Yachts normally operate seasonally. During these times, there is plenty of opportunity to find a position aboard a luxury or superyacht, no matter your level of experience. There are several different yachting hubs from where you can launch your career – usually the most beautiful places in the world! To ensure that you secure your spot on deck, it’s important to know where to be and when.
Can you get a job from home?
The short answer is, no. Crew members are often picked up with very short notice, sometimes even on the same day of applying! The captain of the vessel usually conducts the interview and will want to meet with you in person, so you have to make yourself physically available in these main hiring ports. Book short-term accommodation, as you hopefully won’t be at this location very long before getting a job on a luxury yacht! The process could take a week, if you’re very lucky, but sometimes up to two months – be sure to budget accordingly! Perhaps consider doing other jobs like waitressing on land while you wait for a yacht job.
Top yacht crew hiring ports
Best for Newbies
The six locations below are the hiring hotspots and will offer far greater access to quality job opportunities for those individuals freshly entering the industry:
- Sails Marina, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Rybovich, West Palm Beach, Florida
- IYCA Port Vauban, Antibes, France
- Port de Palma, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
- Port Vell, Barcelona, Spain
- Newport, Rhode Island
Second-Tier Yacht Crew Hiring Ports / Locations
The following is a list of what we’ll term “secondary” options for worthwhile hiring ports. Mega-yachts pass through these destinations, but not in vast numbers or as frequently as with the list above. These places, however, have STCW-recognised training schools, or at least some crew-recruitment agencies in the area, so you can get take your STCW certification and register with a placement service before heading to where more boats are located (if you have not already qualified in South Africa):
- St. Martin/St. Maarten in the Caribbean
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Sydney, Australia
- Auckland, New Zealand
- Antigua in the Caribbean
- San Diego, California
- Viareggio, Italy
Third-Tier Yacht Crew Hiring Ports / Locations
While these may not be the key spots for easily finding a position, the destinations below can be considered a third tier. Experienced crew tend to do okay basing themselves here, but we do not recommend them for entry-level job hunters. For some individuals, however, these spots may be the only option due to proximity and the inability to travel far:
- U.K.— London, Southampton, and Dover
- The Netherlands
- Sweden
- The Bahamas
- Singapore
- Croatia
- Brazil
- South Africa
Other ports to consider:
- Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
- Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- Phuket, Thailand
- Gibraltar
- Galle Harbour, Sri Lanka
- English Harbour, Antigua
The Mediterranean
Ports: Spain, Italy, France.
The best time to be in the Mediterranean is March/April/May/June. Plenty of ports are extremely accessible during this period as trains constantly run the entire length of the French and Italian Riviera. This means that you could simply go from port to port to meet captains and crew. September, which nears the end of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, is also a good time to find employment as an entry-level crew member. We recommend heading to Antibes in the South of France.
The USA
Some yachts will be looking for crew to complete the Atlantic crossing from the Mediterranean to the USA or the Caribbean. Yachts are often registered offshore, therefore, working on board a Cayman Islands registered yacht in the USA, is not considered illegal by Maritime Law. You cannot, however, work on US flagged vessels without a legal US Passport, US Working Visa, or Green Card. Chat to us for advice regarding the visa requirements for working on board any of these luxury yachts.
Fort Lauderdale, Florida is a popular port to find work. Visas for entering the USA have become more challenging to attain, however, so this option isn’t the simplest. Most yachts will go into a Shipyard period once or twice a year for maintenance, which is a great time to look for daywork. This varies, but many yachts will complete their maintenance periods from February – April in the USA.
The Caribbean and Bahama Islands
This is one of the most beautiful routes in the world – understandably making it one of the most popular. Super yachts sail to the Caribbean and Bahamas from December to May, the Northern Hemisphere winter months. Most vessels are based in South Florida, making Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach the places where most people find crew work. We recommend finding ways of boosting your skill set before applying for any positions, as it will help you stand out from the many people keen to land a job on vessels sailing this route. Consider getting a scuba diving licence or growing your knowledge of the local marine life.
Getting Placed From South African Ports
Getting placed directly from South Africa is a little harder for newbies, as most vessels hire only more experienced crew. Locations of travel from South African ports include: Indian Ocean (Mauritius, Maldives / Seychelles) and South Atlantic (Brazil, Caribbean). Best time for work is December through March and May through July.
Necessary Qualifications
To qualify for work on board a yacht, you will need to complete:
To work on a boat cruising the Caribbean it is advisable to have both a Schengen and B1B2 visa as some of the Islands still fall under European and US dependency. It is also highly advisable to have many spare pages in your passport for a Caribbean season as there is immigration control and an entry and exit stamp on your passport for every Island.
Speak to us if you’d like to discuss possible courses that could benefit you; our academy is internationally accredited. If you’d just like to get an idea whether a yacht job is really for you, consider downloading our ultimate yacht crew handbook that will give you the ins and outs of yacht crew life, with additional tips to help you get that job on a private yacht.