A girls' trip is honestly one of my favourite days of the whole season, and it almost always lands on the same realisation: the private boat is the answer, not the party boat. Here's the honest case for doing it on your own boat — and how to make the day the one everyone's still posting about a month later.
Private Beats A Party Boat — Every Time
A shared party boat means strangers, someone else's playlist, someone else's schedule, and a hundred phones that aren't yours. A private charter means it's just your group. Your music, your pace, your people, your inside jokes — and a skipper quietly making the whole thing run while you don't lift a finger. For a celebration that actually matters, privacy isn't a luxury, it's the entire point. You're not sharing the day with anyone you didn't invite.
Go Bigger Than You Think
This is the one place I'll happily nudge you up the fleet, because it genuinely makes the day. For a group celebration the cruiser yachts are made for exactly this — the Mercan 35, the Enzo, the Colnago 45. Space to lie out in the sun, proper sunpads, shade when you want it, room to move around and actually be together rather than crammed shoulder to shoulder shouting over an engine. It's the difference between "we went on a boat" and "oh my god, that day on the boat." And yes — it photographs absolutely beautifully, and there's no shame in admitting that matters. These are the photos that end up framed.
The maths is kinder than you'd guess. A cruiser split across ten or twelve of you often works out around €110–€135 each for the entire day — less than a nice dinner, for what tends to become the best day of the trip.
Drinks, Music And The Bits That Make It
Bring your own prosecco, your own speaker, your own everything. The skipper handles the boat, so nobody's stuck being the designated driver and nobody's stressing about anything. We anchor in quiet, magic little coves for swimming — the clear, calm, away-from-the-crowds kind — and you set the entire tone of the day. Chilled and sun-drunk, lively and loud, or somewhere in between. It's your boat. It moves at your speed.
Hen Dos And Big Birthdays
Bachelorette, milestone birthday, reunion, or just because you're all finally in the same place at the same time — this is the format that works. Tell me what the occasion is and I'll factor it in quietly. People want to know it's sorted properly, and on a private boat it genuinely is: no licence to worry about, no logistics to wrangle, no surprises. You turn up, you step on, the day takes care of you.
Time It For Sunset
The day runs to 6 PM, and the golden-hour cruise back into Hvar is the moment everyone goes quiet and reaches for their cameras. If your group wants the day to peak on a high note, that's it — warm, happy, salty, the light turning everything gold over the water, Hvar's old town glowing as you come in. It's a hard thing to beat, and it's the note you want the day to end on.
The Stuff Groups Actually Ask
A few practical ones, because I get them every week. Yes, the cruisers have a proper toilet on board, so that worry's off the table. Yes, there's shade as well as sun, so the ones who burn and the ones who worship the sun are both sorted. Yes, you can arrange catering or a platter if you'd rather not haul it yourselves — just give me a little notice. And getting everyone down to the harbour for 10 is genuinely the only organising you have to do; after that, the day is handled. That's the whole point of going private — the logistics stop being your problem the second you step aboard.
What To Bring
Swimwear, a towel, sun cream, a speaker, and whatever drinks and snacks make your group happy. Leave anything you'd be heartbroken to lose on land — rings and the sea don't mix. Beyond that, just bring the right people. The boat does the rest.
Planning The Trip?
Send me your dates and how many of you there are and I'll sort the perfect boat for the day.
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