Yacht Week vs Sail Week: Which Is Better?
Yacht Week and Sail Week Croatia are both well-established travel companies offering various sailing routes around Croatia. This article is a side-by-side comparison of the two.
As a former yacht crew member, I get asked two questions pretty often:
1️⃣ First, is working on a superyacht really like what you see on Below Deck?
2️⃣ What’s the difference between The Yacht Week and Sail Week Croatia?
The Yacht Week, the original company in this space, essentially invented this type of holiday. And Sail Week offers excellent value for money.
They both provide instagramable opportunities at every turn, and the best option for you will depend on your individual needs.
Let’s get started with what set’s these brands apart!
The Yacht Week is heavily focused on the party and music festival crowd. Their website offers a tasty selection of floating festivals and unique events by partnering with festival organisers and record labels.
If you are looking for remote island shenanigans soundtracked by some of the world’s best underground DJs, then The Yacht Week is a solid choice.
Sail Week is an ABTA member in the UK, and they offer financial protection on all their travel products. They strongly emphasise creating a memorable party atmosphere but with the added twist of offering chic excursions to sweeten the deal.
⚖️ Product Range Comparison
A few sailing routes can be compared directly, and they are in Croatia and Greece. However, for the sake of this article, I have only compared routes that are similar to each other.
The Yacht Week (TYW) Sailing Route Range
The Yacht Week features eight different sail routes for you to choose from. All of The Yacht Week routes are listed below:
- Drumcode
- Hot Creations
- Original Route
- Athens Route, Greece
- Ultra Festival Route
- Hideout Festival Route
- Tahiti Route, Polynesia
- BVI Route, Caribbean
All the routes last for 7 days (6 nights), keeping with the mantra ‘yacht week’. The majority of the routes are in Croatia, and they follow the same itinerary except for the Hideout Festival route.
The Hideout Festival route begins and ends near the seaside city of Zadar. In comparison, the other Croatian routes start and finish in the town of Split.
Sail Week Croatia Sailing Route Range
All these routes last an entire week, and there 6 to choose from depending on if you want to party flat out or find a more balanced vibe. They can be seen below:
The Party Route and Ultra Route are party-focused routes. And the balanced vibes are on the Dubrovnik, Athens and Montenegro routes.
Route Range Winner – The Yacht Week
📦 Package Comparison
Both brands have similar package options. However, the most significant difference is that Sail Week offers a Bring Your Own Booze (BYOB) option, which considerably impacts the price you pay for a given package.
The Yacht Week Packages
You can select from 4 different package types, namely:
- Classic
- Premium
- Luxury
- Build your own
Classic
Monohull (43-46ft); Capacity 9 (4 cabins)
Monohull(47 – 60ft); Capacity 10(5 cabins)
Luxury
Catamaran(40-45ft); Capacity 10(4 cabins)
The difference is the type of yacht your money gets you here. Classic packages offer monohull yachts in the 43-46ft range, and Luxury packages afford you access to catamarans in the 40-45ft range.
The luxury packages also include all the amenities available like air-conditioning, a host and half board meals. You can add a host and air-conditioning to the Build Your Own package.
Sail Week Croatia Packages
The options are below:
- Standard
- Premium
- Deluxe Catamaran
- Full Yacht (ideal for larger groups)
Standard
Monohull (43-50ft); Capacity 8-10 (4-5 cabins)
Monohull (43-50ft); Capacity 8-10 (4-5 cabins); Built 2016+
Deluxe
Catamaran(40-45ft); Capacity 8(4 cabins)
The standard packages get you a cabin on a monohull yacht in the 43-50ft range. Unfortunately, there is no option to add amenities like air-conditioning or a host to these packages.
The Deluxe Catamaran offers air-conditioning, a host, food package, and half-board included. The yacht size is in the 40-45ft range.
If you are a group, you can select between monohull or catamarans when using the Full Yacht Package with the option to add any of the Sail Week amenities.
Package Option Winner – Tie
🏝️ Route Comparison
*To compare apples to apples, this article will focus on similar routes between the two brands. First up is the flagship routes of each brand, namely; Original Route (TYW) vs the Party Route (SWC). Followed by both Athens Routes.
Original Route vs Party Route
TYW – Original Route
The direction of sailing/travel for the week is: Trogir > Bol > Natural Bay > Hvar > Vis > Trogir.
There are 10 weeks that this route runs, beginning on the last weekend of May and ending in mid-September.
Prices for peak summer (July) are considerably more than the end of the season (September), which is to be expected due to the demand.
You can select from 4 different package types: classic, premium, luxury, or BYO.
