You’ve been binge-watching Below Deck again, haven’t you?
There’s something about seeing crew members your age working on floating palaces in the Mediterranean, getting paid to travel, and pocketing tax-free tips that makes your office job feel a bit… small. Trust me, you’re not alone. Every year, thousands of Brits have this exact same thought, usually around January when the weather’s miserable and the 9-to-5 grind feels particularly soul-crushing.
Quick reality check though: if Below Deck is your main reference point for what yachting looks like, you should read this article about how similar superyacht jobs actually are to the TV show. The short version? Some of it’s accurate, a lot of it’s dramatised for ratings. Real yachting has way more cleaning and way less drama (usually).
Here’s what most people don’t tell you: getting into yachting isn’t nearly as difficult or exclusive as it looks on TV. You don’t need to know someone. You don’t need a maritime family background. You just need the right qualifications, a realistic understanding of what the job actually involves, and enough determination to see it through.
This guide covers everything you need to know as a UK-based aspiring yachtie in 2025. And I mean everything – from what “yachting” even means (it’s not what you think), to passing your medicals, getting qualified, finding your first job, and understanding whether you’ll actually enjoy this career once the Instagram filter wears off.
What Do We Mean By ‘Yachting’?
Right, first things first. When you tell your mates you’re “getting into yachting,” they’re probably picturing you in a polo shirt sailing around the Solent at weekends. That’s not what we’re talking about here.
The word “yachting” gets thrown around to mean three completely different things:
Recreational sailing is what your dad’s mate does – yacht club membership, weekend racing, maybe a summer cruise to France. It’s a hobby, not a career (unless you’re an Olympic sailor, which is a whole different kettle of fish).
Commercial skippers and charter work means you’ve got your Yachtmaster ticket and you’re running charter boats – think week-long sailing holidays in the Med or day trips around the Caribbean. It’s proper work, often seasonal, and pays reasonably well if you can find consistent gigs.
Superyacht crew is what this guide is about. These are the massive luxury vessels (24 metres upwards, but usually much bigger) owned by billionaires. Working as crew means you’re part of a professional team maintaining the boat and looking after guests. This is where the serious money is, where the travel happens, and where your Instagram feed suddenly gets very interesting.
Everything from here on focuses on that third option – becoming professional crew on superyachts. If you want to be a skipper running charter boats, you’re after Yachtmaster qualifications instead, which is a completely different path.
What is a Yachtie?
Before we go any further, let’s make sure we are all singing off the same hymn sheet.
A Yachtie is a broad term used to describe anyone who works on a yacht. More specifically, it has become the term for people working as yacht crew on superyachts.
A superyacht is a very large boat that is extremely luxurious and often owned by multi millionaires and billionaires.
These Yachties who work on superyachts hold a number of different positions. Most Yachties will start their superyacht career working as a Deckhand or Stewardess. With more experience and responsibilities, your role will change as you progress up the career ladder.
It’s worth noting there are other types of yachting and Yachties. The other kind of ‘Yachtie’ could describe those who hold their Yachtmaster qualification and have jobs like skipper charter boats.
Entry-Level Job Roles for New Yachties
Yachties new to the industry (also known as ‘Green’ Yachties) will traditionally apply for entry levels roles, which are Yacht Deckhands or Yacht Stewardesses.
These are both very different jobs, so you need to be sure which one you want to do and start training for that career path.
Yacht Stewardess (Stew)
A Stewardess, or Steward, looks after the interior of the yacht. This means anything that happens inside the boat, you will be responsible for it.
You’re basically doing every hospitality job you can think of, all at once, to a standard that would make a five-star hotel look a bit sloppy. Making beds with hospital corners that could bounce a coin. Deep cleaning. Serving meals. Hosting dinners. Arranging flowers so they look effortlessly perfect (they’re never effortless). Doing laundry without shrinking someone’s £800 shirt. Anticipating what guests want before they’ve even thought of it themselves.
The eye for detail thing isn’t a nice-to-have – it’s essential. Everything has to be perfect, all the time. Guests are paying obscene amounts of money to be on that yacht, and they notice when the cushions aren’t quite right or there’s a water spot on a wine glass.
You’ll be working for the Chief Stewardess who’ll run your day. After a couple of seasons, once you know what you’re doing and can handle the pressure, you can move up to Second Stew or Chief Stew positions.
