If you want a job on a superyacht in the Mediterranean, Antibes is the place you go to find it. This small port town on the Cote d'Azur has been the crew capital of the Med for decades, and nothing has knocked it off that perch. The reason is simple. The boats are here. Walk the quays at Port Vauban in April and you will see fifty and sixty meter motoryachts stacked stern to, captains hiring for the summer season, and a steady stream of young crew in polo shirts handing out CVs. If you are chasing your first deckhand or stewardess role, or you are an experienced chief stew looking for a better program, Antibes is where the hiring happens.
This guide covers exactly how to get hired here in 2026. It walks through why Antibes became the hub, when the season hires, where crew gather and dockwalk, what boats are looking for people, which roles are in demand, what the pay actually is in euros, the Schengen visa reality that trips up so many non EU crew, and the certificates you cannot get on a boat without. By the end you will have a real plan, not vague encouragement. And because searching quays on foot is only half the job, you can also find and apply to live yacht roles online for free through Yacht Service Network, so create a free crew account and start applying to Riviera jobs today while you read.
Antibes sits almost dead center on the French Riviera, which is the strip of coast running roughly from Saint-Tropez in the west to the Italian border in the east. Within an hour by car or tender you can reach Monaco, Cannes, Nice, Golfe-Juan, and Villefranche. That geography is the whole point. Crew who base themselves here can chase work across the entire summer cruising ground without ever moving house.
Antibes did not become the center of Med yachting by accident. Three things stacked up over the years: the harbor, the location, and the community. Once all three were in place, the town became self reinforcing. Crew came because the boats were here, and boats came because the crew were here.
Port Vauban is one of the largest marinas in Europe by berth count, and it holds a section built specifically for the giants of the fleet. The Quai des Milliardaires, run by International Yacht Club d'Antibes, is where the largest motoryachts in the world tie up. When you hear crew talk about the IYCA quay, this is it. Boats over sixty meters, some well over a hundred, take berths here through the season. For a job seeker that concentration matters. You can walk a single stretch of concrete and pass more hiring superyachts than you would find in an entire smaller port.
The rest of Port Vauban holds hundreds of boats across every size class, from tenders and sailing yachts up to the fifty meter range. This mix is useful. Smaller programs and sailing yachts often take green crew who have no sea time yet, while the big motoryachts on the billionaires' quay want people with a season or two behind them. Both types of employer sit inside the same harbor, so you are never far from a boat that fits your level.
The Riviera is a cluster of ports, not a single one, and Antibes sits in the middle of the cluster. Monaco is about forty minutes east and hosts the Monaco Yacht Show every September, the biggest superyacht show on earth. Cannes is fifteen minutes west and runs its own major show in early September. Nice has the region's main international airport, which is where most crew fly in and out. Golfe-Juan sits right next door to Antibes with its own anchorage and yard work. Saint-Tropez, an hour or so west, fills with charter yachts through July and August. Base yourself in Antibes and every one of these is inside your reach. That is why crew agencies, provisioning companies, and yacht management offices all clustered here too.
The third pillar is people. Antibes has a dense, permanent yachting community. Crew houses, agencies, chandlers, laundry services, and a handful of famous crew bars all sit within a few streets of the old town. A huge share of hiring in this industry happens by word of mouth, and word of mouth needs a place to happen. In Antibes it happens in the queue at the crew agency, over a drink after work, and in the WhatsApp groups that form around each crew house. If you are serious about getting hired, being physically present in this community is worth more than a hundred cold emails. That said, you should run both channels at once. Keep your face on the docks and keep your profile live online. You can set up your free YSN profile so captains can find you even on the days you are not walking the quay.
Timing is everything on the Riviera. Show up at the wrong time of year and the docks feel dead. Show up at the right time and you can walk into daywork within a week. The Med runs on a clear seasonal rhythm, and hiring follows it closely.
The main hiring push runs from roughly March through May. This is when captains and chief stews build their crews for the summer Med season. Boats come out of winter refit, owners and charter brokers start booking summer trips, and programs need to be fully crewed and drilled before the first guests step aboard in June. If you can only be in Antibes for one part of the year, make it spring. April is often described as the single best month to arrive for green crew. There is a mountain of daywork as boats prep, and that daywork is the most common on ramp to a permanent job.
Through June, July, and August the fleet is working. Charter yachts run back to back trips, private boats host owners and guests, and the whole coast is busy. Permanent hiring slows because most positions are already filled, but daywork stays strong. Boats always need extra hands for turnarounds, deep cleans, and busy guest weeks. Crew also drop out mid season for all sorts of reasons, which opens sudden gaps that captains need to fill fast. That urgency works in your favor if you are already on the ground and ready to step aboard the same day.
