Yacht Stewardess Jobs: The 5 Places Vacancies Get Posted
Updated 21 October 2026
Most yacht stewardess jobs are found in five places, and the best-paid senior roles rarely get advertised at all. If you're green, your first stew job will probably come from being in the right port at the right time with a CV a captain trusts. This guide covers where vacancies get posted, what the ads ask for, when hiring peaks and how to spot a scam. For every department, start with our yacht jobs guide.
Where yacht stewardess vacancies are posted
Yacht stewardess vacancies are posted on job boards (YaCrew, Yotspot), on crew agency websites, and in Facebook and WhatsApp crew groups. Many junior jobs are never posted at all. They go to dayworkers already on the dock, or to crew a captain can see are available in port.
- Job boards. YaCrew has a dedicated interior section with more than 200 listings, and Yotspot is the other big board. You can browse both freely, but Yotspot needs an account before you can apply.
- Crew agencies. Most of the stew ads on job boards are posted by agencies such as Bluewater, Wilsonhalligan and YPI Crew. Register with a few and keep your availability current. Our Antibes and Fort Lauderdale agency guides list who to visit in person.
- Facebook and WhatsApp groups. Every hub has crew groups where captains and stews post same-week vacancies and daywork. They're fast but unvetted, so read the red flags below before you send anything.
- Dockwalking and daywork. You walk the quays with printed CVs and pick up a few days' work, and sometimes that turns into a permanent job. Dockwalking and daywork are still how most green stews get their first boat.
- Radius. You sign up free at /signup/crew and check in at the port you're in. Once your ENG1, STCW and CV are verified, captains and recruiters can see you on a live map. Use it alongside the other four, not instead of them.
Amadea, a 106m Lürssen, in Port Vauban, Antibes. Yachts this size split the interior into service, housekeeping and laundry teams, which is where the specialist stew ads come from. Photo: Sukkoria, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Yacht stewardess positions you'll see advertised
You'll see the same eight titles again and again. Here's what a typical ad asks for. Pay is a 2026 monthly guide, and the full breakdown is in our yacht stewardess salary guide.
| Position | What the ad typically asks for | Pay guide (€/month) |
|---|---|---|
| Junior / 3rd stew | STCW BST, ENG1, Food Hygiene Level 2, previous yacht experience; one 70m+ ad asked for at least 6 months in service | 3,000–3,500 |
| 2nd stew | 2–3 years, currently a 2nd stew on a similar-size boat, strong service and wine knowledge, B1/B2 visa for US-bound boats | 3,500–6,000+ |
| Sole stew | 1–3 seasons; you handle service, laundry and housekeeping alone, sometimes with wine or cocktail service | See salary guide |
| Laundry stew | 1–2 years; fabric care, stain removal, commercial machines, pressing luxury garments | 3,500–5,000+ |
| Stew/deck | ENG1, STCW, some ads require Powerboat Level 2; small yachts, often tender driving | See salary guide |
| Stew/masseuse | Massage qualification (required or preferred), 1 year to 2 seasons, solid housekeeping and laundry | 3,500–4,500 |
| Chief stew | About 2 years as chief; 100m+ ads want 8 years in yachting and experience leading a 12+ crew team | 4,000–10,000 |
| Purser | Yacht accounts, payroll, crew visas and documents, ISM/MLC compliance; large yachts want 3–5 years as purser | 7,000–10,000 |
Sources: YaCrew listings for 3rd service stew, 2nd stew, sole stew, laundry, deck/stew, stew/masseuse, chief stew and purser; YPI Crew's November 2022 job roundup. Pay benchmarks: YPI Crew's 2026 interior salary guide.
A table laid for formal service. When 2nd and service stew ads ask for "service styles", "wine knowledge" or "tablescapes", this is the standard they mean. Photo: Kevin Gibbons, CC BY 2.0.
The tickets behind every ad
Almost every stew ad lists STCW Basic Safety Training and an ENG1 medical, and many add Food Hygiene Level 2. If you don't have BST and ENG1, you can't apply. The GUEST Introduction to Yacht Interior course isn't legally required, but it gives you a real advantage when a chief stew is sorting through a pile of green CVs.