Despite the name, the job’s open to everyone – though it has traditionally attracted more women. If you’ve worked in hospitality, luxury retail, or anywhere that demanded high-end service, you’ll have a head start.
Yacht Deckhand
In contrast to the Stewardess role, Deckhands look after the exterior of the boat.
You’ll be doing maintenance work, cleaning the teak decks (you’ll spend so much time on your hands and knees scrubbing teak), polishing stainless steel until you can see your face in it, looking after all the water toys – jet skis, paddleboards, diving equipment. You’ll drive the tender to take guests ashore, help with docking and anchoring, and generally keep the exterior looking like it’s just come out of a showroom.
You need to understand how the yacht actually works – the terminology, the systems, how to tie about fifty different knots. And you need enthusiasm even when you’re doing the same repetitive task for the third time that day.
It’s mostly blokes doing deckhand work, though more women are getting into it. You’ll often help the interior team during busy periods too – everyone mucks in when there’s a formal dinner and guests need serving.
The deckhand route can take you to Lead Deckhand, Bosun, First Officer, and eventually Captain if that’s what you’re after. If you’re into the technical and navigational side of things, this is your path..
5 Steps to Becoming a Yachtie
With an understanding of the job roles available, you can now decide which one best suits you. With the right attitude, qualifications, and knowing where to look for work, becoming a Yachtie is achievable for anyone who wants it.
- Have the right attitude
- Pass an ENG1 medical
- Complete STCW Basic Safety Training
- Gain experience
- Go to a superyacht marina
1. Have the right attitude
Before you spend a single penny on qualifications, we need to have an honest conversation about whether this career is actually for you.
Look, I’m not going to sugarcoat this. Yachting sounds glamorous – and parts of it absolutely are – but the Instagram posts don’t show you scrubbing toilets on your tenth consecutive working day, or deep-cleaning a galley at 2am after serving a seven-course dinner. They don’t show you missing your best mate’s wedding because you’re stuck on a yacht in the Caribbean, or having a massive argument with your cabin-mate because one of you snores and there’s literally nowhere else to go.
You need to be able to work 14-16 hour days with a smile. You need to take orders without getting defensive. You need to care about things like whether the cushions are at precisely the right angle and whether there are water spots on the glassware. If you’re the type who gets snippy when you’re tired or hungry, this career will chew you up.
The living situation is intense. Your colleagues are also your housemates. There’s no popping home at the end of the day. Bad day at work? You’re still having dinner with those same people. Fell out with someone? You’re sharing a bathroom with them tomorrow morning.
But here’s the flip side: if you’re adaptable, genuinely enjoy physical work, don’t mind hard graft, and actually want to travel (not just post about it), yachting can be brilliant. You’ll save more money in a year than most of your mates earn. You’ll wake up in a different country every few weeks. You’ll have stories that make dinner parties interesting for the rest of your life.
Just go in with your eyes open. This isn’t a gap year jolly – it’s proper work.
2. Pass ENG1 Medical
Right, if you’re still reading, let’s get practical. Your first actual step is booking an ENG1 medical.
The ENG1 is basically a thorough health check by an MCA-approved doctor to confirm you’re fit enough to work at sea. Without it, you literally cannot legally work on a superyacht. Captains won’t even look at your CV.
The exam takes about 45 minutes and covers the usual stuff – vision test, hearing test, blood pressure, physical examination, medical history, urine sample. It’s pretty straightforward unless you’ve got underlying health issues that could cause problems at sea.
Cost: £100-£150 depending on where you go
Validity: 2 years
Where to book: Find an MCA-approved doctor on the UK Government website. Southampton, Portsmouth, Plymouth, and London have loads of approved doctors.
Here’s the bit that catches people out: colour blindness. It’s the most common reason people fail their ENG1, and loads of people don’t even know they’re colour blind until they take this test. The problem is that on a ship, you need to be able to identify navigation lights and signals correctly. If you can’t tell red from green, you can’t work at sea. No exceptions, because it’s a massive safety issue.
Do yourself a favour and book this first. There’s absolutely no point spending £3,000+ on training courses if you’re going to fail the medical. Get it done, get it out of the way, then crack on with the rest.
3. Complete STCW Basic Safety Training
Another requirement for working at sea is completing STCW Basic Safety Training. STCW – which stands for Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping, not that anyone actually calls it that – is the other mandatory qualification you need before you can work at sea.
