A motor yacht charter from Ajaccio opens the full western coast of Corsica, from the granite calanques of Piana in the north to the unspoiled beaches of Roccapina in the south. Ajaccio itself, the birthplace of Napoleon and the island’s largest city, sits at the northern end of a wide gulf protected from the Libeccio by the Sanguinaires headland. The city has a working harbour with a dedicated superyacht pontoon and all services, making it an efficient start for a week-long itinerary.
Motor yachts between 30 and 60 metres suit the Corsican west coast well. The anchorages are deep and clear, the distances manageable even in light summer winds, and a motor yacht’s tender and beach gear can be deployed quickly at the remote beaches that define a Corsican charter. The coast south of Ajaccio towards Propriano and the Gulf of Valinco is among the most dramatic in the western Mediterranean, with red and orange cliffs dropping to water that runs from turquoise over sand to deep blue over rock.
Weekly charter rates for motor yachts in this region run from around 50,000 euros for a compact 35-metre to 300,000 euros for a 60-metre superyacht. Add 30 percent as the advance provisioning allowance for fuel, food, berthing and local taxes. The season runs June through mid-September, with July and August the warmest.
From Ajaccio, a motor yacht itinerary might head south to Propriano and Roccapina on day one, then cross to the Gulf of Bonifacio and Sardinia, or stay on the Corsican coast and push north to Calvi and the Calanques de Piana, returning via the Golfe de Sagone.
