the money guide
What a Riviera boat day really costs — every tier, decoded.
Search “boat rental south of France” and the prices run from €90 to €90,000 a day, which helps nobody. Here is the whole market laid out honestly — what each tier actually buys, where the hidden costs live, and where a day like ours sits in it.
the honest ledger
The tiers, bottom to top
Bareboat runabouts (€90–€400/day): six-metre licence-free or licenced boats you drive yourself from Nice, Beaulieu or Villefranche. Honest fun for a couple of hours in one bay; add fuel, deposit, and the fact that somebody in your party spends the day being the driver rather than the guest.
Shared tours (€40–€150/seat): catamaran cruises and sightseeing circuits out of Nice and Cannes. Cheapest way onto the water; the itinerary, crowd and playlist are the operator’s, not yours.
Skippered private day charter (€1,500–€8,000/day): the coast’s sweet spot — whole boat, professional crew, itinerary built around you. Our tier: a fast 14-metre with cabins runs €3,200 the full day, €1,900 the half — up to ten guests, welcome rosé included, fuel on top.
Crewed superyachts (€15,000/day to the moon): chef, cabins, water toys, APA accounting and a minimum spend that starts where whole holidays end. Glorious; a different product for a different question.
The costs that hide in quotes
Wherever you book, ask four questions. Fuel — included, estimated or open-ended? (On this coast it is almost always extra; ours is quoted plainly for your route when you book.) Per-boat or per-person — a per-person price means strangers aboard. Hours — a “day” can mean four or eight. Weather policy — who decides, and who pays when the mistral does? Any operator who answers all four plainly is probably worth your day; we publish ours on the prices page precisely so you can compare.
shall we put a date in?
We reply within the day
Cost per memory: the only metric that matters
One boat, one crew, the whole coast, and nobody aboard you did not bring — for the eight hours the rest of the holiday gets measured against. That, more than anything on this page, is why the private day charter is the tier the Riviera does best.
The short answers
Because the guest controls the miles: an idle day around Cap Ferrat and a Saint-Tropez sprint differ five-fold in diesel. Folding fuel in would just pad every quote against the furthest possible day — separate fuel is the honest structure, and universal here.
Yes — ours is €250 to hold the date, balance before or on the day, refunded in full if the captain cancels for weather. Bareboat rentals also block a damage deposit on a card; skippered charters generally don’t need to.
further down the chart
Your next summer story begins here.
One boat, one crew, up to 10 guests, and a coast that is entirely yours for the day. Tell us how you want to spend it and the rest is ours to arrange. The day is yours and it is our pleasure to be part of it.