When stewardess hiring season peaks
There are two hiring windows, and both fill up before the season starts.
| Season | Where | When yachts hire |
|---|---|---|
| Mediterranean (summer, roughly May–Oct) | Antibes, Palma, the Riviera | February to May; March is when "many yachts finalise the people they want onboard" |
| Caribbean / Florida (winter) | Fort Lauderdale, then Antigua and St Maarten | October to December; most boats want crew with a B1/B2 visa |
Sources: YPI Crew's yachting seasons guide and March 2024 market note.
Experienced stews get placed first. YPI's March 2024 note says March is "still strongest for experienced stews", and entry-level hiring picks up closer to the start of the season. For green crew, that means arriving in Antibes or Palma in late March or April, or in Fort Lauderdale in October. Arrive with tickets done and enough savings for a few weeks of daywork.
What a good stew application looks like
You usually get one shot, and a chief stew skims each CV for about 10 seconds.
- Tickets and availability at the top. Put STCW BST, ENG1 (with expiry date), Food Hygiene, visas, where you are now and when you can start.
- Hospitality translated into yacht language. Fine dining, silver service, housekeeping in a five-star hotel, nannying and bartending all count. Name the skill, not just the employer.
- A professional photo and references who answer the phone. Agencies check them.
- A tailored cover note. Two lines for each ad, mentioning the boat size and the role.
Our superyacht CV guide walks through the layout.
Yacht stewardess jobs with no experience
They exist, but they're rarely advertised as "no experience". Most junior stew ads we checked ask for previous yacht or cruise-ship time, or "ideally a season". Green stews mostly get hired in three ways:
- Daywork first. You do a week of cleaning and turndown on a boat in Antibes or Palma, and when they're short a junior, they hire the person they already know. Here's what an interior dayworker's day looks like.
- Strong land-based hospitality. YPI Crew's 2026 guide says yachts are "prioritising candidates with genuine service sector experience at the entry level". Hotel, restaurant or private-household work counts.
- Arriving when the hiring is. That's April in the Med and October in Fort Lauderdale. Not January.
Our how to become a yacht stewardess guide has the full step-by-step.
Red flags in yacht stewardess ads
Anyone who asks you for money to get the job. Under the Maritime Labour Convention 2006, seafarer recruitment and placement services can't pass their fees on to you, directly or indirectly. The only costs you're expected to cover are your own medical certificate, seafarer's book and passport. Even visa costs fall to the shipowner. Legitimate agencies are paid by the yacht. Some sell optional training or database extras, which is different from a placement fee.
Other warning signs:
- No boat name, size, flag or contact you can check against a real agency or captain.
- Requests for passport scans or bank details before anyone has interviewed you.
- Cash-only, "no contract needed" offers. Under MLC 2006, your employment agreement must be signed by you and the shipowner or their representative.
- Pressure to fly out tonight at your own cost for a job nobody will confirm in writing.
If in doubt, call the agency's office directly or ask in a crew group whether anyone knows the boat.
FAQ
How do I get a job as a stewardess on a yacht? Get STCW BST and an ENG1 first. Then register with agencies, apply on YaCrew and Yotspot, dockwalk in a hub during hiring season, and make yourself visible to captains on Radius.
Do you need experience to be a yacht stewardess? Not legally. In practice, most junior ads want a season or strong hospitality experience, so daywork is usually how green stews get their first job.
When is yacht stewardess hiring season? February to May for the Mediterranean summer, and October to December for the Caribbean and Florida winter.
Do yacht crew agencies charge stewardesses a fee? They shouldn't charge for placement. MLC 2006 says recruitment fees can't be passed on to seafarers, and agencies are paid by the yacht.
Find your first stew job
Crew: sign up free, upload your ENG1, STCW and CV, and check in at whatever port you're in. Verified crew show up on the map captains use to hire.
Captains and chief stews: find verified, available interior crew near you on radiusmarine.com.