This is the verified 7-day Amalfi Coast itinerary we would actually run on a 44m motor yacht in shoulder or peak season. It is built around real anchorages, real berths, real running times at a comfortable 12 to 14 knot cruise, real lunch stops, and the two days where the standard broker route is wrong. The planning numbers in the route below are calibrated for a recent-build 44m yacht with at-anchor stabilisers, twin tenders, a beach club, and a crew of 9 to 11. The cost band, as of May 2026, is $400K to $580K all-in for a peak week.
We have run versions of this route with charter clients across multiple seasons. The structure works. The brokered alternative, in our experience, does not work as often as it should, and the failure modes are predictable.
The shape of the route
Day 0: Embark Naples (Mergellina or Castellammare di Stabia, depending on yacht draft). Day 1: Procida and Ischia. Day 2: Capri (south side anchorage). Day 3: Capri (Marina Grande for an evening, or stay at anchor). Day 4: Positano and Li Galli. Day 5: Amalfi town day-stop, overnight on the Conca dei Marini side. Day 6: Salerno coast and back to a quieter Amalfi-side anchorage, or reposition to Punta Campanella. Day 7: Disembark Naples.
Total nautical miles: approximately 145 to 180 across the week, depending on whether the Day 6 reposition runs all the way back to Naples on the night before disembarkation or holds overnight on the Sorrentine side. Average daily run time at 13 knots is under 90 minutes, which is correct for an Amalfi week. If the daily run pushes past 2.5 hours of cruise time, the broker has overpacked the route.
Day 0: embark Naples
Most charter weeks in the Amalfi region embark from Naples. The two practical embarkation options for a 44m yacht are Marina Mergellina, which is central but tight, and Castellammare di Stabia, which is across the Bay of Naples and easier for a 44m to handle but adds a road transfer.
Our default for a 44m: Mergellina. The transfer from Capodichino airport is 30 to 40 minutes by car. The marina handles 44m draft fine but the berthing is stern-to and tight, so the captain will want a pilot on entry in any wind above 15 knots. If the charter group is arriving by helicopter and the principal does not want a road transfer at all, a Castellammare di Stabia embarkation paired with a helicopter routing to the Capri helipad is the alternative, but we would only suggest that for groups with charter-week-zero patience for logistics.
Embark afternoon, depart Mergellina by 17:30, run 12 nautical miles to Procida and pick up an anchorage on the Chiaiolella side for the first night. Dinner aboard. The Procida anchorage is calm in any northerly summer wind and gives the principal an immediate sense of the route's pace.
Day 1: Procida and Ischia
Late morning departure from Procida. Run 6 nautical miles around to the Sant'Angelo side of Ischia for a midday anchorage. Lunch aboard or, if the principal is the kind of charter client who wants a shore lunch on day one, tender into Sant'Angelo for a long lunch at one of the small terraces above the beach (book ahead through the captain).
Afternoon: reposition to the Castello Aragonese side of Ischia Porto for a sundowner anchorage. The yacht overnights here. The Castello Aragonese view from the deck at sunset is one of the cleaner sundowner shots in the Bay of Naples and the anchorage holds well in the prevailing summer northwesterly.
Total nautical miles: approximately 12.
Day 2: Capri (south side anchorage)
Depart Ischia Porto by 09:30. Run 22 nautical miles south-east to Capri's south coast. The morning destination is the south side of Capri, around the Faraglioni and the Marina Piccola coastline, but not the Faraglioni stack itself, which is unworkable in any kind of charter-traffic load.
Anchor in the Tragara stretch, between Marina Piccola and Punta Massullo. The water is clear, the depth holds at 18 to 25m for a 44m chain payout, and the swimming is the best on the south side. Lunch aboard. After lunch, tender to Marina Piccola, take the funicular up to Capri town for a long afternoon, return to the yacht for sundowners on the south side.
Overnight at anchor on the south side, weather permitting. The south anchorage is calm in summer northerlies. If the wind is forecast to swing southerly overnight, reposition to the Marina Grande side and pick up a buoy or anchor in 30m on the Marina Grande approach.
Total nautical miles: approximately 22.
