Chartering a yacht really is a great way to see just what the coastline of North America has to offer. Together, Canada, Mexico and the United States have an unbelievably massive coast and the best way to see the beauty, light and wildlife that this coast offers is to do so by boat.

Several different options are available when it comes to hiring yachts and the novice sailor has as many choices as the experienced sea dog.

North American Ocean Waves

Although many people think of North America in terms of its great landmass, it is well worth remembering that it also has a vast coastline and many of its most famous cities are, in fact, ports. Boston, New York City, Vancouver, Key West and Seattle are just a few of the famous coastal towns that exist in North America. With this in mind, a good way to visit many of these places and experience something entirely different in terms of holiday travel is to charter a yacht.

This does not mean that you will have to sail from your starting point to your destination yourself, nor does it necessarily mean spending long days miles out at sea battling weather and waves. Most charter companies offer a range of structured deals including various levels of crewing in the service. Some boats are simply run like floating hotels and are extensively crewed with a range of sailors and stewards. Others have a more minimal approach and the type of boat you opt for really depends on how adventurous you want to make your trip.

Doing It Yourself

More experienced sailors will probably want to take charge of a boat themselves. This is known as ‘bareboat’ chartering and is only to be recommended to those travellers who have considerable experience of sailing.

Not only will you have to steer and handle the boat yourself, but you will also need to be a good navigator. Plotting each day’s journey is an important part of any yacht rental holiday and is far too important to be left to someone with no experience. As temporary ownership of the boat is basically transferred to the hirer in this type of yacht rental, it will also be necessary to make sure that the boat is properly equipped and supplied before setting off on your yacht charter.

Nothing else quite gives a traveller the sense of freedom that this type of yacht arrangement offers. Being able to stop where you want, to simply drop anchor and take a dinghy to the shore, is one of the most liberating feelings in the world. In North America, where there is so much to see and do, this is particularly true. Whether it is taking in a beach in Mexico or seeing whales off the coast of Canada or New England, no other kind of holiday can take you right to the places that you want to see. A yacht takes you there and it is also your accommodation, a floating hotel where the view changes daily and nothing ever becomes stagnant or stale, like it can on shore.

AUTHOR BIO

Duncan McDonnell is originally from the Scottish island of Islay in the Hebrides. He has served in the Royal Navy as well as being an experienced yacht charter skipper. He writes about a range of nautical and travel matters for blogs and websites across the world.

Yacht Charter Vacation In North America 

Chartering a yacht really is a great way to see just what the coastline of North America has to offer. Together, Canada, Mexico and the United States have an unbelievably massive coast and the best way to see the beauty, light and wildlife that this coast offers is to do so by boat.

Several different options are available when it comes to hiring yachts and the novice sailor has as many choices as the experienced sea dog.

North American Ocean Waves

Although many people think of North America in terms of its great landmass, it is well worth remembering that it also has a vast coastline and many of its most famous cities are, in fact, ports. Boston, New York City, Vancouver, Key West and Seattle are just a few of the famous coastal towns that exist in North America. With this in mind, a good way to visit many of these places and experience something entirely different in terms of holiday travel is to charter a yacht.

This does not mean that you will have to sail from your starting point to your destination yourself, nor does it necessarily mean spending long days miles out at sea battling weather and waves. Most charter companies offer a range of structured deals including various levels of crewing in the service. Some boats are simply run like floating hotels and are extensively crewed with a range of sailors and stewards. Others have a more minimal approach and the type of boat you opt for really depends on how adventurous you want to make your trip.

Doing It Yourself

More experienced sailors will probably want to take charge of a boat themselves. This is known as ‘bareboat’ chartering and is only to be recommended to those travellers who have considerable experience of sailing.

Not only will you have to steer and handle the boat yourself, but you will also need to be a good navigator. Plotting each day’s journey is an important part of any yacht rental holiday and is far too important to be left to someone with no experience. As temporary ownership of the boat is basically transferred to the hirer in this type of yacht rental, it will also be necessary to make sure that the boat is properly equipped and supplied before setting off on your yacht charter.

