This page contains affiliate and referral links. If you charter, book, or buy through them we earn a referral fee, paid by the broker or platform, at no cost to you. We have not adjusted our rankings for the referral rate. Full breakdown on our how-we-make-money page.
A 50 to 60m yacht visiting the Cayman Islands through the 2026 winter (mid-December to mid-April) runs $315,000 to $470,000 per week plus 30 percent APA, takes 10 to 12 guests across 6 cabins, and carries 14 to 17 crew. The Cayman Islands at this LOA is a port-of-call inside a wider western-Caribbean rotation, not a resident weekly base. The bracket clears entry through George Town and runs the Royal Watler quay for the brief commercial berth, with the Seven Mile Beach roadstead and Spotts anchorage handling the at-anchor pattern. Stingray City on the North Sound is the bracket's signature daylight call, with the Wall diving wall on the western face and Bloody Bay on Little Cayman holding the dive-window extension. Owen Roberts (GCM) airport on Grand Cayman handles the structural fixed-wing arrival. Roughly 3 to 6 yachts in this LOA pass through Cayman in a typical February week, primarily as a one or two-night port stop within a Mexico-to-Bahamas or Cuba-to-Jamaica rotation.
Why the bracket treats Cayman as a port-of-call
The Cayman Islands Yacht Club at Yacht Drive Marina runs a 25 to 30 metre structural ceiling on the inner basin and the 50 to 60m bracket runs no allocation on the marina line at all. Camana Bay marina on the eastern face of Seven Mile Beach handles smaller charter tonnage on the inner basin but the upper bracket clears at the channel approach only. The Royal Watler cruise quay at George Town is the structural commercial berth that handles the bracket on prior Port Authority of the Cayman Islands (PACI) agency confirmation, with the berth typically held for the brief daylight clearance plus the Stingray City daylight programme rather than overnight.
The 7 Mile Beach roadstead on the western lee of Grand Cayman holds the bracket at anchor in 7 to 11 metres of sand, with the captain's prior bench on the PACI mooring guidance and the marine park no-anchor zones on the inner reef line. The Spotts Bay anchorage on the southern coast holds the easterly-swell alternative, and the Cayman Brac and Little Cayman anchorages on the dive-window extension run as outer overnights for the upper-end shore programme.
The western-Caribbean rotation context. The bracket runs the Cayman call as the western leg of a wider Bahamas-to-Cuba-to-Jamaica or Mexico-to-Belize-to-Cayman programme, with the customs clearance through George Town and the 4 to 6 day repositioning legs structuring the calendar. The bracket does not run a 7-night Cayman-only week because the anchorage variety exhausts inside 48 hours.
Weekly rate map for winter 2026
Rates below are peak season (mid-December 2026 to mid-April 2027), before APA at 28 to 32 percent and crew gratuity at 10 to 15 percent. The Cayman call inside a wider rotation books at the corresponding base rate (typically the BVI, Bahamas, or eastern Caribbean bracket figure) plus the repositioning fuel through the APA. The rates below reference the prevailing 50 to 60m winter pool that includes a Cayman daylight call inside the programme.
| LOA bracket | Motor yacht (low to high) | Sailing yacht and motor-sailor (low to high) |
|---|---|---|
| 50 to 53m | $315K to $365K per week | $260K to $310K per week |
| 53 to 57m | $360K to $420K per week | $300K to $360K per week |
| 57 to 60m | $405K to $470K per week | $340K to $395K per week |
The Christmas and New Year window runs a 35 to 55 percent premium against the central January figure and pulls the bracket east to the BVI or St Barths rotation rather than west to Cayman. Cayman is structurally a January, February, and March destination for the bracket, with the November shoulder and the May repositioning leg the value windows. For broader context see Caribbean charter weekly rates and the 40-50m Cayman Islands bracket.
What is in the bracket in this bracket
Cabins. Six standard. The transient western-Caribbean pool at the bracket runs the on-deck master plus VIP plus four guest doubles as the layout.
Crew. Fourteen to seventeen. The Cayman call rewards a captain bench with prior PACI port agency tenure, the Royal Watler quay clearance routine, and the Stingray City daylight programme with the Department of Environment compliance line. The chef bench is calibrated to the western-Caribbean transient pool, and the Camana Bay restock chain runs through prior provisioning agents on 48 to 72 hour lead time.