Day 3: Capri (Marina Grande for an evening, or stay at anchor)
The standard broker move on Day 3 is to dock the yacht in Marina Grande Capri for a full day and night. We would not do that. The dockage cost in Marina Grande Capri for a 44m in peak is in the $4,000 to $7,000 per night band, the harbour is loud in summer evenings, and the principal is paying premium money to be tied to a wall in a town that is best enjoyed from above, not from the dock.
The better Day 3 plan: stay at anchor on the south side or reposition to the Anacapri side near the Grotta Azzurra (skip the grotto itself in season unless the captain has secured a quiet morning slot at 08:30). Lunch aboard. After lunch, tender into Marina Grande, taxi up to Anacapri, walk back down via Capri town, return to the yacht in time for sunset on the Faraglioni side from a respectful distance.
If the principal insists on a dockside night in Marina Grande, take it on the Day 3 to Day 4 transition and reposition to Positano early the following morning.
Total nautical miles: 0 to 4 if repositioning around the island.
Day 4: Positano and Li Galli
Depart Capri by 09:30. Run 14 nautical miles east-south-east to Positano. Anchor off Spiaggia Grande in 25 to 30m. The Positano anchorage is exposed to any southerly swell and crowded in peak. The crowding is the main reason we anchor in the Spiaggia Grande approach rather than tighter in to the beach: the yacht needs swing room and the smaller boats inside the buoy field will not give it to a 44m without protest.
Lunch aboard, or tender to Da Adolfo on the Laurito beach south of Positano (book through the captain). Afternoon: tender to Positano town for a stroll, or reposition 4 nautical miles south-west to Li Galli for an afternoon swim anchorage, which is materially calmer than Positano in any kind of swell.
Overnight: the choice is Positano roads (busy, exposed to southerly swell, photogenic from the deck) or Li Galli (calmer, quieter, better sleep). We default to Li Galli unless the principal has asked specifically for the Positano-at-night view from the deck.
Total nautical miles: approximately 18.
Day 5: Amalfi town day-stop, overnight Conca dei Marini
Depart Li Galli by 10:00. Run 11 nautical miles east to Amalfi town. Anchor off Amalfi in 30m, or take a lunchtime buoy if the marina has buoys available for transient yachts of 44m (verify on the day with the captain, who should have called ahead).
Lunch aboard or shore lunch in Amalfi town at one of the terraced restaurants. Afternoon: tender ride along the coast east to the Grotta dello Smeraldo (worth the 20 minutes), continue to Conca dei Marini for a quieter swim anchorage, which is two miles back west and off the standard tour-boat route.
Overnight: Conca dei Marini, not Amalfi town. Amalfi town berthing for an overnight is overpriced, exposed to the night swell from the south-east, and loud with the harbour-side traffic. The Conca dei Marini anchorage is calm, dark, and 10 minutes by tender from the Amalfi waterfront if the principal wants a late dinner ashore.
Total nautical miles: approximately 14.
Day 6: the eastward arc, with two acceptable plays
Day 6 is the route-decision day. There are two acceptable plays.
Play one: extend further east. Depart Conca dei Marini by 10:00. Run 20 nautical miles east along the Amalfi coast past Maiori and Vietri sul Mare to the gulf of Salerno, then up to Punta Licosa or the Cilento coast for an anchorage that 95 percent of charter weeks never reach. This is the "go quieter" choice and we like it for charter clients on a third or later Amalfi week who already know Capri and Positano. Overnight on the Cilento side.
Play two: reposition west toward the Sorrentine peninsula. Depart Conca dei Marini by 10:00, run 18 nautical miles west to Punta Campanella, anchor for an afternoon swim on the Sorrentine side, then continue 12 nautical miles north to Sorrento or back into the Bay of Naples for an overnight that puts the yacht close to Naples for the disembarkation morning. This is the "compress logistics" choice and we use it for charter clients who want an early disembarkation breakfast and a 09:00 onward flight.
We default to play two for first-week-on-the-route charter clients and play one for repeat charter clients.
Total nautical miles: approximately 30 to 40 depending on play.
Day 7: disembark Naples
Reposition the final 6 to 12 nautical miles into Naples (Mergellina or Castellammare) for a 09:30 to 10:30 disembarkation. Charter weeks officially end at noon under the standard MYBA contract, but most charter clients prefer to be off the yacht by mid-morning to clear the airport in early afternoon. The captain will plan the final reposition to align with that.
Total nautical miles: 6 to 12.
