Guide · 5 minute read
Between 12 and 35 guests on a typical Dubai charter yacht, depending on the boat's length and its vessel licence. That number includes children and infants, it is a legal limit rather than a comfort estimate, and no captain can exceed it. For more than 35, a privately hired dhow takes up to 100.
Published
Guest capacity does not scale neatly with length, because it is set by the vessel's commercial licence rather than by how many people fit on the deck. Two boats of the same length can carry different numbers.
The licensed number is what the vessel's safety equipment, life-raft capacity and insurance are rated for. A captain who exceeds it is operating outside the licence, and if anything goes wrong the insurance does not respond. Crews will turn people away at the pontoon rather than sail over the number, which is a miserable way to start an afternoon.
Children count. Infants count. A photographer, a DJ and a caterer's staff all count. If your list has thirteen people and the boat is licensed for twelve, the answer is a different boat, not a favour.
Twelve on a 48ft is the licence. Eight or nine on the same boat is a pleasant afternoon with room to lie down. The gap between those two numbers is the difference between a charter people remember fondly and one where everybody sat in a row.
As a rough guide, aim for about two-thirds of the licensed number if the charter is longer than three hours or involves food. For a two-hour sunset run where everyone is standing and looking outwards, the full number is fine.
Two options. A privately hired dhow takes up to a hundred guests from about AED 9,000 for two hours with a buffet, which works out near AED 90 a head — no yacht comes close at that size. Or two yachts running the same route together, which costs more but keeps the atmosphere of a private boat.
For a wedding or a launch above a hundred, a venue ashore with a boat for the photographs usually beats trying to put everyone afloat.
FAQ
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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.