Amalfi Coast yacht charter
An Amalfi Coast yacht charter buys you the most concentrated stretch of coastline in the Mediterranean. Thirty nautical miles takes in Positano, Amalfi, Ravello, Capri and the Li Galli islets, so every leg is short and every stop is genuinely different. It is a UNESCO World Heritage coast with superyacht marinas and Michelin kitchens on the waterfront.
Most weeks we plan here start and finish at Naples, run out to Ischia and Procida first while guests settle in, then work the coast proper from Capri through Nerano to Positano and Amalfi. It is a marina and tender coast rather than a swim-and-anchor one, and that shapes both the yacht you want and the budget you need.
Why the Amalfi Coast?
One of the most recognisable coastlines in the world
A UNESCO World Heritage stretch where the cliffs drop straight into clear water and towns like Positano and Amalfi look carved into the rock. Guests recognise it before they arrive, and it holds up in person.
The geography is built for yachting
Everything sits inside 30 nautical miles. The marinas at Capri, Amalfi and Marina d’Arechi take superyachts comfortably: deep water, shore power, provisioning, and crews who run charter operations every week of the season.
The food is the itinerary, not a footnote
Don Alfonso 1890, Quattro Passi, Zass and Il Riccio all sit within tender reach. Between meals there are private beach clubs and a standard of service built specifically around yacht guests.
Short hops mean more time at anchor
Every leg is 30 to 90 minutes. In a week you cover several world-class ports without losing days to transit, which is rarer in the Mediterranean than it sounds. If you are weighing seven nights against something longer, our guide to how long an Italy charter should be frames the choice.
Who it suits, and who it doesn’t
This coast suits guests who want culture, restaurants and a sense of arrival as much as time in the water. If the ideal day is a long lunch ashore in Positano, an afternoon up at Ravello and dinner back on board at anchor off Capri, this is the best week in Italy. It also works well for shorter charters, because you are never far from the next stop.
It suits some people less, and we would rather say so before you book. This is a marina and tender coast, not a swim-and-anchor one. Sheltered bays are fewer than in Sardinia, the anchorages off Positano and Amalfi get busy and roll through July and August, and total time in the water is genuinely lower. If swimming off the back of the boat every afternoon in quiet water is the priority, Sardinia is the better call, and we will say that on the first call.
One more distinction worth making. We broker crewed yachts by the week. A great deal of what is sold online as an “Amalfi Coast yacht charter” is a half-day RIB out of Positano. That is a good day out, and it is a different thing entirely.
Where you’ll go
A week here is built around four anchors with a run of smaller stops between them. Each has its own guide covering anchorages, berthing and what is actually worth doing ashore.
Where to start
Almost every week we sell here boards at Naples. It has the flight connections, the transfer times are short, and it puts Procida and Ischia within an easy first afternoon so guests are swimming before dinner on day one.
- Naples (NAP): the default. Direct summer flights from most of Europe, roughly 30 to 45 minutes to the berths, and the widest choice of yachts.
- Salerno: Marina d’Arechi is the deep-water option and the practical base for anything over 50m. About 75 minutes from Naples airport.
- Sorrento or Capri: possible for embarkation and rarely ideal. Berthing is tight and a missed flight has no slack in it.
- Rome (FCO): workable for guests already in Rome, but it is a three-hour transfer. Worth it only if the itinerary starts further north.
If you are still comparing embarkation points across the country, our guide to where to start an Italy yacht charter compares Naples against the northern bases.
Finding the right yacht
This is the part of an Amalfi charter that catches people out, and it is worth understanding before you fall for a specific yacht. The crewed fleet actually based on this coast is thin. There are far fewer boats permanently stationed between Naples and Salerno than the number of listings online suggests, and in a normal season our brokers spend real effort tracking down good options here rather than picking from a deep shelf.
Two things follow from that. The first is that Sicily-based yachts cannot serve an Amalfi week. It reads like a short hop on a map and it is not: the run around the toe of Italy is a genuine passage, and a yacht lying in Palermo or Portorosa is not a realistic Amalfi option no matter how well it fits on paper. The second is that many of the best boats you will be shown are relocated in for the season or for your specific week, usually from the South of France or the Italian Riviera. That is completely normal and it is how the good weeks get done, but it means a delivery or relocation fee in the quote and it means booking early rather than shopping late.
The practical advice: come to us with dates, guest numbers and a budget range rather than a yacht name, and start three to six months out for peak weeks. Note too that any yacht under 500 gross tons carries a maximum of twelve guests overnight however many cabins it has, so groups above twelve need either a second yacht or a day boat running alongside, and that is a conversation to have early rather than late.
Broker insight
The boats people fall in love with online are often not based here. On the Amalfi Coast we are frequently bringing a yacht down from the Riviera or the South of France for a specific week, and very few of them deliver for free. It is completely normal and it is how the good weeks get done, but it has to be in the quote from the start and it means booking early rather than shopping late.
Yanna Pristas
Senior Charter Broker, Active CYBA Member
A 7-day Amalfi itinerary
This is the route we plan most often, running Naples to Naples so the flights stay simple. Every leg is short, which is the whole point of chartering here.
Day 1. Naples to Procida
Board in the afternoon and make the short run out to Procida, the smallest and least polished of the islands in the bay. A gentle first evening with the crew and a quiet anchorage.
Day 2. Procida to Ischia
Thermal springs, the Aragonese castle, and a proper harbour town. Ischia is greener and more local than Capri and it makes a good second day while guests find their rhythm.
Day 3. Ischia to Capri
The set piece. Time the Faraglioni for the light, tender in to Marina Grande, and take the chairlift up Monte Solaro before dinner.
