Monaco

Yacht Day depuis Monaco

Day at sea

Monaco is the best departure point on the whole coast, and it is a matter of geometry: the Principality sits in the middle, with the bay of Villefranche and Cap Ferrat twenty minutes to the west and the Italian border barely further east. So you can decide on the morning itself which way to go, according to the wind, impossible from Saint-Tropez, where you are committed the moment you leave the gulf. We build the day the other way round from the usual: the boat first, which follows from the number of guests and the distance, then the route, and only at the end the reservations ashore. The catalogue below is our actual fleet, not a selection of pictures: these are the boats we choose from with you. One tip for July and August: leave at nine, not eleven. The anchorages that matter are taken before noon, and an hour's difference changes the entire day.

The options

Cap Ferrat and the bay of Villefranche

Twenty minutes west and you are in one of the deepest natural harbours in the Mediterranean, the one where the liners come to anchor. You run along the Cap Ferrat villas from the water (the only angle from which they are visible) lunch ashore or aboard, and come back at sunset. It is the route we recommend for a first outing, and the one that works even when the sea is not perfect.

East: Cap Martin, Menton and the border

The route nobody asks for and the one we like best. You head east, round Cap Martin, run past Menton and drop anchor on the Italian side, off Bordighera. The coast is wilder there, the anchorages far less crowded than to the west, and you often lunch alone in a cove in the middle of August.

Portofino, the long crossing

Let us be honest about what it involves: roughly a hundred nautical miles, so several hours at sea each way, and it should only be attempted with a fast boat, an early start and settled weather. Many of our clients prefer to stay the night rather than come back the same evening. But arriving in Portofino harbour from the sea remains one of the most spectacular things you can do from Monaco.

Duration

A full day, eight to ten hours aboard depending on the route

When to go

April to October. In July and August, anchorages are taken early in the morning

Pricing

The boat sets the price and nothing else weighs as much: a twelve-metre day-boat and a forty-metre yacht do not compare. Then come fuel, which follows directly from the route chosen, and the crew. Lunch on board, reservations ashore and water toys are settled separately. We give you the total before you leave, estimated fuel included, it is the line that surprises people most when it arrives afterwards.