Guide · 5 minute read
A two-hour charter on a 48ft yacht is AED 1,500 for the boat — AED 125 each split twelve ways, which is less than dinner. The crossover where a private boat beats buying individual cruise tickets sits at about ten to twelve people; below that, a shared dhow cruise at AED 99 a head is better value.
Published
Private charters are priced per boat, shared cruises per seat. That single difference is what decides which is cheaper for you, and it turns entirely on how many people are coming.
A Creek dhow dinner cruise is AED 99 per person for two hours including food. A 48ft private yacht is AED 750 an hour — AED 1,500 for the same two hours, for up to twelve people, with drinks but no dinner.
On paper the two converge at about twelve people, where a private boat costs AED 312 more in total than twelve dhow tickets. In practice the crossover is lower than that, because the products are not the same. A private charter buys you the departure time, the route, the music, a swim stop and nobody else on the deck. Most groups of eight upwards decide that is worth AED 900.
It moves the other way for two people. A couple paying AED 1,500 for a boat built for twelve is buying privacy, and that is a real thing to buy for an anniversary or a proposal — but it is not value, and it is worth being clear which one you are doing.
The dhow ticket includes dinner. The charter does not. If your group wants to eat, add either your own food — free, and allowed on every boat — or catering from about AED 120 a head. Adding a full catered dinner to a charter usually pushes it back above the dhow on a per-head basis.
The other adjustment is hours. Three hours rather than two adds AED 750 on the 48ft but also adds the swim stop, which is the part people actually remember. Per hour it is the same money; per experience it is the best AED 750 on the price list.
One person books and pays; the group settles up afterwards. That is how essentially every charter here works, because the deposit holds a specific boat on a specific date and cannot be split across twelve payments.
Two practical notes. Collect before the day rather than after — people are markedly less enthusiastic about transferring money on Sunday morning than they were on Thursday. And agree what happens if someone drops out: the boat costs the same whether eleven or twelve people board.
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.