MYBA Charter Show 2027

For four days every spring, a working marina on the Italian Riviera becomes the centre of the Mediterranean charter industry. The MYBA Charter Show — organised by the Mediterranean Yacht Brokers Association (MYBA) and running annually since 1989 — is the moment the world's leading charter brokers gather to view the Western Mediterranean fleet ahead of the summer season. Around 60–90 charter yachts, ranging from 20-metre sailing yachts to 80-metre superyachts, open their hatches across four days; the year's new launches make their Mediterranean debuts; and the Concours des Chefs that closes the show is among the most decorated chef competitions in international charter.

The 2027 edition takes place across late April or early May 2027 at Portosole Sanremo on the western Italian Riviera (exact dates and final venue confirmed by MYBA each autumn — the show has rotated between Italian and Spanish ports over the years, with the most recent editions held in Sanremo). The show traditionally runs from a Monday through a Thursday, with the chef competition awards and the closing reception on the final two days. As with the Antigua Charter Yacht Show in December and the Mediterranean Yacht Show in Nafplio, MYBA Charter Show access is strictly trade-only — brokers, charter managers, and accredited industry guests. Charter clients themselves do not attend in person.

That is the part of the event that often surprises clients researching it for the first time, so the page below explains what you actually need to know: why this show matters for your Mediterranean charter even though you don't attend, when to book a season slot relative to the show calendar, where the Western Mediterranean charter market actually operates from, and how an Italian or French-Riviera charter works in practice — whether for a single week in Portofino and the Cinque Terre or as the start of a longer Mediterranean itinerary running through Cannes, Saint-Tropez, and Corsica.

The MYBA Charter Show is a trade event in the strict sense: closed to the public, accredited MYBA-member brokers and crews only, no consumer entry tickets. That structure exists because the show is fundamentally a working week — the world's leading charter brokers walking through seventy or eighty yachts in four days, comparing crews, kitchens, layouts, and itineraries, and forming the working knowledge they'll spend the next six months recommending from. The brokerage market for the entire Western Mediterranean charter season — May through October — is calibrated on this one week at Portosole Sanremo.

For a client booking a Mediterranean charter, this matters in three practical ways. First, the fleet you'll have access to is the fleet seen at the show. Yachts that present at MYBA are, by definition, available for Mediterranean charter that season; yachts that don't are usually committed to Caribbean re-positioning, in refit, or operating on private terms outside the MYBA charter ecosystem. Your broker's first-hand notes from Sanremo are the difference between matching you to the right yacht and matching you to whatever is closest to your dates.

Second, the show is where Mediterranean-flagged crews and chefs are evaluated alongside the boats. The Concours des Chefs — MYBA's chef competition — is run in genuine seriousness, with the winning yacht typically booking out at premium rates within weeks of the awards being announced. Crew quality varies more widely in the Mediterranean fleet than buyers sometimes realise; the show is where that intelligence is surfaced. Boatcrowd's brokerage team attends MYBA each year — Mediterranean-charter recommendations from our side carry that first-hand assessment behind them.

Third, the show is when Mediterranean charter pricing for the coming summer effectively settles. Yachts that present strongly hold their rates; yachts that don't may negotiate. The week immediately after the show closes is the single highest-velocity brokerage period of the Mediterranean year. Clients booking through brokers who attend MYBA benefit from that intelligence directly, even though they never set foot in Sanremo during the show itself.

Mediterranean charter timing follows the summer rhythm. The season opens in early May as crews finish winter refit; the MYBA Charter Show in late April or early May functions as the formal industry opening; and the season runs through to late October as boats begin repositioning to winter berths in the Caribbean, the Eastern Mediterranean, or Italian refit yards.

A reasonable timeline for the 2027 Mediterranean season:

• July and August peak weeks: The most heavily booked weeks of the Mediterranean year. The best yachts at the prime French Riviera and Italian Riviera ports are typically committed by the previous September or October — twelve months out. Costa Smeralda and Saint-Tropez peak-week inventory disappears earliest.
• Mid-June and early September: The shoulder weeks. Strong availability, slightly lower rates, and arguably the best cruising weather of the year — long days, warm water, fewer crowds in the headline anchorages. Many experienced Mediterranean charter clients prefer these weeks to peak summer.
• May and late September / October: Beginning and end of season. Excellent value, with the trade-off of cooler water and some beach clubs beginning to close in the smaller anchorages. Particularly strong for clients prioritising cruising over swimming.
• Cannes Film Festival, Monaco GP, and Cannes Lions: The Riviera's three concentrated demand events — mid-May, early June, and late June respectively. Inventory committed to these events books out earliest and at the highest rate premiums.

