Cruising grounds and weather
Where the fleet goes between May and October
What happens to the Phuket charter fleet in the low season?
The short answer
What happens to the Phuket charter fleet in the low season?
The visiting foreign-flagged fleet mostly leaves in April, heading for Langkawi, Indonesia or back towards the Mediterranean. Much of the Thai-flagged fleet stays and goes into refit at Boat Lagoon, which is why the yard is busiest in the monsoon. A smaller group keeps chartering through the green season on east-coast itineraries in the lee of Phuket, at reduced rates. If you are chartering between May and October you are almost always booking from that third group, and the choice is narrower but the anchorages are empty.
Three things happen in April
- 01The visiting fleet leaves. Foreign-flagged yachts that came for the northeast monsoon head south to Langkawi and Indonesia or west towards the Med. A yacht leaving in late April sometimes discounts its last weeks, which is the one genuine bargain at the top of this market.
- 02The Thai-flagged fleet goes into refit. Boat Lagoon is at its busiest in the monsoon, because that is when a charter yacht can afford to be out of the water.
- 03A working minority stays. Reduced rates, east-coast itineraries, weather-dependent routing.
What that means for a green-season enquiry
The choice is genuinely narrower, and an operator who will not say so is not being straight. What you get in exchange is real: lower rates, and Koh Hong on a weekday in June can be empty in a way it never is in February.
Ask specifically whether the yacht will be in the water and in commission for your dates. A yacht listed in July may be in a shed with its saildrives out, and the listing will not say so.
Last checked 6 September 2026. Rates, fees and regulations in this market change every season, so figures on this page are correct as at that date and not afterwards. How the figures are gathered.