What changes the price of a sailing trip, and what is worth paying for
A general guide, before you ask anyone for a quote.
When you compare quotes for a sailing trip, the total is the easiest thing to compare and the least useful.
Two quotes can show the same number and describe two trips with almost nothing in common.
The difference is in what the number covers.
First, what moves the number
Charter type, boat, season and length are the big ones.
Prices go from a cabin on a shared boat to a bareboat to a fully crewed trip, and bareboat is generally the cheapest.
Catamarans usually cost more than sailboats of a similar length. Longer trips tend to cost less per day. And in La Paz, charter prices follow the weather and sailing conditions through the year.
On top of that come running costs: fuel, moorings, park tickets, taxes and local fees. Some are included in the quote and some are billed separately.
What the number actually buys
A bareboat gives you the boat, and you are the captain.
A skippered charter adds a professional skipper, with crew fees on top of the boat.
A crewed charter adds more people. If you hire a skipper, you usually also provision for them, and tips for the crew are part of the budget.
Here is what people often miss. Whatever the type, the days still need someone to plan the route, do the shopping, cook, read the weather and decide where to anchor.
If it is not in the price, it is in your group.
Five questions that show what is really in a quote
- Who sails the boat, and who plans the day with the group?
A captain keeps the boat safe. That is not the same as someone who reads the group and adjusts the day. - If there is not a chef on board, who shops and who cooks?
- Is the route fixed, or is it possible to adapt it?
- What is billed on top?
Fuel, moorings, park fees, taxes… - What happens to the plan when the sea changes it?
What Eagle Ray Expeditions covers, as an example
To make this concrete, here is what is inside a trip with us. Not the numbers, the contents.
What's included / What's on board:
Crew
- Captain
- Eagle Ray Expedition Leader (optional)
- Eagle Ray chef (optional)
- Program
- Daily itinerary, adapted to the group’s mood & weather
Equipment
- Snorkeling equipment
- Fishing kit
- 2 paddleboards
- 1 kayak
- 1 dinghy
- Beach equipment (chairs, canopy, etc.)
Meals and drinks
- All meals on board
- Non-alcoholic drinks
Transfer
- La Paz Airport ↔ marina, on arrival and departure
Extras
- Diesel
- Sailing permits and entrance to national parks
- Starlink wifi on board
Not included:
- Certified diving
- Professional photography or video
- Flights to La Paz
- Alcoholic drinks, chosen from a menu before the trip
- Scuba diving, depending on number of dives and certifications
- Other guided activities, quoted separately
- Travel insurance
- Crew tips (10 to 15% recommended)
It is built this way for one reason: your group should spend its days on what it came for, not on running the boat.
If a quote cannot say who leads the day, who cooks and who decides when the weather changes, it is leaving those questions to you.
