France yacht charter,
arranged personally.

Chris de Kock
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

It is one of the reasons people charter here. Your private chef provisions from the Riviera's superb markets, Antibes, Nice, the Cours Saleya, and cooks to your preference sheet all week, so the menu is yours: Provencal produce, fresh fish and rose at anchor rather than a hotel buffet.

And when you want to go ashore, few coasts compete: the Riviera's Michelin-starred restaurants and legendary beach clubs are a tender ride away, and the crew books the tables and the beach-club daybeds so you skip the queues.

Tell us on the preference sheet how the week should balance onboard dining and going out, and the chef and route are built to match. More: the best dining experiences and the top beach clubs to arrive by yacht.

Leonidas Marousos
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Spectacular, and increasingly the smart way to do both events. During the Cannes Film Festival or the Monaco Grand Prix, a yacht is your private base right in the action: no hotel scramble, no restaurant queues, and, for the Grand Prix, potentially a berth with the track in view.

The catch is scarcity. These are the most demand-heavy weeks on the coast: the best yachts and, for Monaco, the prized harbour berths book close to a year ahead and command premium rates. Inquire very early, and be ready to commit.

We hold confirmed-berth yachts and know how each event actually runs from the water. See Cannes Film Festival charters, Monaco Grand Prix charters, and yachts with confirmed GP berths.

Daniel Asmus
Owner & ECPY-accredited charter broker, DMA Yachting

Yes, on both counts. DMA Yachting carries professional indemnity insurance up to EUR 500,000 with ITIC, the specialist insurer for yacht brokers, and we hold ECPY, MYBA and IYBA accreditation. Our owners are active CYBA members too.

This matters more than it sounds. Chartering runs on large wire transfers, so before you send a deposit to any broker, check that they are insured, reachable and properly accredited. We are happy to be checked. The ECPY accreditation is also what lets us arrange the contract that can waive your VAT.

This covers our work as your broker; trip cancellation insurance for you as the guest is separate, and we recommend arranging it when you book.

Martina Asmus
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

No. Our service is free to you. Like a travel agent, we are paid a commission from the yacht's side, and the charter fee is the same whether you book through us or approach the boat directly. There is no markup for using a broker.

What you get for that same price on the Riviera specifically: knowledge of which yachts and crews actually deliver, negotiation on your behalf, the preference sheet and route handled, and, uniquely, access to the ECPY contract that can waive 20% VAT, which only an accredited broker can arrange.

The one thing we ask: pick one broker and work with them. The same inquiry sent to five brokers just means managers see your name five times, and nobody can negotiate well for you after that.

Carina Isenberg
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Usually not, and it is worth knowing why: every yacht has licensed limits for day guests and overnight guests, set by its registration and insurance rather than the crew's goodwill. Managers hold that line even for small children, with occasional case-by-case flexibility for infants under 12 months.

The Riviera does give you more room to solve it, because the fleet runs larger: stepping up one size, choosing a yacht with a Pullman berth, or moving to the next cabin count is often easier here than on smaller-boat coasts.

Tell us the real headcount, including the little ones, and we shortlist yachts that fit it legally. If the group is genuinely large, see one yacht or two?

Carina Isenberg
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Yes. On a crewed charter the captain, chef and interior crew live aboard for the whole trip, in their own crew quarters separate from the guest cabins. A yacht listed with 5 guest cabins genuinely sleeps 10 guests; the crew occupies none of them.

They are also on duty in the ways that matter: meals and drinks, tender runs to the beach club, toys, moving the boat while you swim, and the local knowledge of which restaurant to call and which bay fills by noon.

On the rare captain-only yacht the captain still sleeps aboard, in a dedicated cabin or the saloon depending on layout. If cabin privacy matters, ask us how a specific yacht arranges it before you book.

John Boullin
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Most charter yachts are limited to 12 sleeping guests, so a bigger group means one of two things: a larger superyacht licensed for more, of which the Riviera has plenty at the top end, or two yachts cruising together.

The Riviera is unusual in having real superyacht depth, so staying on one boat is more often possible here than in most destinations. Where it is not, two yachts side by side in the same bay usually costs less and works beautifully given the short distances.

Day events for larger groups are a different calculation again. Tell us your headcount and dates and we price every version. See our large-group charters (12-20 guests).

Chris de Kock
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

On the French Riviera the question barely arises: charters at this level are fully crewed, with a captain, chef and interior crew as standard. Bareboat and captain-only are marginal here, unlike the Caribbean or Greece, because the fleet is weighted to larger, more premium yachts.

Fully crewed means you are a guest, not the crew: meals cooked, cabins made, tender and toys run for you, and a captain who knows which Cannes berth to book and which Cap Ferrat bay is calm at breakfast. It is the experience the Riviera is built around.

If budget is the concern, the lever is yacht size or dates, not dropping the crew; talk to us and we will find the version that works.