The friction about the standard broker route
The standard broker route, in our experience, makes three mistakes the route above corrects.
The first mistake is overweighting Capri. Brokers default to two nights on a Marina Grande Capri berth because the dockage is photogenic and the principal will recognise the location. Two nights on a Capri dock is more dock time and less coast time than the route deserves, at a dockage cost that is the highest of any berth on the week.
The second mistake is overnighting in Amalfi town. The town is for a day-stop, not an overnight. Conca dei Marini, Li Galli, or Punta Campanella all sleep better.
The third mistake is the Day 6 default to "back to Capri for a final beach day". Capri on a Friday in August is the worst single anchorage day on the route. Day 6 should run east into quieter water or compress west toward Naples. Either of those works. A Capri redux does not.
What does not make the cut
We would pass on the Saturday Faraglioni anchorage. We would pass on the Marina Grande Capri overnight in peak. We would pass on the Amalfi-town-overnight in any week of July or August. We would pass on routing the yacht south of Salerno on a forecast that includes any meaningful southerly swell. We would pass on adding Ponza or the Pontine Islands to a 7-day Amalfi week (it is a route for a 10-day or longer charter, not a 7-day, see our Ponza and Aeolian week for the standalone route).
The 44m question
44m is not the only LOA that works on this route, but it is the LOA where the Amalfi Coast genuinely matches the platform. At 35m to 40m the yacht is the right size for Marina Grande Capri but the at-anchor stabiliser packages are inconsistent below 40m and the beach-club setup is compromised. At 50m to 60m the yacht still works, but Marina Grande Capri costs more, the Positano anchor swing room is tighter, and the smaller berths on the Sorrentine side become harder.
For 44m specifically, the route above plays to the platform's strengths and avoids the destinations and berths that punish the LOA.
The cost reality
A peak-season 7-day Amalfi week on a recent-build 44m motor yacht, all-in:
| Line | Range |
|---|---|
| Base charter rate (peak July/August, 7 days) | $260K to $400K |
| APA (30 to 35 percent) | $80K to $140K |
| Dockage (mix of anchorage and berthing as routed above) | $8K to $20K |
| Crew gratuity (10 to 15 percent of base) | $26K to $60K |
| Total all-in | $400K to $580K |
Shoulder season (May, June, late September, October) compresses the base rate to $200K to $320K per week and the all-in to roughly $310K to $470K. See our Amalfi shoulder-season analysis for the full month-by-month breakdown.
Where to verify before booking
Before signing the MYBA contract for a 44m Amalfi week with this route, verify with the central agent: the at-anchor stabiliser package on the specific yacht (not all 44m at-anchor systems are equivalent), the tender complement (a 44m needs at least one limousine tender of 8m+ for the Capri-Positano-Amalfi shore movements), the beach-club configuration, the captain's familiarity with the Amalfi-Sorrentine berths (a captain new to the coast will route conservatively and miss the better anchorages), and the chef's familiarity with the Italian provisioning chain, which is denser and less expensive than the French equivalent and changes the APA arithmetic.
For the matching destination context on shore stays, hotel recommendations, and the wider Amalfi pillar, see our Amalfi Coast charter pillar and the Amalfi Coast hotel guide on hotelsforkings.com. For the next route up the size band, see our Côte d'Azur 50m itinerary.
FAQ
How many nautical miles is the route? 145 to 180 across the week, depending on Day 6 choice. Average daily cruise time is under 90 minutes at 13 knots.
Does the route work in May? Yes, with the Day 6 weather caveat. May has the best rates and the lightest crowds. The Cilento play on Day 6 is more attractive in May than in August.
Does the route work for a sailing yacht? A 44m sailing yacht can run a similar shape but the Sorrentine and Cilento anchorages are more weather-sensitive on a sailing platform and the Amalfi-town buoy and dock options are more limited. A motor yacht is the better platform for this specific route.
Can the route extend by adding Ponza or the Aeolian Islands? Not in 7 days. A 10-day or 12-day route can include Ponza on the front end or the Aeolians on the back end. See our Ponza and Aeolian standalone route and our Sicily Aeolian charter route for those.
What is the worst day to be in Amalfi town on the dock? Saturday in August. Sunday morning is also bad for the harbour traffic. Conca dei Marini at anchor is the alternative we would always run.