September brings the two big shows. Cannes runs first, then Monaco. Show season creates a spike in daywork because boats need extra crew to present the yacht, run tenders, and keep everything spotless for brokers and buyers. It is also a networking peak, since the entire industry is in town at once. After the shows, through October, the season winds down. Some boats cross to the Caribbean for the winter season, and a few of those crossings need extra crew. Winter in Antibes is quiet for hiring, mostly refit and yard work, though a determined person can still find daywork in the yards. Use the table below to line up your arrival with the hiring.
| Season | Months | Hiring Activity | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | March to May | Peak permanent hiring plus heavy daywork as boats prep | Green crew and anyone wanting a summer contract |
| Early Summer | June | Last permanent slots fill, strong daywork | Crew who arrived late but hustle |
| Peak Summer | July to August | Daywork and sudden mid season gaps, little permanent hiring | Experienced crew filling emergencies |
| Show Season | September | Daywork spike for Cannes and Monaco shows, big networking | Building contacts and short cash jobs |
| Autumn | October | Wind down, some Atlantic crossing crew needed | Crew wanting a winter Caribbean season |
| Winter | November to February | Refit and yard work only, quiet for permanent roles | Trade skilled crew and the patient |
Getting hired in Antibes is a physical activity as much as an online one. The town has a well worn set of places where crew and work find each other. Knowing them saves you weeks of wandering.
Dockwalking is exactly what it sounds like. You walk the docks, boat to boat, introducing yourself and asking if they need daywork or crew. In Antibes this is a genuine hiring channel, not a myth. Start early, because deck crew are on watch and washing down from around eight in the morning, and that is when they are most likely to say yes to an extra pair of hands. Dress the part in clean deck shorts and a plain polo, carry printed CVs, and be polite and brief. Ask for the boatswain or the mate, not the captain, since they run the deck team and hire the daywork. Never step aboard uninvited. Stand on the dock, make eye contact, and wait to be acknowledged. A good dockwalk is respectful and fast, and you can cover a lot of boats in a morning.
Antibes has other spots crew walk beyond Port Vauban. Golfe-Juan next door, the yards, and the anchorage tenders all offer chances to meet working crew. But Port Vauban, and the IYCA quay in particular, is the beating heart of it. Combine your dockwalking with online applications so no lead goes cold. When a mate says they might need someone next week, you can point them to your live profile, and you can keep your crew CV updated on YSN in minutes so it is ready the moment they check.
Antibes has a small cluster of bars and cafes that have served the yachting crowd for years, sitting in and around the old town near the port. These are where the informal network runs. Crew hear about openings, captains put out the word that they need someone, and green crew meet the people who will later recommend them. You do not need to drink to use these places. Turn up, be friendly, listen more than you talk, and make it known what you are looking for. Many first jobs come from a chance conversation in exactly these spots. The industry is smaller than it looks, and a good reputation spreads fast, as does a bad one.
Antibes has one of the densest concentrations of crew agencies anywhere in yachting. These agencies place crew onto boats for captains and management companies, and registering with them is a standard step. Walk in during their morning hours, dressed smart, with a printed CV and your certificates in hand. Register in person where you can, because a face is far more memorable than an email. Keep in touch regularly without being a pest, since the crew they remember are the crew they call when a boat phones needing someone that afternoon. A legitimate crew agency never charges you a fee to find you a job. The boat or management company pays them. If anyone asks you for money to be placed, walk away.
Crew houses are shared accommodation aimed at yachties, and in Antibes they are an institution. They give you an affordable bed, a locker for your gear, and, most valuable of all, a built in network. Your housemates are other crew, some working, some looking, and the flow of information through a busy crew house is constant. Someone gets a job and leaves a daywork gap for you, or hears their boat needs a stew and passes your name along. A bunk in a crew house typically runs a few hundred euros a month, far cheaper than a private flat on the Riviera. For a job seeker with no income yet, it is the smart base.
Not every boat hires the same way or wants the same people. Understanding the fleet helps you target your effort.
The bulk of the paid crew jobs on the Riviera are on large motoryachts, roughly thirty meters and up. These carry the biggest crews, from a handful of people on a thirty meter boat to twenty or more on a hundred meter plus vessel. They run the widest range of roles and offer the clearest career ladder. Charter motoryachts in particular hire heavily for the summer because guest turnover is high and standards are relentless. If your goal is a full time yachting career with room to climb, motoryachts are where most of the opportunity sits.
Sailing yachts are a smaller slice of the fleet but a real one, and they are often more welcoming to green crew, especially anyone with dinghy or racing experience. Crews are smaller and everyone does a bit of everything, which is a fast way to learn. Pay per role can run a little lower than on comparable motoryachts, but the sailing experience is valuable and many crew love the lifestyle. If you have any sailing background, lead with it, because it sets you apart from the crowd of applicants who have only ever seen a motorboat.
