How To Become A Yacht Captain: What It Is and Career Path

What is a yacht captain and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a yacht captain. For example, did you know that they make an average of $25.45 an hour? That's $52,939 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 500 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreYacht CaptainUS Average

Salary

4.1

Avg. Salary $52,939

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.5

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.08%

Asian 3.14%

Black or African American 6.87%

Hispanic or Latino 8.92%

Unknown 4.73%

White 75.26%

Gender

female 6.21%

male 93.79%

Age - 40.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40.5

Stress level

9.5

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

2.6

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a yacht captain

Explore yacht captain education requirements

Most common yacht captain degrees

Bachelor's

63.6 %

Master's

14.3 %

Associate

7.8 %

Start to develop specific yacht captain skills

Skills	Percentages
Coast Guard	24.24%
Vessel Maintenance	23.41%
Safety Equipment	19.41%
USCG	10.44%
Caribbean	7.47%

Complete relevant yacht captain training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New yacht captains learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a yacht captain based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real yacht captain resumes.

Research yacht captain duties and responsibilities

Lead a platoon that earn numerous awards for jamming opposition force artillery nets and conducting counterattacks on opposition electronic warfare platoons.
Direct the installation, operation and maintenance of military radio and telecommunications assets for combat infantry units and fix telephone facilities.
Monitor checkout stations to ensure that they have adequate cash available and that they are staffed appropriately.

Prepare your yacht captain resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your yacht captain resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a yacht captain resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable yacht captain resume templates

Build a professional yacht captain resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your yacht captain resume.