It’s a 5-day course that teaches you what to do when things go wrong. Fire on board. Yacht sinking. Someone injured. Security threats. All the stuff you hope never happens but need to know how to handle.
The course is actually pretty good fun, if I’m honest. It’s hands-on and practical rather than sitting in a classroom taking notes. You’ll be putting out real fires wearing breathing apparatus, jumping into a pool in full survival gear, learning how to use life rafts properly, doing CPR training, and going through security scenarios.
The fire fighting bit is brilliant fun – you’re in full gear with breathing apparatus actually extinguishing real fires in a training facility. Sounds intense, and it is, but it’s also properly useful stuff you’ll hopefully never need but are glad you know.
Personal survival training means you’re getting wet. You’ll be jumping into pools wearing life jackets, practicing climbing into life rafts, learning survival techniques. The first aid section covers the basics – CPR, treating injuries, handling medical emergencies until you can get proper help. And the security awareness part is about recognising threats, particularly piracy and armed robbery, which sounds dramatic but is a real consideration depending on where you’re sailing.
Cost: It’s included in the Flying Fish course packages, which we’ll get to in a minute
How long it lasts: First Aid, Safety, and Security certificates don’t expire. Fire Fighting and Personal Survival need refreshing every 5 years
Where to do it: Has to be an MCA-approved training centre. Flying Fish runs them every week in Cowes
You absolutely cannot work on a superyacht without this. Captains won’t even look at your CV if you haven’t got valid STCW certificates.
4. Gain experience
If you are lucky enough to have a job offer on a superyacht, then having your ENG1 and STCW certificates will be enough.
For everyone else – which is most people – you’re going to be competing with other job seekers who’ve got the same basic qualifications as you. This is where doing a proper training course makes a massive difference.
A comprehensive Deckhand or Stewardess course gives you actual practical skills, extra qualifications to put on your CV, and – probably most important – you get to experience what yacht life is actually like before you’ve committed to flying to France and spending weeks dockwalking.
Flying Fish Superyacht Courses
We run these courses from Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Been doing it for over 25 years now, our instructors have all worked in the industry, and we’ve got solid relationships with recruitment agencies and yacht management companies. Most of our graduates find jobs within a few weeks of finishing.
Superyacht Deckhand Course – 15 days, £3,320
This is our main deckhand training. You’ll get your STCW done (included in the price), plus your Powerboat Level 2 and VHF radio licence. Beyond that, you’re learning yacht maintenance, how to properly clean and care for teak decks (there’s a technique to it), tender handling, all the knots and line work, anchoring procedures, understanding how yacht systems work. Basically everything you need to not look completely lost on your first day.
Superyacht Stewardess Course – 15 days, £3,320
Same deal for stewardesses – STCW included, plus Powerboat Level 2 and VHF radio (yes, interior crew need these too). Then you’re doing food and beverage service training, wine knowledge and how to serve it properly, flower arranging (harder than it looks), table setting and formal service, housekeeping to yacht standards, laundry and fabric care so you don’t ruin expensive clothes. Everything you need to walk onto a yacht and actually be useful.
Combined Deckhand and Stewardess Course – 22 days, £4,600
This longer course covers both interior and exterior training, which makes you more employable on smaller yachts where crew often do a bit of everything. It’s more intensive but you come out more versatile.
All the courses are properly hands-on. You’re on actual boats, you’re practicing the skills, not just reading about them in a manual. And you’ll meet other people starting out too, which matters more than you’d think – yachting’s a small world and the connections you make during training often lead to job opportunities later.
Connor did our Deckhand Course last year and said: “Wow, what an amazing introduction into the yachting world. I did the 2 week Deckhand and STCW course which was well worth the investment. We were accompanied by some fantastic and knowledgeable instructors that really show their love for the industry. If you’re on the fence about doing this course then all I can say is go for it. You will love every second and wish it never ended. Best thing I’ve done for a while now and can’t wait to get stuck into this industry!”
Step 5: Register with Crew Agencies and Go Dockwalking
Right, you’ve got your qualifications sorted. Now you need to actually find work, which happens in two ways: crew agencies and dockwalking.
Crew Agencies
Crew agencies are basically recruiters for yachts. They’re free to sign up with (they get paid by the yacht, not by you), and they match crew with positions. The good ones have proper relationships with captains and yacht management companies.