Daywork is casual, paid by the day, and it is the single most reliable way for a newcomer to break in. You show up, work a day washing, polishing, or helping with a turnaround, get paid, and, best of all, get a foot on that boat. Do daywork well and you build a reputation and a list of references. Many permanent jobs, sometimes called green crew positions, come directly from daywork. A captain who has watched you work hard for three days trusts you far more than a stranger with a nice CV. Treat every day of daywork as a working interview, because that is what it is. Once you have a few boats vouching for you, list those references on your profile and let employers reach you directly. You can apply to yacht crew jobs for free and keep every reference in one place so a strong week of daywork keeps paying off.
Yacht crew jobs split into departments, and knowing where you fit helps you pitch yourself. Here is the lay of the land, with the entry points that most often take newcomers.
The deck team handles the exterior of the boat, tenders and toys, driving, docking, and anchoring. Entry level is deckhand, and it is one of the most common first jobs in Antibes because the physical work suits fit, willing newcomers. From deckhand you can build toward bosun, then mate, then, with years and licenses, captain. Deck work is demanding and outdoors in all weather, but it is the classic on ramp. If you are targeting this path, look at live deckhand jobs in Antibes to see what programs want right now and what they pay.
The interior team runs the guest experience: service, housekeeping, laundry, cabins, and often bar and barista work. Entry level is junior stewardess or steward, and demand is high across the season. Strong candidates often come from hospitality, hotels, or high end restaurants, where the service standards translate directly. From junior stew you can climb to second stew, chief stew, and into purser roles on the largest yachts. The interior offers one of the clearest and fastest career ladders in yachting. Browse current stewardess jobs in Antibes to gauge the market and match your experience to the openings.
Two departments reward specific skills. The galley needs cooks and chefs, and a professional culinary background can get you hired at strong pay without any prior sea time, because guests judge a charter heavily on the food. Engineering keeps the boat running, and qualified engineers are in constant short supply, which pushes their pay up. Both paths ask for real qualifications, but both are far less crowded than deck and interior, so if you have kitchen or technical training, use it. Whatever your department, you can see the full picture of who is hiring by browsing every open yacht crew job in Antibes on YSN in one place.
New crew often ask whether to chase daywork or hold out for a season long contract. The honest answer is that most people do both, in sequence.
If you are new and on the ground in Antibes, daywork is the realistic start. It pays your rent while you look, it teaches you how a boat actually runs, and it builds the references that lead to a permanent job. The downside is that it is unpredictable. Some weeks are packed, others thin, and there is no security or benefits. But as a way in, it is unmatched. Very few green crew walk straight into a season contract without doing some daywork first.
A seasonal contract, usually running the summer Med season from spring through autumn, gives you steady pay, accommodation and food aboard, and a proper reference at the end. This is the goal for most crew. Seasons are typically locked in during the spring hiring window, which is exactly why arriving in Antibes in March or April matters so much. Some seasonal roles then convert to permanent, year round positions if you fit the program well. Whether you are hunting daywork today or a season for the whole summer, keeping your applications organized pays off, so sign up free and track your Riviera job applications in one dashboard instead of losing threads across email and paper CVs.
Yacht crew pay is usually quoted per month, and because crew live aboard with food and accommodation covered while working, a large share of that pay is disposable. Numbers vary with boat size, whether the boat charters, and your experience, but the ranges below reflect what Riviera crew commonly see. Charter boats often add tips on top, which for interior and deck crew on a busy charter yacht can add a meaningful sum across a season.
| Role | Typical Monthly Pay (EUR) | Experience Needed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior Deckhand | 2,500 to 3,500 | Entry level, STCW required | Most common first deck job |
| Bosun | 3,500 to 5,000 | Two or more seasons on deck | Runs the deck team |
| Junior Stewardess or Steward | 2,500 to 3,500 | Entry level, hospitality helps | High demand across the season |
| Chief Stewardess | 4,500 to 7,000 | Several seasons in interior | Runs interior, higher on big boats |
| Chef | 4,000 to 8,000 | Culinary training, sea time helps | Strong pay, food drives charters |
| Engineer | 4,000 to 9,000 | Marine engineering tickets | Short supply, pay climbs fast |
| Daywork (any role) | 120 to 180 per day | Varies | Paid per day, no benefits |
Treat these as guides, not guarantees. A junior on a small private boat sits at the bottom of the range, while the same title on a large busy charter yacht sits higher and earns more in tips. Pay rises quickly with each season and each rung you climb, which is a big part of why crew stick with the industry. The fastest way to see real current figures is to read live listings, since captains post actual salaries there. You can join YSN free and see the real salaries captains are offering right now on the Riviera rather than relying on rough averages.
