Chartering Into the Wild

Thanks to a proliferation of immersive onboard entertainment, yacht charters help guests escape from reality in more ways than one.

This article was written by Rachel Ingram. Photography courtesy of Pelorus.

Yacht charters are no longer just about lounging in the sun and playing with water toys. According to Denison’s charter team and other experiential travel companies, adventurous guests are looking for increasingly bonkers, interactive forms of entertainment in remote destinations. From pirate-style treasure hunts in the Caribbean to full-scale Viking re-enactments in Norway, boundary-pushing activities are redefining the modern yacht charter. With a yacht as your springboard for adventure, the only limit is the imagination—and the organization skills—of a charter’s management team.

“Simply stated, yachts are floating platforms which can be fully customized to exceed the expectations of their lucky guests on a number of levels not found easily ashore,” says Jennifer Saia, charter specialist at Denison Yachting. “Crews in general are keen to be a part of the planning and delivering the charter of a lifetime.”

Yachts can take guests into the most remote places, including those lacking in on-ground infrastructure, without sacrificing comfort. “A superyacht is essentially your floating hotel that just so happens to have a full crew there to ensure your needs are met with five-star meals, drinks to cheers with, and hands to hold as you step from one activity to the next,” adds Hadley Albanese, charter assistant at Denison Yachting. “When you are on a superyacht, you are really at the helm of your own adventure.”

In recent years, guests have realized the potential of their yachts and requested increasingly creative, tailor-made itineraries and experiences. “Adventure and creativity are at the forefront as people are looking for ‘off-the-beaten-path’ places to explore,” says Albanese.

“Clients are using these vessels as more than a means of transportation from port to port, but as a quest from one unknown to another, which has everyone excited about the future itineraries to be planned.”

In 2022, Albanese’s team organized a surprise 50th birthday celebration for a client’s wife and 38 of their closest friends on the Amazon River in Peru on river expedition vessel Aqua Nera. “It’s one thing to help someone celebrate a birthday on board a yacht, but it’s a whole other thing to send a container to Peru with a drum set, a DJ booth, personalized outdoor gear, party theme supplies, and more,” she says. The team worked to perfect every detail, from locations and activities to advanced provisioning—in just six months. “It was planned to the ‘nth’ degree,” adds Saisi. “We could not have pulled it off without the technology we have today. It’s something we will never forget—nor will the Mrs!”

Elise Ciappara, head of yachting at luxury travel company Pelorus, echoes this sentiment. “There is a growing trend amongst our clients who want their trip to feel unique,” she says.

“They actively ask us to avoid classic ‘bucket list’ ideas, or cookie-cutter experiences, and are looking for Pelorus to create something completely extraordinary for their charter holiday.”

Staged experiences, often involving the expertise of professional actors and production crews, are some of the most unique on offer. “Pelorus has worked on many different staged experiences, such as James Bond treasure hunts in Greenland, New Year’s fireworks displays in Papua New Guinea, a private junkanoo in the Bahamas complete with fire dancers, privatization of Petra for a candlelit dinner, a masquerade ball in Venice, and the production of a client’s favorite play in the clearing of a jungle. The options are endless.”

This year, Pelorus will debut a series of “superyacht treasure hunts” in Sardinia, Antigua & Barbuda, and Indonesia in partnership with Luxury Treasure Hunts. Participants will visit several staged locations and complete a series of tests and challenges as they hunt for “buried treasure”, with a little help from actors along the way.

Neal Bateman, head of yachts at luxury adventure travel company Cookson Adventures, agrees that there is a growing appetite for more creative and adventurous experiences onboard and offshore. “This trend is reflective in the ever-growing fleet of explorer yachts being built, with some notable new splashes in the last few months, including Shackleton and J7,” he says.

When it comes to charter activities, he reveals that a yacht, by its nature, gives his team “a valuable level of flexibility”, which extends to the shore as well as the sea. “Superyachts enable us to project our trips further inland where we can widen our range of experiences away from the coastline,” he says. “We have extensive expertise in being able to maximize the yacht’s assets to support these inland experiences, which often means the level and standard of the trip overall is raised substantially.

“The addition of a highly professional crew is a huge asset to every adventure as they are always happy to join us on our shore excursions to create spectacular post-activity resting spots, set up camps, and cook in truly breathtaking locations,” he adds.

A recent success story was a trip to Norway’s west coast for a multi-generational group wishing to “experience life as a Viking once did.” The guests enjoyed an itinerary of activities on the country’s maze of waterways before going ashore for an immersive “Meet the Vikings” set-up. “Guests were rowed from their yacht in a traditional boat across to an exclusive and specially created camp, where local experts brought Norway’s historical heritage to life through folkloric stories and ancient rituals,” says Bateman.

The travel company commandeered the help of experts, ranging from professional extreme sports athletes to ex-Norwegian Naval Special Forces expedition guides, to open the full potential of Norway’s remote fjords and mountain ranges. “It became the ultimate outdoor playground for these budding explorers,” he says.

Bateman reveals that the next generation of yacht charter guests are already more adventurous than their parents.

“Children of clients who’ve grown up onboard their family’s yachts, usually cruising the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, are now young adults with the means to charter or buy a yacht themselves and are looking for a new experience and a story to tell,” he says.

And with the development of technology both on and off board, the possibilities for entertainment can only be enhanced. Ciappara reveals that, in the future, the Pelorus team plans to stretch digital boundaries. “We would love to create on an onboard hologram series. This would be an incredible way to bring specialists to remote locations, whilst using the space onboard in an exciting way for guests,” she says.

While the traditional sun-soaking, champagne-popping superyacht lifestyle will, and should, always be present and available for guests who wish to enjoy it, the possibilities on offer during a charter are growing with the interests of an ever more adventurous clientele.

“Some of Denison’s trips are more extravagant than others, but all have the same goal–to make a memory for someone.”

“In the future, we can only hope for continued collaboration with yacht managers and captains as, while we can map out every detail with the guests, ultimately, it’s the crew that helps to execute these wild celebrations,” says Albanese. I hope to see even more exploration become available for all who truly seek adventure, and not just on their birthdays.”

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