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Pico & Faial

Boat charter from Horta

A small marina with a big reputation, and a channel that rewards having the boat to yourselves.

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A charter market that is small on purpose

Horta has been a transatlantic yacht stopover for generations — a painted quay, a harbour full of boats that arrived under sail, and a reputation out of all proportion to its size. What it does not have is a wall of charter offices. Supply here is small and specific: one business runs bareboat and skippered yachts from a Horta Marina base with its own fleet, and a day-sailing outfit runs day sails and sunset trips out of the harbour. That is the honest picture, and it is the reason a private day here needs arranging rather than booking off a shelf.

What you get for the money

A charter marketplace lists the average private day charter out of Horta at around €1,100 a day, with weekly bareboat yachts listed at roughly €2,400 to €3,400. Those are listing figures rather than quotes — season, boat, crew and length of day all move them — so what we send you is the business’s own price for your dates, with what is included written down before anything is committed.

Where the day goes

The channel is the point. Pico and Faial face each other across about 8 km of water, with the Pico coast on one side, Faial on the other and the volcanic western tip beyond. A private boat lets you take that at your own pace instead of a scheduled one, and lets you stop when something surfaces. If a scheduled coastal run suits better, the Capelinhos boat tour takes about 2.5 to 3 hours and needs at least 6 people aboard to sail.

The Atlantic decides

Every boat here holds the regional maritime-tourism operator licence, and every skipper answers to the same constraint: sea state, not rain, is what stops a day, and swell and wind cancellations happen in summer as well as winter, with May to October holding the calmest windows. The destination season runs May to September. When a charter stands down for weather, free rebooking or a full refund is the norm, on terms set by the business and confirmed in writing before anything is paid.

We are not the operator — we plan the day, arrange the boat and the skipper, and stay your one contact. Request availability with your dates and group, or read the Pico and Faial overview.

Good to know

What can you actually charter at Horta?
Less than at a Mediterranean marina, and that is worth knowing up front. Charter supply here is small and specific — one business runs bareboat and skippered yachts from a Horta Marina base with its own fleet, and a day-sailing outfit runs private day sails and sunset trips. Everything else on the water is a scheduled trip rather than a charter.
What does a private day cost?
A charter marketplace lists the average private day out of Horta at around eleven hundred euros a day, and weekly bareboat yachts are listed at roughly two thousand four hundred to three thousand four hundred euros. Those are listing figures rather than quotes, so we come back with the real number for your dates and boat.
Can we take a boat without a skipper?
Bareboat is available, but only if your qualifications and experience satisfy the charter business — and this is exposed Atlantic water rather than a sheltered bay. For most groups the skippered day is the better version anyway, because local knowledge is most of what makes the day work here.
Where do you actually go on a day charter?
The Faial-Pico channel is the natural playground — the Pico coast on one side, the Faial coast on the other, and the western end of Faial toward the Capelinhos ash fields. The route gets decided on the morning by the skipper, based on wind and swell, not by a brochure.

Request charter options

Tell us the dates and the kind of day you have in mind. A real person checks availability directly with the local skipper, guide, chef or driver and replies with honest options and prices. Nothing is booked until you confirm.

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