scopolo at 104 m — is done from the water without landing. If you do go ashore, the landing tax is €5 per person from 1 April to 31 October. All the detail is in Capri from Amalfi by boat.
When to book and when to go
May and June. Sea at 19.0 °C and 23.1 °C according to ten-year averages for Amalfi, marinas with space, lower prices. The best window for a first charter.
July and August. Water at 26.0–26.7 °C, but berths at Capri and Amalfi sell out and the anchorages fill. Book two or three months ahead and allow for nights in alternative ports.
September and the first half of October. Sea still at 24.9 °C and 22.2 °C, fewer boats, better light for photographs. The coastal ferry season closes in early November, and most of the charter offer closes with it.
If you would rather have sail than engine, with less noise and more stability under the sun, the comparison is on the catamaran and sailing page; if an evening departure appeals, look at the sunset cruise, which is when this coast is at its best.
The dock at Amalfi is small and packed in August: the berth has to be locked in with the charter, not after it.
How to choose a broker without regretting it
Before you pay a deposit, ask in writing:
- Which items are included in the price and which are not: fuel, mooring, provisioning, final cleaning, linen.
- Whether there is an APA, at what percentage, and whether you receive a copy of the final statement.
- Who the captain is and how long they have worked this coast. A local crew is worth far more than one that arrived from another region at the start of the season.
- The weather cancellation terms: rough seas cancel the day, and the contract should say who decides and what happens to the money.
- The insurance cover and the excess, particularly on bareboat.
The criteria we use to assess the companies working this coast, and the questions to ask on the phone, are collected on the Amalfi Coast operators page.
Yacht charter on the Amalfi Coast makes sense in two situations: when the group is large enough for a day charter to compete with a group tour, and when you want several days afloat between the coast, Capri and the islands. If you fall into the first case, the quickest way to get a concrete sense of prices and availability is to look at the boats and charters available on the coast and set them against the four-hour charter from Positano.
