Heesen Yachts of Oss has spent four decades developing a particular kind of Dutch motor yacht: fast, efficient, precisely engineered and built to a level of finish that the Netherlands has been exporting to discriminating owners since the 1980s. The yard’s signature FDHF hull form, developed with Marin and tested extensively in the North Sea, translates into a yacht that crosses the Gulf Stream passage to the southern Bahamas with controlled ease, arriving at Acklins and Crooked Island with fuel to spare and crew fully rested.
Six Heesen yachts operate across Bahamas and Caribbean waters, spanning the yard’s range from 37-metre semi-displacement hulls to custom 50-plus-metre builds. The interiors combine Dutch modernity with tropical practicality: climate systems calibrated for Caribbean humidity, exterior deck spaces that make the most of year-round warmth, and tender garages sized to carry the kit a Bahamian charter demands.
Charter rates for Heesen yachts in the Bahamas and Caribbean fall broadly between 80,000 and 200,000 euros per week before expenses. The advance provisioning allowance of around thirty percent covers fuel, food, drinks, berthing and local fees. Heesen efficiency reduces fuel cost compared to same-length heavy-displacement vessels, which is a meaningful saving on southern Bahamian passages. High season runs December through April.
Acklins and Crooked Island form a natural end-of-the-line destination suited to a Heesen’s combination of speed and range. Colonel Hill is the sheltered base for Crooked Island exploration. Landrail Point offers Atlantic reef diving. Pitts Town Lagoon and the uninhabited Acklins cays, from Lovely Bay south to Castle Island, provide anchoring of a quality that the northern Bahamas can no longer deliver.
