This is the most asked question in the category and the least honestly answered. Most pages that rank for it give you a range wide enough to be useless, or an hourly rate that turns out not to be the operator's. So here is the mechanism instead: what moves the number, and what a real quote needs from you. ## Why there is no list price, and why that is not evasion A charter is not a ticket. A ticketed cruise has one price because it has one route, one duration and a fixed inclusion list. A charter has none of those fixed until you set them, and each one moves the cost: - **The date.** A Saturday in December and a Tuesday in February are not the same product, because demand for the first is finite and the second is not. - **The hours.** Crew, fuel and catering all scale with duration, and a three hour charter and a six hour charter are not proportional, because the fixed costs of getting underway are the same for both. - **The guest count.** This drives catering, bar and crew, and it determines which vessel you need. - **The catering and bar.** Canapes for 40 and a seated multi-course dinner for 130 are different businesses. The bar can run as a tab or by consumption, which also changes how the final figure lands. - **The extras.** Entertainment, styling, photography, watersports. Each is optional and each is additive. A list price that covered all of that would have to be a worst-case number, and you would be quoted something higher than what you actually want. ## The hourly rates you will find online are usually not the operator's If you search for a specific vessel you will often find an hourly rate on a broker or boat-hire aggregator. Those figures are set by the site publishing them, not by the operator, and they frequently include that site's own margin or describe a package the operator does not sell. A worked example from this market: a boat hire aggregator currently publishes an hourly figure for Sun Goddess. Boat Time does not publish an hourly rate for Sun Goddess at all. Whichever number is right, only one of those two parties takes the booking. The practical advice is narrow: treat any price you did not get from the operator as an indication of what a middleman wants to charge, and check it against a direct quote before you budget around it. ## What a quote needs from you, and why it is only four things 1. **A date,** or two or three candidate dates. 2. **A rough guest count.** Rough is fine. The difference between 40 and 120 matters; the difference between 48 and 52 does not. 3. **How long you want to be out.** If you do not know, say what the occasion is and a sensible duration gets suggested. 4. **What kind of food and drink you are imagining.** Canapes, a BBQ, a buffet, or a seated dinner. That is enough. With those four, a quote is a short conversation. Without them, any number anyone gives you is a guess dressed as an answer. ## Where a ticketed cruise is the better answer Sometimes the honest answer to "what does a charter cost" is that you do not want a charter. If you have 20 to 60 people and the occasion is drinks rather than a private event, seats on the Luxury Scenic Sunset Cruise cost $79 an adult, with 100 seats a sailing and a published schedule. You share the vessel, which for team drinks or a birthday is usually the point rather than a compromise. A charter makes sense when you need the boat to yourselves, the route to be yours, or the guest list to be above about 60. ## What Boat Time has, so you can size the question **Sun Goddess:** 114 feet, up to 135 guests on a day charter, two entertainment decks, two licensed bars. **Mermaid Spirit:** a 100 foot tri-deck catamaran, up to 150 guests by day, 11 en suite cabins sleeping 22 overnight, chef's kitchen, stinger pool. Both depart Marine Stadium Jetty & Pontoon at Main Beach, roughly ten minutes from Surfers Paradise, with free parking at the pontoon. ## Frequently asked questions ### How much does it cost to charter a yacht on the Gold Coast? It is quoted rather than listed, because the price moves with the date, the duration, the guest count, the catering and the bar package. A date and a rough guest count are enough to get a real number. ### Why do you not publish a price? Because a single figure would have to assume the most expensive version of every variable. A charter has no fixed route, duration or inclusion list until you set them, and each of those changes the cost. ### Are the hourly rates on boat hire websites accurate? They are set by the website publishing them rather than by the operator, and they often include that site's margin or describe a package the operator does not sell. Check any such figure against a direct quote before budgeting around it. ### What is the cheapest way to get a group on the water on the Gold Coast? For 20 to 60 people where you do not need the vessel to yourselves, seats on the Luxury Scenic Sunset Cruise are $79 an adult, with 100 seats a sailing. A charter is the answer when you need exclusivity, a custom route, or more than about 60 guests. ### What do you need from me to quote a charter? A date or a few candidate dates, a rough guest count, roughly how long you want to be out, and the kind of catering you have in mind. ## Ask for the number Send the four things above. The date is the part that runs out, especially on a Saturday and especially in December.