Tenders. Primary 11 to 12m fast tender plus a 7 to 8m beach tender plus a chase boat. The Stingray City sandbar runs heavy tender shuttles because the yacht holds outside the North Sound, and the Bloody Bay dive window on Little Cayman runs the secondary tender as the dive-platform shuttle.
At-anchor stabilizers. Required. The Seven Mile roadstead takes winter west-swell episodes 4 to 6 times per season and the Spotts Bay easterly-swell alternative carries the trade-wind chop. The 2018-and-newer hulls running the zero-speed product hold the bracket fit.
Helipad. Cat A useful at the upper end. The Owen Roberts (GCM) airport 5 minute road transit holds the road-transfer pattern as the bracket norm, with the helicopter leg holding for the Cayman Brac and Little Cayman cross-island shuttle at the upper end.
Trip shape that fits the bracket
The bracket's Cayman call sits inside a wider 10 to 14 night western-Caribbean rotation rather than a standalone week. The signature shape is the Bahamas to Cayman to Cuba 14-night, embarking Nassau or Exuma, running southwest through Long Island and Inagua, clearing Cayman through George Town for the Stingray City daylight programme and a Seven Mile Beach overnight, repositioning to Cienfuegos or Maria la Gorda inside the Cuba bracket, and disembarking at Havana on the captain's prior US OFAC and Cuban port-of-entry filing. The Cayman portion runs 2 to 3 nights inside the rotation.
The Mexico to Belize to Cayman 12-night runs Isla Mujeres or Cozumel embarkation, two nights at Banco Chinchorro, three nights at the Belize Barrier Reef and Glover's Reef, then a 16 to 20 hour transit east to Cayman for the Royal Watler clearance and the Stingray City plus the Wall daylight programme, returning west to Isla Mujeres for the disembark. The Cayman portion runs 2 to 4 nights inside the rotation.
The standalone 7-night Cayman week is not a bracket-fit programme. The anchorage variety exhausts inside 48 hours and the daylight rotation runs the same Stingray City, the Wall, and the Bloody Bay programme on day three that ran on day one. Charter clients booking a Cayman-only week at the 50 to 60m bracket are misreading the geography.
What we would pass on
The Cayman-only 7-night week at the bracket. The anchorage variety does not support it and the programme reads thin from day three. We would pass on any broker representation of a 50 to 60m Cayman-only week and position the western-Caribbean 10 to 14 night rotation as the only bracket-fit shape.
Yachts marketed for the Cayman call without current PACI port agency tenure on the captain's sheet. The Royal Watler quay clearance and the Stingray City Department of Environment compliance are agency-mediated and the bracket-fit captain holds the prior bench in writing. We would pass on a Cayman daylight call booked without the agency confirmation 4 to 6 weeks ahead.
The Cayman call without the US OFAC and Cuban port-of-entry standing pre-filed for the wider rotation. The Cayman-Cuba and the Cayman-Jamaica corridors run through dual customs and the captain's prior filing is the binding constraint on the routing. We would pass on a charter that books the Cayman call without the corridor paperwork already in place at contract.
Two we would book
For two couples, 12-night Mexico to Belize to Cayman rotation in mid-February with Isla Mujeres embarkation, three nights at the Belize Barrier Reef and Glover's Reef, three nights at Cayman with the Stingray City and Bloody Bay programme, return Isla Mujeres: a 53 to 55m motor yacht, 6 cabins, twin tenders plus chase boat, captain bench on the PACI Royal Watler clearance and the Department of Environment Stingray City compliance. Budget $375K per week, all-in roughly $500K including APA at 30 percent. Lead time 8 to 11 months.
For a family of 10, 14-night Bahamas to Cayman to Cuba rotation in early March with Exuma embarkation, southwest through Long Island, three nights at Cayman, four nights at Cienfuegos and Maria la Gorda, Havana disembark: a 56 to 58m motor yacht, 6 cabins, Cat A helipad useful for the Cayman Brac and Little Cayman shuttle, captain bench on the OFAC and Cuban port-of-entry filing. Budget $440K per week, all-in roughly $590K. Lead time 12 to 16 months.
Inventory
The live 50 to 60m western-Caribbean rotation inventory updates weekly through the winter season.. For broker-side inquiry, see the brokers pillar and the Caribbean charter weekly rates report.