Chartering from Monaco: A Practical Guide to the Riviera

Monaco is a small principality with a large harbour and an outsized reputation. As a charter base it is genuinely excellent, provided you understand two things: berthing is the constraint, and two weeks of the year operate under different rules entirely. ## Port Hercule Monaco's main harbour is deep, well protected and, in season, completely full. Berths for larger yachts are booked far ahead and priced accordingly. Most charters based in Monaco actually keep the yacht in Port Hercule for the nights it is contracted for and move to Cap d'Ail, Beaulieu or Villefranche otherwise. None of this affects the guest experience much — Villefranche is a beautiful anchorage and ten minutes from Monaco by car — but it is worth knowing that "based in Monaco" describes the operating area more than the berth. ## The two weeks to plan around The Grand Prix, late May. Harbour berths are sold as grandstand seats and priced in that spirit. If you want to be there for it, book at least a year ahead and expect it to dominate the cost of the trip. If you do not, avoid the last week of May entirely — the whole coast is busy and expensive. The Monaco Yacht Show, late September. The harbour fills with the brokerage fleet and is effectively closed to visiting yachts. Charters that week work from neighbouring ports. ## What is within reach The Riviera rewards a boat that cruises comfortably in the mid-teens or better, because the good stuff is spread along the coast: - Villefranche-sur-Mer — twenty minutes west. A deep natural bay, sheltered, and the best swimming close to Monaco. - Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat — the anchorages around the cap, and the Rothschild villa above them. - Îles de Lérins, off Cannes — pine-covered, no cars, monastery on Saint-Honorat. About two hours at cruising speed. - Saint-Tropez — three to four hours west. Doable as a long day, better as an overnight. - Portofino — three hours east into Italy. The prettiest harbour on the coast and the hardest to get a berth in. ## Season June to September, with July and August the peak. September is the connoisseur's month: the sea has held its summer temperature, the light is better, and rates ease as soon as the Yacht Show finishes. ## Motor or sail The Riviera is motor yacht country. Wind is unreliable and often either absent or blowing hard from the north-west when the mistral runs, and the distances between the interesting places suit a boat that can cover them quickly. Sailing yachts charter here, but the coast is not their natural argument.