The Marea Fleet: Choosing Your Yacht in Los Cabos

There is a particular quiet that settles over a charter in Los Cabos once the yacht clears the breakwater. The marina falls away, the granite of Land's End rises to the west, and the Sea of Cortez opens in one direction while the Pacific waits in the other. Whatever follows, whether a long lunch at anchor, a crossing in search of whales or a week spent moving between coves, depends less on the itinerary than on the vessel beneath it. Choosing the right yacht is the first and most consequential decision of a Cabo San Lucas yacht charter, and it is worth making slowly.

The Marea fleet is deliberately small: six yachts from 85 to 164 feet, each fully crewed, each chosen for a different kind of day. What follows is a guide to how they differ, and to the questions that usually decide between them.

Begin with the shape of the day

Before length, before amenities, there is a simpler question: is this a day on the water or a life on it? Four of the six yachts are chartered by the day and priced in four-hour blocks, a length that suits an afternoon of swimming and lunch, a sunset passage or a whale-season crossing. The two largest are chartered by the week, and they are built for that rhythm: staterooms for twelve guests, crews large enough to run a household, and the range to leave Cabo behind for the farther reaches of the Sea of Cortez.

On a day charter, the captain, crew, chef, premium open bar, fuel and water toys are included. Weekly charters follow international terms: a base rate, plus expenses. Rates on both exclude Mexico's 16 percent IVA. None of this needs to be resolved on the first call, but knowing which kind of charter you are planning narrows the choice considerably.

The day yachts

Contessa, 85 feet

Contessa is the most intimate yacht in the collection and, for many guests, the right one. Built by Her Shine Marine, she carries up to 18 guests for the day and has four staterooms that sleep eight. Aboard are four stand-up paddleboards, snorkel and fishing gear, a tender and underwater lights that bring the water around her to life after dark. She suits families, small celebrations and the first afternoon of a trip, when the aim is simply to be out on the bay with good company and nothing else to do.

Lady Katana, 100 feet

Lady Katana is a 100-foot Maiora with Italian lines and the most generous day capacity in the fleet, up to 35 guests. Her program is the most social of the six: an onboard chef, a premium open bar, a full complement of water toys and, in season, whale cruises hosted by a marine biologist. For a larger birthday, a gathering of several families or a company offsite on the water, she is usually where the conversation begins. In the winter months, when humpbacks and gray whales pass close to the cape, she is also the yacht most closely associated with the season.

Leopard 112

The Leopard 112 is a collector's sport yacht, one of fifteen built and refit in 2022. She is the most theatrical vessel in the collection: a retractable sunroof over the main deck, a theater-size cinema screen, a Miele galley and a toy locker that holds two SeaBobs, four paddleboards and kayaks. She carries up to 20 guests for the day across five staterooms. Guests who choose her tend to want a yacht that feels as much like an occasion as the occasion itself.

Sovereign, 130 feet

Sovereign is a tri-deck motor yacht of 130 feet, and the largest of the day yachts. Three decks give a party of up to 20 room to separate and regather over the course of a long day. At-rest stabilizers keep her steady at anchor, which matters more than most guests expect once lunch is served. There is a six-person jacuzzi, an inflatable pool, two Sea-Doos, two SeaBob F5 S units and an eFoil, and twenty tournament rods for those who came to fish. Her galley is run by one of the most celebrated chefs in Los Cabos, and for many guests the table is the reason to choose her.

The weekly yachts

Rising Dawn, 141 feet

Rising Dawn is a Majesty 140, delivered in 2021, with six staterooms for twelve guests and a crew of nine. She is designed for the long, unhurried week: a beach club at the waterline with its own waterslide, a jacuzzi on the sundeck, zero-speed stabilizers that hold her calm at anchor overnight, and two WaveRunners and two SeaBobs for the hours between meals. She suits a family or a small group of friends who want to spend the better part of a week aboard rather than ashore.

As You Wish, 164 feet

As You Wish is the flagship of the collection, a 164-foot Westport W164 with seven staterooms for twelve guests and a crew of eleven. The sundeck carries a jacuzzi and a gym; there is an outdoor cinema, a waterslide and three Sea-Doos, and a 42-foot Freeman tender that turns a remote anchorage into a short run to shore. She is the yacht for an extended Sea of Cortez itinerary, or for guests who expect the yacht to function as a private residence with its own staff and its own calendar.

The right yacht is rarely the largest one. It is the one whose day most closely resembles the day you had in mind.

Marea Concierge

Four questions that usually decide it

How many will be aboard? Day capacity runs from 12 on the weekly yachts to 35 on Lady Katana, and comfort sits well below the maximum. A party of ten is spacious on Contessa; a party of thirty belongs on Lady Katana.

How long will you stay out? For two or three hours on the bay, the smaller yachts are ideal. For a full day that moves beyond the arch toward the Corridor's coves, or a party that wants to swim, eat and rest in turn, the stability and deck space of Sovereign or the Leopard become worth having.

What is the center of the day? If it is the table, Sovereign's chef or the onboard chef aboard Lady Katana will shape the choice. If it is the water, look at the toy lockers: the SeaBobs and eFoil aboard Sovereign, or the paddleboards and kayaks on the Leopard. If it is the whales, a marine-biologist-hosted crossing on Lady Katana is the natural fit.

Will anyone sleep aboard? For a week at sea, Rising Dawn and As You Wish are built for it, each with staterooms for twelve and a crew sized to the task.

Beyond the collection

Some plans call for more than any six yachts can offer: a larger vessel for a wedding afloat, an expedition yacht for a long passage north, or a second yacht running alongside the first. By private arrangement, Marea sources vessels beyond 180 feet and dedicated expedition yachts, and composes multi-day itineraries through the Sea of Cortez, from the reefs of Cabo Pulmo to Isla Espíritu Santo and, in summer, the whale sharks off La Paz.

Composing the charter

The simplest way to choose is to describe the day rather than the yacht: who is coming, what the occasion is, how the hours should feel. A Marea concierge will suggest the vessel that fits, confirm its availability for your dates, and arrange the details that make a charter feel composed rather than booked, from the menu to the anchorage to the hour of departure. For more on what a day aboard can hold, read our notes on the sunset cruise, dining with a private chef at anchor and whale season in Los Cabos.

When you are ready, plan my charter, explore the fleet in full, or see how a yacht fits within our signature experiences.