Top UK agencies worth registering with: Crew & Concierge in Southampton, YPI Crew (they’ve got offices in London and Antibes), Bluewater, Quay Crew in Poole, Viking Crew in Lymington. There are loads more – we’ve got a full list of agencies here if you want to see all your options.
Sign up with multiple agencies, not just one. Your CV needs to be yacht-specific (not your standard office job CV), include all your qualifications with the dates you got them, and have a decent professional photo. Agencies get absolutely bombarded with CVs every day, so yours needs to look the part.
Dockwalking
Dockwalking means exactly what it sounds like – you physically go to marinas where superyachts are moored and hand your CV directly to captains. It’s old school, but it works, especially for entry-level positions.
Best places to dockwalk:
Antibes, France is where you want to be. Port Vauban is the biggest yacht marina in Europe. Hundreds of superyachts, loads of crew, and it’s where most new crew find their first jobs. If you’re only going to one place, make it Antibes.
Palma, Mallorca is the other big one, especially busy between March and October. Loads of yachts, good crew community, decent weather.
Fort Lauderdale in Florida is the Caribbean season hub from November to April, but getting there as a UK crew member post-Brexit is trickier because of US visa requirements.
Monaco looks glamorous and has incredible yachts, but there aren’t many entry-level opportunities. It’s more for experienced crew.
When you’re dockwalking, dress smart but practical – polo shirt, chinos, deck shoes. Bring at least 50 printed CVs. Visit marinas between 9-11am or 3-5pm when captains are more likely to be around. Be polite and professional, ask “Is the Captain available?” and don’t take rejection personally. Timing is everything in this industry – a captain might have filled their last position an hour before you showed up.
Stay in a crew house while you’re job hunting. Crew houses are shared accommodation where other job-seeking crew live, and honestly they’re brilliant for networking. You’ll meet people, hear about opportunities, get tips on which yachts are hiring. Search “crew house Antibes” on social media and you’ll find current options. Living in one puts you right in the middle of the yachting community rather than sitting alone in a random Airbnb.
How Long Until You Get Hired?
Depends massively on timing and luck, but here’s roughly what to expect:
Training takes 2-3 weeks (your ENG1 medical plus the Flying Fish course). Then you’re looking at anywhere from 2-8 weeks of job hunting – agencies, dockwalking, networking. So realistically, budget for 1-3 months from starting training to landing your first position.
Peak hiring seasons are March to May (yachts preparing for Mediterranean summer) and October to November (getting ready for Caribbean winter). If you hit Antibes during peak season with proper qualifications, you can find work in 2-3 weeks. Outside those periods, it might take longer.
Visas and Nationality: Post-Brexit Considerations
Brexit has complicated things slightly for UK crew, but don’t panic – British yachties are still massively in demand. You just need to be a bit more aware of visa rules than you did before.
As a UK citizen, you can stay in the Schengen Area (France, Spain, Italy, Greece, all the main Med countries) for 90 days out of every 180 days without needing a visa. So you can turn up in Antibes or Palma, spend up to three months dockwalking and job hunting, no problem.
Once you’ve actually got a job on a yacht, it will mostly become easy where the yacht will sort your visa.
The main thing to know: visa stuff is more complicated than it was before Brexit, but it’s not stopping UK crew from working. We’re still highly sought after because of our work ethic, professionalism, and the fact that English is our first language (which matters when you’re dealing with international guests).
How Much Do Yachties Earn in 2025?
Alright, let’s talk money. Because let’s be honest, this is probably why you’re still reading.
Entry-level crew (that’s Junior Deckhand or Stewardess) earn between €2,000 and €3,000 per month. The industry standard sits around €2,500. If you’ve done this before, you might look at that figure and think “that’s… fine? But not amazing?”
Here’s the thing though: when you’re working on a yacht, you have zero – and I mean zero – living expenses.
No rent. No council tax. No gas and electric bills. No Tesco shop. No Uber home after a night out (because you’re not having nights out – you’re either at sea or too knackered). Every single penny you earn goes straight into your savings account or gets spent when you’re on holiday between contracts.
Think about it this way: if you’re working in London earning £2,000 a month, you’re probably spending £900+ on rent, another £200 on bills, £300 on food and transport. You’re left with maybe £600 if you’re lucky. On a yacht earning €2,500 (roughly £2,100), that entire amount is yours. You’ll save more in six months than most people save in two years.
