A power catamaran gives you the best of both Bahamas fleets: the space and shallow draft of a catamaran, at close to motor yacht pace. No masts, no rigging. Just two hulls, big engines, and the full beam turned into living space.
That mix fits the Bahamas unusually well, which is why the power cat fleet here has grown so fast: the crossings are short, the water is skinny, and the boat doubles as your base in out-islands where there’s nothing else built.
Motor-yacht pace, catamaran comfort. Power cats cut the Nassau-to-Exumas crossing to a fraction of a sailing cat’s run, so you’re at the good anchorages by lunch on day one.
More boat per foot. With no rig and a full-width deck, a 62-foot power cat lives like a much bigger motor yacht: wide salon, flybridge, and cabins across both hulls.
Shallow draft. Same skinny-water access as a sailing cat: sandbar anchorages and cays that deeper motor yachts have to skip.
Lower fuel burn than a motor yacht. Two efficient engines pushing two slim hulls use far less fuel than a comparable motor yacht, and several boats in this fleet skip the APA entirely (see cost below).
Built for families and groups. Stable at anchor, low swim platforms on both hulls, and toys standard across the fleet: jet skis, Seabobs, SUPs.
Broker insight
A power catamaran gives you about 15-20% more space than a motor yacht of the same length. A 62-footer feels like a 90-foot motorboat, and I tend to put clients with that size motor yacht in mind on a power cat instead. You have the engines, you have the speed, and you have the luxury of a catamaran, with a much lower fuel bill at the end of the week.
Chris de Kock
Yacht Charter Broker
Crewed power catamarans in the Bahamas run $38,000-$90,000 per week. One thing that sets this fleet apart: many of the power cats here charter all-inclusive (food, drinks, and fuel in one rate), while most Bahamas motor yachts charter plus-expenses with a 30-40% APA on top. Either way, add the Bahamas’ 14% charter tax. Ask us which model a specific boat uses; it changes the real total more than the base rate does.
The Exumas loop is where a power catamaran earns its keep: fast enough to make the Nassau crossing in hours, shallow enough to anchor right off the sandbars once you’re there. The classic week runs Highbourne Cay, the sunken plane at Norman’s Cay, the nurse sharks at Compass Cay, the pigs and Thunderball Grotto at Staniel Cay, then back through Warderick Wells and Shroud Cay. With the extra speed, adding Eleuthera’s pink-sand beaches to the same week is realistic, something we’d rarely plan on a sailing cat.
