Yacht Deckhand Salary 2024

To work on Yachts, one of the most appealing factors is the Yacht Deckhand salary you receive. The yacht deckhand salary 2024 is depending on a lot of factors. It is a variation of monthly salary, (that is not taxed) , bonuses, tips as well as leave packages for Deckhand positions. It is important to have an open mind when accepting the first Junior Deckhand job in order to build experience, boost your CV and get a better salary later in your career.

How much do you make working as a Yacht Deckhand?

1. Direct Yacht Deckhand Salary paid every month. Which is starting from 2500€/month depending on Yacht size, position and experience
2. Paid and accrued annual leave for your yacht Deckhand salary which is ranging from 40-180 days paid leave per year
3. Yacht Deckhand earn Tips which are ranging from 500€-2500€ depending on charter yacht and size and guests
4. Bonuses for yacht stewardesses paid by Owners or for longevity, this is usually something like 1 month’s extra salary paid annually for longevity or completing the season.

What is a starting salary for a Yacht Deckhand in 2024? 

Students that complete the yacht crew training through YachtieCareers and get a yacht job as a Deckhand, usually end up with a salary around 3000€/month.

The average salary for working as a Yacht Deckhand is 2500€-3200€ when getting the first job. But it can be more. Here is an example of a junior Deckhand that after training ended up with a Yacht Deckhand salary of 3200€/month on a 60m Yacht in Malta.

Example Junior Yacht Deckhand Salary

After the training week, we managed to get a B1/B2 visa and a job on a 60m Private/Charter Yacht for our student Salvatore.

After completing the Yachtiecareers Training week. And his first contract had the following terms.

• 60m Private/Charter Yacht.
• Undisclosed €/month.
• Contract with 6 weeks leave per year.

Factors that determine the Yacht Deckhand salaries in 2024 

The final yacht crew salary will be depending on many factors, such as if you are working in Europe or US and also the type of yacht, your experience and your position. Here are the key factors determining what your first yacht crew salary will be working on board:

1. Yacht Size

Usually, the larger the Yacht the higher stewardess salary you will earn. But this is not always true, it is a good generalization. But Yachts ranging 80-120m are usually the best paying once. There are of course exceptions where a 70m is paying a lot more than a 125m for a Yacht Deckhand.

2. Size of Exterior Department

Same as above. Especially a determining factor on charter Yachts, since the tips are divided amongst the crew, a larger number of crew will result in a smaller share of the tips. But keep in mind that a the larger the crew the larger the yacht and the more expensive it is to charter, resulting in higher tips.

3. Private or Charter

On a private yacht the salary is usually higher. For a starting position such as a Deckhand it is around 2500€/month. On a charter it is similar but sometimes lower than that. But on the Charter Yacht you will earn more yacht crew tips per week which will add to the salary.

4. Area of Sailing (Med/Caribbean/USA)

If you are receiving a yacht Deckhand salary paid in US and work in Florida and Caribbean in the past the salary range has been a bit higher. But now with a strong EUR working in the Med is starting to become the most lucrative option for getting the best Yacht crew salary.

5. Deckhand Experience on board

The more experience, skills and background education you have the higher your salary on boar will be. For a Deckhand with 5 year’s experience you can earn up to 9000€/month in a Chief Officer role:

• Tender Driving experience
• Diving
• Carpentry
• Painting
• Watersports
• Fishing
• Drone/video editing

For a Junior Deckhand without experience the starting salary can be only around the 2000€ mark. But as soon as you have a little bit extra background experience or skills it goes closer to 3000€/month in starting salary.

6. Position on board 

For Junior positions such as Deckhand, the starting salary range is 2000€-3800€/month.

For Medium rank positions such as Lead Deckhand/ Bosun/ Special skill watersports/Diving Deckhand the salary range is: 3200€-5500€ per month.

For high ranks such as positions as Chief Officer and OOW, the salary is from 6000€-12000€ / month.

For executive positions such as Captain the salary starts from 4000€ on a very small 20m Yacht and can range all the way up to 25000€ + on mega large yachts. In a senior yacht Deck position you also have 6 months paid leave per year in most large yachts and rotation.

Yacht Deckhand Salaries 2024 – Summary

Chief Officer – 6000€-12000€ per month is the salary for a Chief Officer on board Yachts with usually a rotational contract.

2^nd Officer – A 2^nd Officer Yacht salary on board Superyachts in 2024 starts from 4300€-5800€/ month. And it can be more with extra skills and experience.

Bosun – A Bosun salary on board Superyachts in 2024 starts from 4300€-5800€/ month. And it can be more with extra skills and experience.

Deckhand – A Deckhand salary on board Superyachts in 2024 starts from 2800€-3800€/ month. And it can be more with extra skills and experience.

Junior Stewardess – A Junior Deckhand salary on board Superyachts in 2024 starts from 2000€-3100€/ month. And it can be more with extra skills and experience.

How to start earning a Yacht Deckhand salary and become Yacht Crew ?

To start, you can simply join Yachtiecareers Yacht crew training to start working on yachts.

To become a Yacht Deckhand and get all STCW Basic Safety Training, Visas, Yacht CV and Seaman’s Discharge book you can book your training here and start working with a Yacht Crew salary go here:
Yacht Deckhand Training