Day 4. Capri to Nerano
Across to the Sorrento peninsula for lunch at one of the bays below Nerano, which is where the coast gets quieter and the swimming gets better.
Day 5. Nerano to Fiordo di Furore, then Positano
The fjord is a narrow cut in the cliffs and worth the detour by tender. Anchor off Positano for the evening and watch the town light up in layers.
Day 6. Positano to Amalfi
A short hop east to the town that named the coast, with the option of a car up to Ravello for the gardens and the view.
Day 7. Amalfi to Sorrento, then Naples
Work back west with a last swim stop, overnight at Sorrento, and a short run into Naples for disembarkation.
We have written this route up in full, day by day, in our 7-day Amalfi yacht charter itinerary. Five-night versions work well too by dropping Procida and Ischia and starting straight at Capri.
What an Amalfi charter costs
Amalfi sits at the top of the Italian market alongside the South of France. These are realistic weekly charter fees for a crewed motor yacht, before expenses.
| Yacht | Typical week, plus expenses |
|---|---|
| 24m to 30m motor yacht | from EUR 80,000 |
| 30m to 40m motor yacht | EUR 150,000 to EUR 300,000 |
| 40m and above | EUR 300,000 to EUR 500,000+ |
Three things push an Amalfi budget beyond the headline fee, and they are the ones competitors tend to leave out.
Berthing
A night alongside in Capri or Amalfi in August is among the most expensive in the Mediterranean, and it is the fastest way to burn through an APA. Alternating marina nights with anchoring is the single biggest lever you have.
Third-party agents
Italian operators lean heavily on local agents to arrange provisioning and secure berths. They are genuinely useful and they add a margin, so it is worth knowing that cost is in there rather than discovering it in the reconciliation.
Relocation
If your yacht is coming from the Riviera or the South of France for your week, expect a delivery fee. It is normal here and it should be visible in the quote from the start.
The charter fee is only part of the picture. Read our full Italy yacht charter cost guide for the whole fee stack, our APA explainer for how running costs are handled, and why an Amalfi charter costs more than you think for the detail behind these numbers.
Marinas and anchorages
Berthing, not anchoring, is the constraint that shapes an Amalfi week. The coast is steep and largely open to the south, so the sheltered options are few and they fill early.
- Marina Grande, Capri: the main tender point for the island and the busiest few hundred metres on the coast. Limited alongside space for larger yachts, so most anchor off and run guests in.
- Marina d’Arechi, Salerno: the deep-water marina and the only realistic home for anything over 50m. Full services, and the fallback when the weather turns.
- Marina di Amalfi: small, central and heavily booked. Charming if you get a slot, and not something to plan a week around.
- Off Positano: an anchorage rather than a berth, on sand at moderate depth. Fine in settled weather and noticeably rolly when the afternoon swell wraps in.
- Nerano and the Sorrento peninsula: the quietest water on the coast and where most captains put the swim stops.
- Li Galli: the islets between Positano and Nerano. A lunch anchorage in good conditions, exposed and not an overnight.
The practical rule: if a specific marina night matters to your week, it needs requesting when the yacht is booked, not on the day. In August it is often not available at any price.
Amalfi or Sardinia?
The short version: Amalfi for culture, restaurants and famous towns, Sardinia for water, beaches and space. Amalfi gives you more to do ashore and more recognisable names in a shorter distance. Sardinia gives you better swimming, quieter anchorages and a genuine wilderness half in the Maddalena islands, at the cost of a longer flight for many guests and a thinner restaurant scene.
We have compared both properly in Sardinia vs Amalfi Coast. If you want both in one trip, it is possible over ten to fourteen nights, and combining Sicily and the Amalfi Coast covers how that kind of route actually works.
People also ask
How much does an Amalfi Coast yacht charter cost?
A crewed motor yacht on the Amalfi Coast starts around EUR 80,000 per week plus expenses. Most of our clients book in the EUR 150,000 to EUR 300,000 range, and 40m and above runs from EUR 300,000 upward. Expenses are charged separately through the APA, and Italian berthing in peak season is the single biggest variable. See our full Italy cost guide for the complete fee stack.
What is the 12 person rule on a yacht?
Charter yachts under 500 gross tons may carry a maximum of 12 guests overnight, regardless of how many cabins the yacht has. It applies on the Amalfi Coast as everywhere else. Larger groups either split across two yachts or use a day boat alongside for the extra guests, which we can arrange but which needs planning well before the week.
Is a day charter or a full week better on the Amalfi Coast?
A day charter out of Positano or Capri is a good way to see the coast if you are already staying ashore. A crewed week is a different product: you wake up in a new anchorage each morning, the crew handles every booking, and you reach places the day boats turn back from. We broker crewed weeks.
When is the best time for an Amalfi Coast yacht charter?
May to October, and June and September are the sweet spot. July and August bring the best weather and also the worst berthing availability and the highest prices. Shoulder season gives you the same coast with far easier marina access. Our month-by-month Italy guide goes into detail.
Can you combine the Amalfi Coast and Sicily in one charter?
Yes, but it needs the days and the budget. The run around the toe of Italy is a real passage rather than a coastal hop, so plan on ten to fourteen nights and expect a relocation cost. We have written up how that combination actually works.
Where do superyachts go on the Amalfi Coast?
Capri is the anchor point for larger yachts, with Marina Grande for tender access and deep water off the Faraglioni. Marina d’Arechi at Salerno takes the biggest boats and is the practical base for anything over 50m. Amalfi and Positano are tender destinations for large yachts rather than berths.
