The Exumas stretch 150 miles through the southern Bahamas, from the shallow banks north of Nassau to the deep water anchorages at Georgetown in the south. For a motor yacht, this geography is ideal: a morning passage at 15 knots covers the ground between Nassau and the northern Exumas before lunch, and the breadth of the island chain provides a different anchorage every night for a fortnight without repetition. The motor charter fleet available for an Exumas charter numbers approximately 162 published yachts, ranging from 30-metre flybridge cruisers to 90-metre superyachts with helicopter landing pads and a crew of 12. Most carry jet skis, Seabobs and a capable tender for shore expeditions into the Exumas Land and Sea Park and the shallow tidal flats beyond the main cay chain. Weekly charter rates in the Bahamas range from around 50,000 euros for a well-equipped 30-metre motor yacht to 900,000 euros and above for the largest vessels in the fleet. The advance provisioning allowance of roughly 30 percent covers fuel, food, drink, marina fees and Bahamian cruising permits. Season runs November through May. The Exumas offer something rare in the charter world: a chain of over 365 islands and cays long enough to sustain a month-long itinerary, remote enough that a well-chosen anchorage can feel entirely private, and accessible enough from Nassau that provisioning and crew changes are straightforward. A motor yacht gives you the range to move through it properly.