The Western Mediterranean has the deepest charter market in the world. Most yachts winter in the French and Italian Riviera ports between Saint-Tropez and La Spezia, with summer cruising radiating out to Corsica, Sardinia, the Amalfi Coast, and the Balearic Islands. Understanding which marina works for your itinerary — and which one MYBA Charter Show inventory actually ends up at after the show — is the single most useful piece of planning context.

Port Vauban — Antibes, French Riviera

The largest yacht marina on the French Riviera and the home base for a substantial share of the Mediterranean charter fleet. Port Vauban handles superyachts to 165 metres on its deep-water IYCA pontoon; most charter yachts repositioning from Sanremo after the MYBA show end up here within twenty-four hours of the show closing — Antibes sits roughly 60 nautical miles west of Portosole. Antibes itself has the strongest brokerage and crew-services infrastructure on the French Riviera and is the natural embarkation point for French Riviera and Corsican charters.

Portosole Sanremo — Italian Riviera

MYBA's recent host port and the westernmost full-service superyacht marina on the Italian Riviera, sitting only a short hop from the French border. Portosole handles yachts to 90+ metres and runs a continuous brokerage and refit programme alongside its charter operations. After the show, some yachts continue working out of Sanremo for the early-summer Italian Riviera season; most reposition west to the French Riviera or east to Portofino, La Spezia, and onward to Costa Smeralda and the Amalfi Coast.

Marina di Portofino & Marina di Loano — Italian Riviera

The two natural Italian Riviera cruising hubs that bracket the wider region — Portofino sits east of Genoa, Loano sits between Genoa and Sanremo. Marina di Portofino is tiny — only 14 berths in the village harbour itself — and reservations need to be made months in advance, but the cluster of moorings just outside the harbour absorbs most charter traffic. Marina di Loano, closer to the French border, is a larger, more practical embarkation point for charters working the Italian Riviera through to Saint-Tropez.

Porto Cervo & Cala di Volpe — Costa Smeralda, Sardinia

The defining Italian charter destination of the summer. Porto Cervo (or specifically Marina di Porto Cervo) is the most prestigious marina in the Mediterranean by some measures — its summer rates and waiting lists are unmatched. Most Costa Smeralda charters embark from either Porto Cervo or the smaller Cala di Volpe nearby; the cruising radius opens up to the Maddalena Archipelago, Corsica, and the southern Sardinian coast.

Naples & Capri — Amalfi Coast

The Amalfi Coast's charter market operates from Naples (the practical embarkation port) and the smaller Capri harbours (where most cruising itineraries spend their first or last night). Charter yachts in the 30–60m range typically work Capri, Positano, Amalfi, and Ischia across a seven-night programme; smaller yachts and catamarans add Procida and Ponza.

Port Hercule — Monaco

For charters built around the Monaco Grand Prix (early June) or the Monaco Yacht Show (late September), basing the yacht in Port Hercule from the start is the natural choice. Across the rest of the summer, most clients use Monaco as a stop on a wider French Riviera itinerary rather than as the embarkation port.

For most charter clients, the MYBA Charter Show is interesting because of what it tells the brokerage market about the summer ahead — not because of the show itself. What matters is what a Mediterranean charter season actually delivers: thousands of kilometres of coastline, dozens of distinct cruising regions, and the most concentrated cluster of headline anchorages in the world.

• The French Riviera classics. Cannes, Antibes, Cap Ferrat, Saint-Tropez. A standard week from Antibes typically anchors off Pampelonne, in Villefranche Bay, off the Lérins Islands, and at Cap Ferrat — with a Monaco day-stop or two on the longer charters. Saint-Tropez in late June or early July is at its peak; the off-season weeks either side are arguably more enjoyable.
• The Italian Riviera and Cinque Terre. Portofino is the headline destination; the Cinque Terre villages (Vernazza, Monterosso, Manarola, Corniglia, Riomaggiore) sit a half-day's cruise south. Most clients also include Camogli, Santa Margherita, and Lerici on a one-week Italian Riviera charter.
• Costa Smeralda and the Maddalena. Sardinia's north coast at its summer peak — Porto Cervo, Cala di Volpe, Spiaggia del Principe, the long sweep of the Maddalena Archipelago between Sardinia and Corsica. The most expensive Italian charter region but consistently the most spectacular.
• The Amalfi Coast and Capri. Naples to Positano to Amalfi to Capri to Ischia, with anchorage at Marina Piccola and lunches at Da Paolino under the lemon trees. A different rhythm from the Riviera — slower, more dramatic, more vertical.
• Corsica. Bonifacio's clifftop harbour, the Lavezzi Islands, the western coastline north to Calvi. The natural cruising bridge between Sardinia and the French Riviera; many week-long charters include a Corsica overnight.
• The Balearics. Mallorca, Ibiza, Formentera. A longer cruise from the Italian and French Riviera (typically two days each way) but the natural extension for clients wanting Spanish-coast cruising as part of a Western Mediterranean charter.

