Luxury Yacht

More recently, over the last decade or two, there has been an increase in the number and popularity of large private luxury yachts. Luxury yachts are particularly bountiful in the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas, although increasingly luxury yachts are cruising in more remote areas of the world. With the increase in demand for luxury yachts there has been an increase custom boat building companies and yacht charter brokers. Luxury boat building and yacht charter companies are predominantly based in the United States and Western Europe.

Some Luxury yachts are used exclusively by their private owners, others are operated all year round as charter businesses, and a large number are privately owned but available for charter part time. Expenses of approximately 25-30%, such as food, fuel, and berthage are charged as an extra as well as a customary 10% crew gratuity for good service.

The luxury yacht charter industry functions effectively because private yacht owners mitigate their running costs with charter income as well as keeping their yachts and crew in top running order. Conversely, private charterers charter yachts (rather than owning them) because it is generally considered to be less expensive, and less hassle, than owning a yacht and it also provides them with extra choice related to yacht type, location and crew.

Yachts from 82 feet and up qualify for design awards from the Super yacht Society, but at the bottom end of that scale yachts will not necessarily be crewed and many set the minimum length for a super yacht considerably higher.

The number of very large Luxury yachts has increased rapidly since the 1990s and increasingly only yachts above around 213 feet stand out among other luxury yachts. Yachts of this size are almost always built to individual commissions and cost tens of millions of dollars (most super-yachts cost far more than their owners' homes on land, even though those homes are likely to be among the largest and most desirable). A yacht of this size usually has four decks above the water line and one or two below.

As of 2006 Luxury yachts above 328 feet are still sufficiently rare, but increasingly more common, that many yacht enthusiasts can name them all. They typically have five decks above the water line and two below. The very largest yachts have begun to incorporate such features as helicopter hangars, indoor swimming pools and miniature submarines. The burgeoning number of "small" super yachts has led to the introduction of the hyperbolic terms mega-yacht and giga-yacht to demarcate the elite among luxury yachts.