Exclusive use

What a whole boat on the Nile costs

A whole small dahabiya, four to six cabins, works out at about US$4,120 a night for the boat, roughly US$24,720 for a six-night Esna to Aswan sailing. Across the 71 boats we hold a usable published rate for, whole-boat figures run from US$1,114 a night to around US$15,768. Those are the arithmetic of the published cabin fares, not quoted charter rates: operators price exclusive use separately and usually below the sum of the cabins.

Charter is the part of the Nile nobody publishes. Cabin fares are everywhere; what it costs to take the boat is quoted on request, which makes it impossible to plan against. These are the numbers we hold, stated with the basis they came from, so you can size a trip before you ask anyone for a price. When you want the real figure, tell us the dates and the party and we will get it from the operator.

Sorted by what the whole boat comes to. The rate column is what the operator publishes, per person or per cabin as marked, converted to a nightly figure. A boat whose published rate carries no unit or no length is left out rather than guessed at.

How much does it cost to charter a whole dahabiya on the Nile?

Worked out from published per-cabin fares across 71 boats, a whole small dahabiya of four to six cabins comes to about US$4,120 a night for the boat, so roughly US$24,720 for a six-night sailing between Esna and Aswan. The range across the fleet is wide: the least expensive boat we hold a usable rate for works out at US$1,114 a night, and the most expensive small boats run several times that. These are the arithmetic of the published cabin fares, not quoted charter rates. Operators price exclusive use separately, usually below the sum of the cabins, so ask and we will get the real figure.

What is the smallest boat you can charter on the Nile?

The smallest hulls in the fleet run four cabins, which is eight guests. 9 boats we list have five cabins or fewer. Below that you are into a private felucca, which is a day boat with bedding on deck rather than a cabin boat. There is no two-cabin cruising dahabiya on the river, so a couple chartering alone pays for the whole hull.

Is chartering a whole boat cheaper than booking cabins?

Not usually, but it is not a straight multiple either. Charter removes the other guests, so the boat carries the same crew and fuel for fewer people and the per-person cost rises. What it buys is the itinerary: a chartered boat can moor where you want, eat when you want and move at your pace, which is the reason most of our charter enquiries start. Where a charter does win on price is a group large enough to fill most of the cabins anyway.

How far ahead should a Nile charter be booked?

For a specific boat on specific dates, ten to twelve months is realistic, and longer for Christmas, New Year and the 2 August 2027 eclipse, which is already tight in Luxor and Aswan. The fleet is small: there are around a hundred dahabiyas on the river in total and the good ones at six cabins are a much shorter list than that.

What is included when you take the whole boat?

Normally the cabins, full board, the crew and the sailing itself. Guiding, temple entry, transfers and drinks differ by operator and are the fields that vary most across the fleet, so they are worth confirming per boat rather than assuming. Anything you want changed, an extra night, a different mooring, a private Egyptologist, is easier to arrange on a chartered boat than a shared one.