The Western Mediterranean charter market has the most decorated restaurant ecosystem of any cruising region in the world. The Italian Riviera, Côte d'Azur, and Amalfi Coast between them hold dozens of Michelin-starred rooms; the headline names below are the ones most charter clients build their itinerary around. Reservations during peak season need to be made at the time of charter booking; your charter team's concierge handles this as part of the service.

The Mediterranean charter season runs on aperitivos, sundowner cocktails, and post-dinner liqueurs. The bars below are the standing institutions across the Western Mediterranean charter circuit; brand-sponsored pop-ups at the headline hotels rotate each summer.

The Western Mediterranean summer nightlife scene is concentrated in a small number of headline venues — most of which sit on or near the headline charter routes. The list below covers the institutions; the brand-sponsored party calendar (most prominently around Cannes Film Festival in May and Cannes Lions in June) rotates each year.

• Les Caves du Roy. Saint-Tropez's defining nightclub, in the basement of the Byblos Hotel. The Caves has been the Riviera's most exclusive club since 1967 and remains so — table reservations from late June through August book months in advance through the hotel concierge or your charter team.
• Billionaire Sardinia. Flavio Briatore's Porto Cervo flagship — the defining Costa Smeralda nightclub of the summer. Open from late June through September; the dress code is strict and the door policy reflects the name.
• VIP Room Saint-Tropez. The Saint-Tropez branch of Jean Roch's international VIP Room franchise. More accessible than Les Caves du Roy, equally late, and the natural Friday- and Saturday-night destination for charter clients of all ages.
• Anema e Core. Capri's enduring late-night institution — a tavernetta in the old town that runs live music and a singalong programme from midnight to dawn, with a celebrity-spotting tradition that goes back fifty years. Reservations are essential; the door policy is informal but firm.
• Cannes Bâoli and Riviera season clubs. Bâoli in Cannes (a year-round institution but at peak through festival week and summer), Pacha at Antibes Plage, and the various Saint-Tropez beach-club after-parties (Loulou, Verde, Bagatelle) run the headline Riviera summer nightlife programme.

Because the MYBA Charter Show is a trade event with no consumer attendance, there is no charter-rate premium attached to the show week itself. Charter pricing in the Western Mediterranean follows the standard summer-season rhythm — July and August are the headline premium weeks, June and September are the secondary peak, and May and October run at standard or below-standard rates. The Western Mediterranean is structurally the most expensive charter region in the world — French Riviera and Costa Smeralda rates routinely exceed equivalent yachts in any other market.

Mediterranean charters include the yacht, full professional crew (captain, mate, chef, full stewardess and deck team), comprehensive insurance, and use of all on-board equipment and tenders. Most charters include the marina berth at Antibes, Porto Cervo, or whichever port serves the embarkation and disembarkation nights; longer charters operate on anchorage for most of the week.

Additional costs are APA (typically 30–35% of the charter rate, covering fuel, food, beverages, and dockage), French or Italian VAT (rates vary by yacht flag and itinerary — typically 20% on French-flagged charters in French waters, 22% on Italian-flagged charters in Italian waters), and a recommended crew gratuity of 10–15% paid at the end of the charter. Marina berthing premiums apply for specific positions — Porto Cervo's prime berths and the French Riviera headline marinas command additional surcharges over standard included rates.

The Western Mediterranean's three concentrated event weeks — Cannes Film Festival in May, Monaco Grand Prix in early June, and Cannes Lions in late June — carry their own rate premiums on top of the standard summer schedule. Yachts committed to those events typically book at 2–5× the standard high-season rate for the relevant week. Outside those three event windows, Mediterranean rates follow the standard seasonal pattern above.