Nothing else quite gives a traveller the sense of freedom that this type of yacht arrangement offers. Being able to stop where you want, to simply drop anchor and take a dinghy to the shore, is one of the most liberating feelings in the world. In North America, where there is so much to see and do, this is particularly true. Whether it is taking in a beach in Mexico or seeing whales off the coast of Canada or New England, no other kind of holiday can take you right to the places that you want to see. A yacht takes you there and it is also your accommodation, a floating hotel where the view changes daily and nothing ever becomes stagnant or stale, like it can on shore.

AUTHOR BIO

Duncan McDonnell is originally from the Scottish island of Islay in the Hebrides. He has served in the Royal Navy as well as being an experienced yacht charter skipper. He writes about a range of nautical and travel matters for blogs and websites across the world.

Viettours just arranged the four-day Singaporean tour for a group of some 300 members last week. Besides the large number of members, these customers were ready to pay up to US$1,600-1,800 each to buy high-class services during the trip, three times higher than normal tours.

Also, the tour operator last week sent 320 tourists to Japan and it will take another 400 travelers to the same destination next month.

“The long-haul tourism product and luxurious tours segment at our company has still grown well with the continued increase of groups since the Tet holiday,” director Luu Dinh Phuc of Viettours told the Daily.

Similarly, Ben Thanh Tourist recorded stronger demand for high-end tours than other tours at its firm.

The HCMC-based tour operator has successfully attracted individual clients with the nine-day Britain-Scotland tour marketed at roughly VND95 million per person two weeks ago. It is now preparing to launch more promotions to lure customers for the tour.

The same positive situation is seen at other travel agencies with the overwhelming growth of high-end tours compared to other tours. While other buyers are tending to choose short-distance low-priced tours, well-to-do people are favoring high-class and long-distance tours or unfamiliar destinations worth hundreds of million of dong each.

According to Doan Thi Thanh Tra, marketing director of Saigontourist Travel Service Company, a number of travelers had even asked for tours to Peru. As an unfamiliar destination, it could only be arranged with expensive prices but this does not matter to interested tour buyers.

For the national holidays on April 30 and May 1, more customers are still looking for tours to Europe, the U.S. and Australia that have been sold out as of now.

Surveys conducted by Tra’s company indicated that tour buyers in the high-class sector are very generous when going shopping overseas. They spend up to VND400-500 million buying products and services per person abroad.

Those destinations attracting local wealthy customers the most is the U.S. followed by Europe and Australia.

(source: saigontourist)

Peaceful, with reasonable prices and extremely safe, were his main observations. Forty years on from the war with the US, Staermose felt that the country has experienced a great deal of positive changes.

“In the ancient town of Hoi An and the capital city of Hanoi, the local lifestyles are in general very laid-back and relaxed. There are numerous excellent cafes and restaurants that offer both local fair and overseas cuisine, and there are everywhere”, said Staermose.

“Although the weather here can be very hot and humid, Hanoi has many lakes and it is actually very pleasant to explore the city on foot”.

“That applies if you are young and single, or if you have a young family, like my friends who are based here. For the right kind of person, because of the cost of living here, the quality of life you can enjoy for the money you pay is really very difficult to beat”.

(Source: VNA)

Several travel agents are offering huge slash in prices on local Vietnam tours. For instance, Saigon Tourist launched IKO travel company to organize domestic tours from now till May, offering discounts of over 13 per cent for road tours to Nha Trang-Hon Mun; Nha Trang-Suoi Hoa Lan; and the southern highland city of Da Lat. For air tours to the beautiful islands and undisturbed beaches such as Phu Quoc; Hanoi-Trang An-Halong; and Hanoi-Halong-Sapa, the discount is as much as 30 per cent.

Similarly, Ben Thanh Tourist has also slashed as much as VND2.7 million (US$150) on a home tour. While, in addition to discounts, Fidi Tours has launched a promotional programme “Buy One Get Three”, offering prizes worth over VND1 billion with gifts such as a Vespa scooter, Ipad 2 and I phone 4.

Although travel agents are trying to encourage people to take   domestic trips, they realise that an increasing number of people are now opting to visit the neighboring countries like Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Doan Thi Thanh Tra, Head of Marketing Division of Saigon Tourist, said that more and more people are registering for tours to Asian countries, Europe and the US, seemingly unaffected by the economic crisis.

During the first two months of 2012, over 2,000 people purchased tours for Thailand through Saigon Tourist, 10 per cent more than the same period last year; over 5,500 through Viet Travel, 15 per cent more than the same period last year.

(source: SGGP)