The best Bahamas fishing charters run on big motor yachts that carry a serious chase boat, proper tackle, and a crew who knows the local grounds. Below are the 11 motor yachts we recommend for a 1-week Bahamas fishing charter, ranked on their fishing setups, tenders, crew reputation, and feedback from our clients.
Every yacht on this list pairs real fishing capability with the comfort our clients book a motor yacht for: Jacuzzis on deck, private chefs who will cook your catch, and enough toys to keep the rest of the group busy between runs.
Broker insight
On a Bahamas fishing charter the chase boat matters more than the yacht. The mothership gives you the comfort, but it is the 30-plus-foot tender that gets you onto the flats at Andros or the marlin grounds off Eleuthera. I always check the tender spec first, then the gear list.
Daniel Asmus
Owner, Charter Broker, Active CYBA Member, IYBA, ECPY
Quick answer: our top picks
- Best for long fishing trips: LADY JOY. Shallow draught, built for 8-plus-day charters, and a 38′ tender that seats 23.
- Best fishing setup: BLUE TIME. A 2024 SeaVee 39 with tuna tower and outriggers, plus Shimano Tiagra tackle and Hooker electric reels.
- Best chase boat: NO SURRENDER. The 36′ Yellowfin center console is a true fishing machine.
- Best value: ENTREPRENEUR. Gear matched to your target species on request, family layout for 10 guests.
11. THE PEDDLER
For an 86-footer, THE PEDDLER carries a fishing program we’d expect on a much bigger boat: gear for marlin, groundfishing, fly fishing, and deep sea, a 2022 28′ Boston Whaler Outrage with twin Yamaha 200s that is ideal for Eleuthera and Harbour Island runs, and an 18′ Williams jet tender for quick hops to nearby spots.
Her South African crew of 4, including a chef, has a reputation with our clients for attentive service and proper beach days with chairs, shade, and cold drinks. She summers in Fort Lauderdale and repositions to the Bahamas for an extra fee, which is worth budgeting if you want a smaller yacht with a serious setup. Off the rods she carries a Seadoo Spark, Flite boards, Seabobs, SUPs, towables, and snorkeling gear.
10. SEA OWL
SEA OWL is proof you don’t need to break 100 ft for a comfortable Bahamas fishing charter. She is a 2022-delivered Azimut, so she still feels new, and she covers the Bahamas, the Florida East Coast, and New England in season.
Her 35′ Scout 350LXF chase boat is the star: fast, stable, and ideal for reaching remote grounds. She carries no built-in fishing gear, and in our experience that is a plus, because her crew sources rods, tackle, and bait matched to your exact plan, whether that is bonefish on the flats or trolling for pelagics. Onboard she is set up for family downtime with a compact gym, a Seadoo GTX 230, 2 paddleboards, 2 Seabobs, a towable tube, and snorkel gear.
9. NO SURRENDER
NO SURRENDER, the Riva Dolcevita our clients knew as Tasty Waves, pairs Italian styling with serious sport fishing capability. Her 36′ Yellowfin center console is the best pure fishing chase boat on this list, rigged with top-tier deep-sea tackle for Andros, Eleuthera, and Nassau waters.
Her captain knows the Bahamian grounds well, and the crew of 5 runs the boat for both hardcore anglers and guests who want the luxury experience between casts. Based in Fort Lauderdale, she is an easy fit for a 7-night Bahamas run. Water toys include a Sea-Doo jet ski, hydrofoil boards, Seabobs with underwater cameras, a wakesurf board, a floating island, and scuba and snorkel gear.
8. TAIL LIGHTS
TAIL LIGHTS blends real fishing credentials with the best outdoor lounging on this list, including a flybridge Jacuzzi and wet bar. Her 32′ Scout tender runs twin Yamaha 350s, has a walk-in console bathroom, and is rigged for trolling, deep-sea, and spearfishing, with professional-grade rods and spearfishing poles on board.
Her crew fishes Eleuthera regularly and knows its marlin water in particular. If half your group fishes and the other half wants a pool day, she covers both: jet ski, Yamaha sea scooters, Segway scooters, an AquaBanas party inflatable, paddleboards, towables, water skis, a wakeboard, and snorkel gear.
7. ENTREPRENEUR
ENTREPRENEUR is the value pick. She works the Bahamas, Florida, and New England seasonally with a family-friendly layout for 10 guests, and her 2020 34′ Nortech tender is excellent for Andros and Eleuthera runs.
Fishing gear comes on request, which lets you match tackle to the species you actually want to target instead of paying for a generic setup. For the rest of the group she carries waverunners, inflatable paddleboards, a Rave splash zone with trampoline and slide, a towable tube, snorkel gear, and beach chairs and umbrellas for shore days.
