Answered · 5 minute read
Yes, at any age. There is no minimum age for a charter yacht in Dubai. What matters is a short charter — two to three hours — on a route that stays inside the Palm Jumeirah crescent where the water is flat, on a boat with real shade. Infants count towards the licensed guest number regardless of age.
Published
Shade, motion and length, in that order. A shaded aft deck is not a nice-to-have with an infant aboard — it is the whole difference between a pleasant two hours and leaving early. The 48ft and 55ft both have good shade; ask before assuming.
Motion is controlled by the route rather than the boat. Inside the Palm crescent the water is flat almost every day of the year. Out towards the World Islands it is not, and a charter that goes offshore with a baby aboard is a decision people make once.
Length: two hours is comfortable, three is fine, four is optimistic. Morning is better than afternoon in every season — calmer water, cooler deck, and a baby who has not already had a long day.
The number on a vessel's licence counts everybody physically aboard, including a baby in arms. A group of twelve adults plus an infant is thirteen people, and a boat licensed for twelve cannot take them.
This catches people out because it feels counter-intuitive, and a captain finding out at the pontoon has no discretion to fix it. Declare infants when you book.
Aboard already: shade, a fridge, ice, a toilet, freshwater on the swim platform and life jackets in children's sizes. What is generally not aboard is an infant-sized jacket, a changing surface or anything specifically for a baby.
Bring more sun protection than you think — reflection off the water roughly doubles the exposure, and a hat that stays on in wind is worth more than one that does not. Bring a change of clothes, and something to muffle engine noise if your baby sleeps badly through it.
Tell the crew before you board that there is an infant aboard. They will run slower, take the swell at a different angle and keep the boat inside sheltered water without being asked twice.
FAQ
Check a date
Leave the date and roughly how many of you there are and we will come back with the boats that are free and what each costs. No deposit at this stage.