When are the final payment and APA due for my Bahamas charter?

John Boullin
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

The balance of your charter fee, the APA, and the 14% Bahamas charter tax are due together about six weeks before your charter starts. Some contracts state it as 60 days; your charter agreement will show the exact date.

The APA, your onboard budget for food, drinks, fuel, and dockage, then travels with the boat. The captain spends from it during the week and keeps the accounts, and every charter cost is reconciled before you disembark. Whatever is unspent comes back to you after the charter.

We also go through the captain’s APA accounts ourselves. We know what fuel, provisioning, and dockage should cost in the Bahamas, so you are not left interpreting a spreadsheet alone on the last morning.