USA Itineraries: Multi-Day Yacht Routes Across the United States
The United States rewards both the short getaway and the extended voyage. The itineraries below are designed so that a guest looking at the 3-day and 4-day routes from any region can stitch them together into a 7-day charter without repeating a single port or anchorage. Every itinerary is fully customisable – your Boatcrowd charter specialist and onboard captain will tailor stops, pacing and activities to your group’s interests and the conditions on the day.
3-Day USA Yacht Charter Itinerary: Miami, Bimini and the Gulf Stream
Day 1: Miami to Bimini, Bahamas
Board your yacht at Island Gardens Deep Harbour or Miami Beach Marina by mid-morning. After a welcome briefing and champagne toast on the flybridge, cruise east across the Gulf Stream toward Bimini – 48 nautical miles, roughly two and a half hours at cruising speed. You’ll feel the water temperature change as you cross the Stream’s deep-blue current. Clear Bahamas customs at the Bimini port of entry and anchor in the sheltered harbour. Spend the afternoon snorkelling the shallow reef off Radio Beach, where nurse sharks glide over the sandy bottom and sea turtles graze on turtle grass. Your chef prepares a Bahamian-inspired dinner on the aft deck – cracked conch, grilled mahi-mahi and coconut rice – as the sun sets over the Bahamas.
Day 2: Bimini Beach Day and Exploration
Wake to the sound of lapping waves and warm turquoise water stretching to the horizon. Spend the morning at Bimini’s famed sandbars – shallow, crystal-clear pools where your crew sets up a floating bar and water toys. Paddleboard across to South Bimini for a walk through the mangrove trails, or try your hand at bonefishing on the flats (Bimini is one of the world’s premier fly-fishing destinations). After a long, lazy lunch on the aft deck, cruise to the Sapona wreck – a concrete ship run aground in 1926 during a hurricane, now a popular snorkel spot in just 1.5 metres of water, encrusted with coral and teeming with tropical fish. Sundowners on the flybridge as the sky turns from gold to violet.
Day 3: Bimini to Miami via Key Biscayne
Depart Bimini at first light for the return crossing, arriving on the Florida coast by mid-morning. Rather than heading straight to the marina, your captain turns south into Biscayne Bay and anchors off Stiltsville – a collection of colourful wooden houses built on stilts a mile offshore in the 1930s, now part of Biscayne National Park and one of Miami’s most photographed landmarks. Swim beneath the structures, snorkel over the nearby patch reef, and enjoy a farewell gourmet lunch on the aft deck with Miami’s skyline as the backdrop. Cruise back to the marina by mid-afternoon, bronzed and thoroughly spoilt.
4-Day USA Yacht Charter Itinerary: The Florida Keys
Day 1: Miami to Key Largo
Board at Miami Beach Marina by mid-morning and cruise south through the calm, protected waters of Biscayne Bay. Pass the mangrove-fringed shores of Biscayne National Park and the rocky outcrops of Elliott Key before arriving at Key Largo – roughly 30 nautical miles, a relaxed two-hour run. This is the ‘Dive Capital of the World’, and for good reason: John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, established in 1963 as America’s first undersea park, stretches over 70 square nautical miles of living reef. Afternoon snorkelling at Grecian Rocks – a shallow patch reef in just 1.5–4.5 metres of water, teeming with yellowtail snapper, parrotfish, sergeant majors and the occasional sea turtle. Your chef lays out dinner on the aft deck as the Keys’ famous sunset paints the sky.
Day 2: Key Largo to Islamorada
A short 20-nautical-mile cruise south-west brings you to Islamorada, the ‘Sportfishing Capital of the World’. If your group enjoys fishing, this is the place: blue water offshore for sailfish and mahi-mahi, shallow flats for bonefish and tarpon, and reef edges for grouper and snapper. Even non-anglers will love the laid-back Keys atmosphere – lunch at a waterside tiki bar, snorkelling at Alligator Reef Lighthouse (a Victorian iron-pile lighthouse standing in open water since 1873, surrounded by coral and schools of tropical fish), and an evening stroll through Islamorada’s galleries and boutiques. Anchor overnight in the calm lee of one of the small mangrove islands.
Day 3: Islamorada to Marathon and the Seven Mile Bridge
Continue south-west along the island chain, cruising beneath the Overseas Highway’s succession of bridges – each one framing a new vista of turquoise water and palm-fringed keys. Pause at the Turtle Hospital in Marathon for a fascinating guided tour of this rescue-and-rehabilitation facility (founded in 1986, it has released over 2,500 sea turtles back into the wild). After lunch on board, cruise south through the channel beneath the famous Seven Mile Bridge – one of the longest bridges in the world and an engineering marvel first completed for Henry Flagler’s Overseas Railroad in 1912. Anchor in the calm waters off Bahia Honda Key, home to a beach consistently rated among the finest in the United States: powdery sand, crystalline water and not a high-rise in sight.
Day 4: Lower Keys and Return to Miami
Rise early for a final swim at Bahia Honda before cruising to Looe Key, one of the most spectacular shallow reefs in the Florida Keys – a spur-and-groove reef system in just 1.5–9 metres of water, alive with elkhorn coral, staghorn coral, massive brain coral formations, barracuda, goliath grouper and clouds of grunts and snappers. This is world-class snorkelling, accessible straight from the swim platform. After a farewell gourmet lunch on the aft deck, set course north for Miami – roughly 100 nautical miles, a comfortable afternoon run on a motor yacht. Arrive back at the marina by early evening, sun-kissed and dreaming of your next Keys adventure.
Guests looking for a longer voyage can combine the 3-day Bimini route with the 4-day Keys route for a comprehensive 7-day charter covering both the Bahamas and the Florida Keys – two completely different worlds, stitched together without repeating a single stop.