Tips: Where the Real Money Is
Most superyachts charter for at least part of the year. Charter guests typically tip around 10% of the charter fee, and that tip gets split equally among all crew.
Charter fees range from €100,000 to over €1,000,000 per week depending on the yacht. Yes, you read that right. One million euros. For a week.
It’s genuinely not unusual for entry-level crew to pocket €5,000 after a single week-long charter. Some crew report making €20,000+ in tips over a busy summer season. Now, tips aren’t guaranteed and they vary massively depending on the guests and the yacht, but when they’re good, they’re really good.
For the full breakdown of what different positions earn on different sized yachts, check out our Superyacht Crew Salary Guide 2025.
Do Yachties Pay Tax in the UK?
Here’s the bit that makes yachting salaries even more attractive: most UK yachties don’t pay income tax.
There’s a government scheme called Seafarers’ Earnings Deduction (SED). If you qualify, your yacht salary is completely tax-free. No income tax whatsoever.
To qualify, you need to work on a ship outside UK territorial waters for 365 days total. Those days don’t need to be consecutive – they’re cumulative. You can come home for breaks, see your family, take time off between contracts. As long as your days at sea add up to 365 within the qualifying period, you’re eligible.
Once you’ve hit that 365-day mark, you apply to HMRC for the deduction. If they approve it (and they usually do if you’ve kept proper records), you won’t pay income tax on your earnings for that period, and potentially for future periods if you stay at sea.
So that €2,500 monthly salary? All yours. No tax coming out.
Couple of things to be aware of: you still need to file tax returns with HMRC even if you’re claiming SED. And you might still need to pay National Insurance contributions. Keep detailed records of every day you spend at sea – dates, yacht names, positions. You’ll need them when you apply. If you’re not sure about any of this, talk to an accountant who knows SED rules, because getting it wrong is a hassle.
The combination of tax-free earnings plus zero living expenses is why junior crew can realistically save €20,000-€30,000 in their first year. That’s proper money for someone in their twenties.
After you have completed your superyacht training, now is the time to head out to France and look for work. Along with signing up to yacht crew recruitment agencies, going to one of the main superyacht marinas and handing out your CV to Captains is a great way to find work. This is known as dockwalking.
Is Getting Into Yachting Right For You?
By now you should have a fairly realistic picture of what this career actually involves. So let’s be honest about who thrives in yachting and who struggles.
You’ll probably do well if you’re physically fit and don’t mind proper manual work. If you genuinely enjoy service work or maintenance rather than just tolerating it. If you can handle stress without falling apart and adapt when things don’t go to plan. If you actually want to travel and see the world, not just post photos pretending you do. If you’re comfortable being away from home for months at a stretch without getting homesick. If you can live in close quarters with other people without needing your own space all the time. And if you’re naturally professional, well-presented, and can maintain a positive attitude even when you’re knackered.
You’ll probably struggle if you need regular time with family and friends and can’t cope with missing important events. If you get defensive when someone tells you what to do or don’t take direction well. If long hours and physical work make you miserable. If you need personal space and alone time to function. If you’ve got health conditions that might fail the ENG1 medical. Or if the whole idea of service work makes you uncomfortable.
Be properly honest with yourself here. Yachting isn’t for everyone, and there’s no shame in that. But if you’ve read this entire guide and you’re still thinking “yes, I want to do this,” that’s probably a decent sign that you’ve got the right attitude for it.
Your Next Steps
Right, so you want to do this. Here’s exactly what you need to do, in order:
1. Book your ENG1 medical. Find an MCA-approved doctor near you and get it sorted. Do this first because there’s literally no point doing anything else if you can’t pass the medical.
2. Look at training courses. Check out Flying Fish’s Deckhand or Stewardess courses and decide which path suits you better. Interior or exterior, hospitality or maintenance.
3. Work out your budget. You need £3,320 for the course itself, plus money for accommodation and living costs while you’re in Cowes for 2-3 weeks. Then budget another chunk for 4-8 weeks in Antibes or Palma while you’re job hunting.
4. Book your course. We run them all year round but spaces fill up fast, especially before peak hiring seasons in spring
Download our free guide
Want to know more about working on a Superyacht, please download our free guide.
