What a private birthday charter in Dubai looks like
A birthday on the water is a different kind of party from a birthday in a restaurant. The yacht is yours alone for the hours you book — there are no other groups on board, no shared deck, no table you have to give up at a set time. You board in the Dubai Marina / Dubai Harbour area, the crew casts off, and the Marina towers, Bluewaters and Ain Dubai, JBR beach and the Burj Al Arab pass by while your group does whatever it came to do. Music is yours to choose. The deck is yours to decorate. Nobody asks you to keep it down.
Boat Party Dubai plans and manages the event end to end. We work with licensed yacht operators in the Dubai Marina / Dubai Harbour area, so you deal with one team from the first message to the last fender being tied off. We are a brand of Prestige Voyage Tourism L.L.C, a tour operator licensed by Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism under licence 1573075.
How many guests fit
There are 13 yachts to choose from, between 40 and 110 feet, and the largest takes up to 75 guests. A group of eight to twenty fits comfortably on the smaller and mid-size boats. Tell us the headcount first and the list narrows itself: the builder shows only the yachts that actually fit your group, cheapest first, and marks the one that fits with the least spare capacity. If your group grows between the request and the charter, say so — moving up a size is usually possible if the date is still open.
What it costs
Charters are priced by the hour, per yacht, not per person. The lowest rate in the fleet is AED 700 per hour, so the shortest charter — two hours — starts at AED 1,400 (≈ €335). A bigger yacht costs more per hour; nothing else about the price changes. There is no VAT: the company is not VAT-registered.
What moves the total is the yacht, the number of hours, and the extras you add. You will see each line separately before you send anything. The figure stays an estimate until we confirm it in writing, and a card payment link adds a 5% processing fee. No payment is taken on this website.
Decoration, cake and food
Birthday extras are the ones people ask about first, so here is what exists and what it costs. A Standard Balloon Setup is AED 350 on a yacht up to 52 feet and AED 550 above that; the VIP Balloon Setup is AED 700 and AED 1,100. Happy Birthday light-up letters are AED 280. A celebration cake, one kilogram, is AED 280. For food, a Hotdogs & Burgers Menu is AED 135 per guest, a Regular BBQ Menu AED 210, a Veggie Menu AED 170; platters are fixed price — charcuterie AED 550, fruit AED 220, sushi AED 600. Food has to be pre-ordered, not decided on the day, and the cooked menus depend on the yacht having a suitable setup, which we confirm with the operator.
If you want the party photographed, a photographer is AED 800 per hour and a videographer AED 1,050 per hour. Water toys — jet ski, Seabob, banana boat, the yacht slide — are daylight-only: they are not offered on a charter that starts at 18:00 or later, and the slide needs a charter of at least four hours.
When to sail, and for how long
Charters start between 09:00 and 20:00 and are back alongside by 23:00. The minimum is 2 hours, and 3 hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. For a birthday, three to four hours is the length that stops feeling rushed: an hour to board, settle and take the first photographs, a stretch out past the Palm, a stop to swim if the weather allows, then the run back with the skyline lit.
A late-afternoon start puts you on the water for sunset, which is when the photographs are worth the most. If the birthday is on 31 December, or over the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend of 3–6 December 2026, the standard rate does not apply and we quote that date on request.
What is included
Every charter includes water, soft drinks, tea & coffee, ice, crew and fuel. Life jackets are on board, including child sizes. Departures are from the Dubai Marina / Dubai Harbour area — the exact meeting point is confirmed with your booking, and parking details are sent with your confirmation. Every guest needs a valid Emirates ID or an original passport — copies are not accepted. No shoes on board.
Booking, deposit and cancellation
Sending a request is not a booking. We check the date with the operator, confirm availability in writing, and only then is anything held. A 50% deposit secures the date and the balance is due 48 hours before departure. A card payment link carries a 5% processing fee; a bank transfer costs nothing from our side.
You can cancel or move the date free of charge up to 96 hours (4 days) before departure, with a full refund back to the original method within 7 business days. Between 96 and 48 hours, 50% of the charter is charged and food, beverages and personalised items already ordered are not refundable. Inside 48 hours, or a no-show, there is no refund. If the coast guard does not issue a sailing permit — the decision comes by 09:00 on the day — you choose between a full refund and a free reschedule.
Birthday charter questions
- Can we bring our own cake?
- Yes. Tell us in the request so the crew has somewhere cold to keep it. You can also add the AED 280 celebration cake and let us handle it.
- Can we play our own music?
- Yes — the sound system is yours for the charter. Tell us in the request if music matters to the plan; the captain confirms what is possible on the day.
- Is the yacht really private?
- Yes. You book the whole yacht. The only people on board who are not your guests are the crew.
- What happens if it rains or the sea is rough?
- Dubai weather rarely cancels a charter, but the coast guard decides. No permit means a full refund or a free reschedule, your choice. If a permit is issued and the sea is choppy, the route may be kept to sheltered water — that is not grounds for cancellation.
- Can we decorate the yacht ourselves?
- Tell us in the request what you want to bring. The operator confirms what is allowed on that yacht, and the captain has the final word on the day.
- How far ahead should we book?
- The earliest date you can pick is two days out. Weekends, holidays and sunset slots go first, so a week or two of notice gives you a real choice of yacht rather than whatever is left.