Also called: Yacht Master, Private Yacht Captain
Commands a private mega-yacht worth tens of millions of dollars for its wealthy owner.
A superyacht captain plans voyages from Florida to the Caribbean or the Mediterranean, manages a crew of 10-30, deals with the owner's last-minute wishes, and handles budgets, safety, and port paperwork. It is half ship captain, half luxury hotel manager.
Pay scales with yacht length; captains of 200-foot-plus yachts can earn $250k+. Yacht crew typically get free room and food aboard, plus tips that can add thousands per charter, so take-home value is higher than the salary suggests. Fort Lauderdale is the US hub.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Certificate, about 10 years after high school. USCG Master license or UK MCA Master (Yachts) certificates, built up over many years of yacht crew experience. Some come from maritime academies.
Ways in: Certification, On-the-job training, 4-year college. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Marine Transportation, Nautical Science, Hospitality.
Growing faster than average. Demand follows the global yacht market.
Low risk for 10 years. Routing tools help, but owners pay for seamanship, crew leadership and discretion from a trusted human captain.
Classes: Physics, Earth science, Spanish, French or Italian.
Official data: O*NET occupation 53-5021.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.