6. CHANSON
CHANSON is the cheapest serious fishing program on this list. Her tender is a 32-foot Midnight fitted out for deep sea work, and the rods and reels aboard are tournament-ready rather than the courtesy set most yachts this size carry.
She is a 120-foot Christensen sleeping nine across four cabins, and at 1995 she is the oldest hull here, which is exactly why the fishing setup costs what it does. If the week is about what happens off the back of the tender, that trade is an easy one to make.
Beyond the fishing there is a Brownie’s Third Lung for shallow diving without tanks, two wave runners, a 17-foot Novurania, kayaks, wakeboard, water skis, tow rings and a full beach setup. From $75,000 a week.
5. BLUE TIME
BLUE TIME has the most complete fishing operation of any yacht on this page. Her chase boat is a 2024 SeaVee 39 running four Mercury 400s, with a tuna tower, outriggers, Seakeeper stabilization, a day head and a freshwater shower, which is a serious sportfisher in its own right rather than a tender with rod holders.
The tackle matches it. Shimano Tiagra 20, 30 and 50 wide for trolling, Hooker electric reels for high-speed trolling and deep drop, open reels for reef casting and jigging, pole spears and Hawaiian slings, and all lures and baits carried aboard. You are not renting gear in Nassau before you start.
She is a 130-foot Westport from 2009 sleeping eleven across five cabins, and the last charter we put on her came back glowing, to the point that the captain offered the group a free night to bring them back. For everyone not fishing there are Seabobs, Fliteboards, paddleboards and a full beach setup with gazebos and a volleyball net. From $120,000 a week.
4. LADY J
LADY J is the pick when half the group wants to fish and the other half wants to dive. She carries a full fishing setup with four pole spears and two Hawaiian slings, and a 30-foot Intrepid on twin 250s to reach the grounds.
What sets her apart is the dive program. She is equipped for eight certified divers with tanks, BCDs and regulators, and carries a Bauer compressor, so refills happen aboard instead of dictating your route back to a dive shop. Very few yachts in this bracket can say that.
A 142-foot Palmer Johnson from 1997, she sleeps twelve across five cabins, which makes her one of the better-value large boats here. The rest of the kit runs deep: a 13-foot AB jet tender, two jetskis, kayaks, paddleboards, wakeboards and a trampoline. From $109,000 a week.
3. RELENTLESS
RELENTLESS runs the most social program on this list: theme nights, beach BBQs, and even fireworks where permits allow, alongside a capable fishing setup. Her 32′ Boston Whaler Vantage gives quick access to Eleuthera’s marlin water, and she carries deep-sea gear and rods on board.
The reconfigured flybridge with Jacuzzi, sun beds, and bar is where the group ends up once the lines come in. Toys: RIB tender, waverunners, wakeboards, kayaks, paddleboards, kneeboards, tubes, inflatable loungers, and snorkel gear.
2. RENA
RENA was refitted for fishing rather than sold as fishing-capable. Her large tender carries new outrigger trolling rigs, and she has taken on a complete new set of Shimano light tackle, two 20-pound and two 30-pound outfits, alongside the rod and reel sets already aboard.
Light tackle is the point here. The Bahamas rewards it, and a boat set up for 20 and 30-pound work gives you mahi, tuna and reef species on gear that makes the fight worth having, rather than winching everything up on heavy trolling outfits.
She is 145 feet, sleeping twelve across five cabins, so she carries a full group without anyone sharing. Non-anglers get two three-person waverunners that can be detuned for kids, Hobie Mirage kayaks with pedal drives, a Vanguard Zuma sailing dinghy, paddleboards and the usual tow toys. From $125,000 a week.
1. LADY JOY
LADY JOY takes the top spot because she is built for exactly this job: one of the largest yachts in the Bahamas with a shallow draught, designed to run 8-plus-day fishing charters without returning to port.
Her 38′ SACS Stratos tender fits 23 people, so crew, guides, and anglers hit the grounds together instead of taking turns. She carries gear for both fly and deep-sea fishing and arranges fishing permits on request. Off the water: water skis, tubes, floating mats, waverunners, kayaks, windsurfers, and scuba and snorkel gear.
Which fishing yacht should you pick?
If you want the widest fishing range in 1 charter, we would start with LADY JOY or BLUE TIME, the two with the most serious offshore setups. For a first Bahamas fishing trip with the family along, ENTREPRENEUR and SEA OWL keep the budget in check while the tender does the real fishing work.
Tell us the species you want to target and the week you have in mind, and we will match you to the right boat, gear list, and grounds. For planning the wider trip, see our Bahamas fishing charter guide and our breakdown of what a Bahamas yacht charter costs.
