A private yacht charter in Phuket is priced per boat per day, in Thai baht, and starts from ฿18,900 for the whole boat with a captain, crew and fuel. Every charter on the island includes the crew, fuel for the agreed route, passenger insurance, water and soft drinks, snorkeling gear and — on full days — a hotel transfer. Lunch, alcohol, VAT and water toys are decided by the individual boat. National park fees, paid extras and crew gratuities sit outside the price on every boat, without exception.
That three-layer answer is how Horizon Cruises Phuket, a charter company based in Chalong on the island's south coast, sorts the question for its own clients. It is a useful way to read any Phuket quote, whoever it comes from, because two boats of the same length can hand you two very different days for the same money.
What is included on every boat?
A licensed captain and crew: no boat leaves without one, and larger yachts add deckhands, a hostess and a charter manager. Fuel for the agreed route. Passenger insurance. Water, soft drinks and ice; tea, coffee and fresh fruit. Snorkeling gear for the group, life jackets in adult and child sizes, towels. On full-day charters, a round-trip transfer from your hotel to the pier. On half days the transfer depends on the boat — the Technema 89 Say Yes, for one, does not include it — so it is worth confirming, because a Phuket pier transfer is rarely a short drive.
Two details there matter more than they look. Fuel covers the programme confirmed at booking, so a change of route or an extra hour at anchor is agreed separately rather than absorbed quietly. And the figure quoted is final — no fuel surcharge, no service fee added after the fact.
What changes from boat to boat?
Lunch is the first variable: included on full-day charters on most boats, usually not on half days, offered as a paid extra on some. Alcohol is the second — beer on some boats, Prosecco on a few, with premium bottles brought aboard or ordered in advance. VAT at seven percent is inside the price on some boats and added on others. So are a chef and hostess, Wi-Fi, a sound system, and whatever floats behind the boat.
Two examples from one catalogue show the spread. The Technema 89 Say Yes comes with Thai lunch on full days, a case of beer, a water slide, a floating pool, two paddleboards and a tender, with an underwater scooter at ฿10,000 a day. The Beluga 88 includes lunch on day charters, a bottle of Prosecco and a case of beer, a four-metre tender and a paddleboard. Neither list is better; they are different days on the water, and the boat's own page is the only reliable source for which is which.
How much does a private charter cost?
From that entry point, yacht charter prices in Phuket rise by size and format rather than by headcount — a group of six and a group of twelve pay the same for the same boat.
Luxury charter yachts in Phuket begin around ฿100,000 for the day. Horizon draws that line at 90 feet and thirteen yachts sit in the class, chosen on finish, crew and cabins rather than length alone. Above 92 feet the class changes again: chartering a superyacht in Phuket starts from about ฿350,000 a day, with professional crew and the range to stay out overnight instead of returning at sunset.
What is never included?
Three things, on every boat in Thailand. National park fees, where the route enters a park — Phi Phi, Krabi and Phang Nga Bay among them — are paid per person, in cash, on the day, at a rate set by the park authority rather than the operator. Optional extras and relocation: paid water toys, a private chef, catering beyond the standard lunch, and moving a boat to a different departure marina. Crew gratuities, at your discretion and included nowhere.
A quote that appears to cover park fees is usually a quote that has not mentioned them yet.
How do you compare two boats fairly?
Ask for both inclusion lists side by side, and ask for the VAT line in writing: seven percent on a day rate of ฿200,000 is ฿14,000, more than most of the differences people argue about. When the headline prices are close, lunch, drinks, VAT and toys are what actually separate them, and the difference can run to tens of thousands of baht across a day.
Then see the boat. Any yacht in a serious catalogue can be viewed in person, free, before a deposit changes hands; half an hour at the marina settles most arguments about whether a boat suits the group better than any amount of photography.
Does it matter where the boat departs from?
More than most people expect. Say Yes and the Ferretti 80 Sofia board at Chalong on the south coast; the Beluga 88 boards at Ao Po Grand Marina in the northeast. The pier, not the yacht, decides how much of the morning goes on getting anywhere — which is why relocating a boat to a different marina is a priced extra rather than a favour.
One last question, rarely asked and quietly telling: how the crew moors at a reef. Horizon's captains tie up to mooring buoys rather than dropping anchor near coral — the kind of habit that appears in no brochure and says more about a charter operation than its deck photography does.
About Horizon Cruises Phuket
Horizon Cruises Phuket is a yacht charter company in Chalong, Phuket, operated by Marine Cruise Andaman Co., Ltd. and licensed by the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Thirteen years on the island, around 80 boats in the catalogue from speedboats to superyachts, and a 5.0 rating on Google across 33 reviews. The team works in English, Russian and Thai, around the clock, and answers within ten minutes on WhatsApp, Telegram or the site form.
Website: horizoncruisesphuket.com · Email: info@horizoncruisesphuket.com