It’s hard to beat this route if you are looking for a party. The week lineup is simply jam-packed, and nobody does this better than The Yacht Week.
For your money, you’ll get an array of party shenanigans to experience:
- Opening party in Trogir
- Circle rafts floating festival
- Dockside disco at Fort George
- Buzz Boat party (a boat with DJ booth and Void Acoustics)
- Carpe Diem party in Hvar
- Tunnel raft party (like you see in the videos)
- Headline DJs, including the like of Claptone and Gorgon City
Add in seaside yoga sessions, a castle hike in Hvar and even convertible VW Beetle exploring in Vis, and you have more than enough to keep you entertained for an entire week.
Yacht Week prides itself on being able to throw the best parties you’re likely to experience, and it makes them different in this regard from Sail Week Croatia.
SWC – Party Route
The direction of sailing/travel for the week is: Split > Supetar > Makarska > Bol > Vis > Vinogradisce Bay > Hvar > Split.
This route has 13 different weeks for you to choose between. For example, beginning the first week of June and ending the first week of September.
Each week, you can choose different packages depending on your budget or group size. The package options are:
- Standard
- Premium
- Deluxe Catamaran
- Full Yacht (ideal for larger groups)
The party atmosphere is also up there with the best, and you can expect everything from cave parties & beach parties to the infamous circle raft floating festival in the busiest weeks.
What makes Sail Week different from Yacht Week is the diversity of extra activities they offer. Everything from Sky Diving to Fly Boarding is an option for you, although not included in your package price.
Flagship Route Winner – The Yacht Week
Athens Route (TYW) vs Athens Route (SWC.)
TYW
The direction of sailing/travel for the week is: Athens > Poros > Porto Heli > Ermioni > Natural Bay > Hydra > Athens.
You can choose from 10 available weeks from the end of May until the first week of September. This route begins and ends in Athens, where you will get to visit the Acropolis overlooking the city below.
There is a good dose of partying thrown in with the infamous Yacht Week circle raft (think boutique floating festival), day parties at Cavo Bianco, and beach parties on sandy beaches, complete with cocktail-sipping DJs.
In addition, there are wellness elements to enjoy in the form of sunset hikes and water volleyball to keep the hangover at bay.
The emerald waters of the Greek islands are famed for their marine wildlife, so dolphin spotting is almost certainly something you can bank on.
SWC
The direction of sailing/travel for the week is: Athens > Agistri > Hydra > Ermioni > Spetses > Dokos > Poros > Athens.
In total, there are 14 allotted weeks available, and they start in June and run through until the middle of September.
The focus of this route is more toward the activity side, with the option to do stand up paddle boarding, wine tasting, quad biking, hiking and even donkey riding if you desire.
There is nightlife and partying on the islands you visit, but these are not organised by Sail Week, unlike Yacht Week on this same route.
If you are looking for hidden gems in the Greek archipelago, then this route will delight you with secluded coves, charming villages and unique coastal pine forests to explore.
Atehns Route Winner – TYW
💸 Price Comparison
Okay, so here we are at the all-important price comparison of the two. For simplicity sake, I’ve compared apples to apples again and taken the first week of August (6th-13th) for the Original Route (TYW) and the Party Route (SWC) and staked them side-by-side.
To keep it as balanced as possible, I’ve further compared each of their package tiers, and prices are per person (p.p)
TYW
- Classic – €1000 p.p
- Premium – €1725 p.p
- Luxury – €2360 p.p
For the build your own package, the yacht selected was a 50ft Catamaran for a group of 10 people – a total of €2919 p.p (host and skipper included).
SWC
Local payment of 600 Croatian Kuna (~€80) per person applies to all bookings.
- Standard – €826 p.p
- Premium – €1058 p.p
- Deluxe – €1490 p.p
For the build your own package, the yacht selected was a 50ft Catamaran for a group of 10 people – a total of €2413 p.p (host and skipper included).
Winner – Sail Week
🏆 Overall Winner
This Yacht Week vs Sail Week review demonstrates that The Yacht Week is the superior party holiday week due to its strong following and 15-years of experience.
TYW features more unforgettable parties and world-class DJs than any of its competitors. But, those factors also make TYW significantly more expensive.
Both premium brands provide similar experiences, and SWC is an excellent choice for fun-seeking revellers on a stricter budget. Their mix of parties and chic extra activities offers fantastic value when considering their premium options.
You could argue that you get better value for your money with Sail Week from the fact it’s 7 days & nights, as opposed to Yacht Week’s 6 nights.
Both are aimed at those who love travel and music festivals. The Croatian music festival scene is well renowned in Europe. With the option of these floating festivals, it is now truly world-class.
