Bahamas Charter Tax Stays at 14% While Boats Move to the BVI: What You Pay, and What You Get

Bahamas charter operators told their government on 13 October that the 14% tax on every foreign yacht charter is sending boats to the Virgin Islands. Sea arrivals to Abaco are down 6.4% through July 2026, cruising permit fees were cut in April after a reported 40% drop in traffic, and the 14% stayed. Planning a crewed yacht charter in the Bahamas? Start with our Bahamas yacht charter guide.

For a charter guest the tax is the same money it was last year, and we itemize it on every quote. What changed is the water: this winter the Bahamas has space, and the Virgin Islands do not.

William Mc Nally Charter Broker, Active CYBA Member

White sand sweeping into clear turquoise water at White Cay in the Exumas, Bahamas — White Cay sandbar in the Exumas. The anchorages are the part of the Bahamas the fee cannot touch.

What the operators told the government

The Tribune reported on 13 October that Michael Dillon of Abaco Yacht and Charter Services and Stephen Kappeler of Bimini Big Game Club asked the government to compare its fees with the BVI and USVI and price to compete. Their evidence:

Abaco sea arrivals down 6.4% year on year through July 2026, per the Bahama Out Island Promotion Board, which blames the fee rises.
Boats relocating to the BVI and USVI, both private yachts and small charter operators.
Cruising permits already cut in April 2026 after a reported 40% drop in visiting boats, per Yachting Magazine. Two new permit categories, for stays under 30 days and under six months, brought the cost down for most visitors.
The 14% charter tax stayed. It is 10% VAT plus a 4% Port Department fee, charged on the charter fee of every foreign-flagged yacht since July 2025.

What you pay: Bahamas vs BVI on the same $60,000 week

Eight guests, seven nights, a $60,000 charter fee, government charges only. APA and gratuity are the same in both places.

Bahamas: $8,400. The 14% on the charter fee. Cruising permit and anchorage fees are paid by the yacht and come out of the APA, not as a separate line.
BVI, yacht based in the BVI: $304. Cruising permit of $4 per person per day, $224 for the week, plus the $10 environmental levy per person on arrival. The yacht’s own BVI licence is her cost, not yours.
BVI, yacht based in the USVI: $976. The permit rises to $16 per person per day for a foreign-based boat, which is why most of that fleet moved to Virgin Gorda last year. We explained that in the BVI fee post.

So the Bahamas costs about $8,000 more in tax on this week. That is the number to weigh, and it has not moved in 15 months. The full breakdown of a Bahamas quote is in what you actually pay in tax and fees.

What you get for it this winter

We read the calendars of every crewed yacht listed for the Bahamas and for the BVI on 29 October 2026:

Mid-January to mid-March 2027: 64 of the 264 Bahamas yachts we track already show a booking, 24%. In the BVI it is 273 of 364, 75%.
Christmas week 2026: 50 Bahamas yachts show a confirmed booking and 30 more a hold or block, 30% of the fleet. The rest show nothing recorded yet, which is not the same as free, but it is a very different picture from the Virgin Islands.
The anchorages are empty. Lee Prosenjak, who owns Valentine’s Resort and Marina on Harbour Island, told Yachting Magazine in August: “Nobody’s here. Come and get it. You can have your pick of the dinner reservations.”

A Bahamas February normally means a queue for the Staniel Cay dock and a shared anchorage at Warderick Wells. This year it means neither.

Our take

The 14% is real and we would rather you saw it before you fall for a boat than after. On a $60,000 week it is a dinner for eight at a Nassau restaurant every night of the charter. Against that: the Exumas with the space the fee has bought you, a crewed fleet that is still based there, and January to March calendars that are three quarters open.

Pick the Bahamas if you want the Exumas, sandbars and shallow water, and the tax is a known number you can carry. Pick the BVI if the lowest government charge and short hops between islands matter more. We quote both in full, tax on the line, so the choice is made on the real figure.