This is the single biggest thing that catches out non EU crew, and misunderstanding it can end your season before it starts. France is part of the Schengen Area. If you hold a passport that gets visa free short stays, such as many non EU nationalities, you are generally allowed only ninety days inside the Schengen Area within any rolling one hundred and eighty day period as a visitor. That is not ninety days per country. It is ninety days across the whole zone, counted on a rolling basis.
Job hunting on the docks burns your ninety days whether you are working or not, because you are physically present in Schengen. Arrive in April to dockwalk, spend six weeks finding a boat, and you have already used a chunk of your allowance before you even sign on. If your boat then cruises within Schengen waters through the summer, those days keep counting. Crew have been stopped at the border, refused entry, or hit with bans for overstaying, and it is a genuine risk, not a scare story. Plan your days carefully from the moment you land.
There are legitimate ways around the ninety day limit, and serious crew sort this out properly rather than gambling. Some boats sail outside Schengen, to places like Montenegro, Turkey, Gibraltar, Croatia in certain arrangements, or across to the Caribbean, which stops the clock. Some crew obtain a French long stay visa or a seafarer arrangement, and some countries have specific rules for crew signed onto a commercially registered vessel that differ from tourist rules. The details depend on your nationality, the boat's flag and registration, and whether the boat is private or commercial. Get proper advice, keep every entry and exit stamp, and never assume you can wing it. EU passport holders skip all of this, which is a real advantage in this market, but non EU crew succeed here every season by planning ahead. Understanding your visa position before you arrive lets you spend your limited days actually landing a job, and you can line up interviews in advance when you create your free profile and start applying before you fly to France.
Two documents are the baseline for almost any paid yacht crew job. Without them, most boats will not even take you for daywork, so get them sorted before you start knocking on hulls.
STCW Basic Safety Training is the mandatory safety certificate for commercial crew. It covers personal survival techniques, fire prevention and firefighting, elementary first aid, and personal safety and social responsibility. It runs about a week at an approved training center and is non negotiable for working on commercial and charter yachts. You can take it in Antibes itself, at maritime schools in the UK, in Palma, in Fort Lauderdale, and at many other centers. Budget for the course cost and factor in that it is a wise investment before you arrive, because a captain wants to see it in hand, not hear that you plan to get it.
The ENG1 is a seafarer medical certificate that confirms you are fit for work at sea. It is a straightforward medical exam covering eyesight, hearing, and general fitness, done by an approved doctor. Like STCW, it is a standard requirement, and you can get it in the Antibes area from an approved practitioner or before you travel. It is valid for a set period and must be kept current. Together, STCW and ENG1 are your passport to the docks. Add a food hygiene certificate if you are aiming at interior or galley work, a powerboat or tender license if you want deck work, and any specialist tickets your target department values.
Antibes has more crew agencies per square meter than almost anywhere in yachting, and using them well is a core skill. They are gatekeepers to a large share of the permanent jobs, especially on well run programs and management company boats that prefer to hire through a trusted agency rather than off the dock.
Register with several agencies, not just one, because different agencies hold different boats. Do it in person whenever you can, dressed as if you were meeting a captain, with a clean CV and copies of your certificates. Be clear and honest about your experience and what you are looking for. Follow up on a regular rhythm, a friendly check in rather than daily pestering, so you stay near the front of their mind. When a boat calls an agency needing a stew by the weekend, they scroll to the crew they remember and trust. Be that person.
Agencies are one channel, not the only one. The strongest job hunters run agencies, dockwalking, crew house networks, the crew bars, and online applications all at the same time. Each channel reaches boats the others miss. A small private owner might only ever hire off the dock, a big charter fleet might hire only through an agency, and a growing number of captains now post directly online to reach crew fast and for free. Covering all of them is how you cut your job hunt from months to weeks. Yacht Service Network is your free online channel in that mix, and you can register free and let Riviera captains contact you directly while you work the docks in person.
Here is the whole plan in order. Follow it and you give yourself the best possible shot at a summer on the Med.
Get your STCW Basic Training and your ENG1 medical done first. Sort your visa position if you are non EU, and count your Schengen days before you book flights. Build a clean one page CV with a professional head and shoulders photo, your certificates listed, and any relevant experience, including hospitality, trades, sailing, or fitness. Set up your online profiles so you can apply to boats the moment you have them, and get familiar with the agencies you plan to register with. Landing in Antibes fully prepared means you spend your limited days working the docks, not chasing paperwork.
Get a bed in a crew house to plug into the network and keep costs down. Register in person with as many crew agencies as you can reach. Start dockwalking Port Vauban early each morning, hunting daywork. Introduce yourself around the crew bars and meeting spots in the evenings. Say yes to every day of work you are offered and do it to a high standard. Keep your online applications flowing in parallel so no channel goes quiet. The aim of week one is momentum: a few days of daywork, a face on the docks, and your name in a handful of agency systems.
Once daywork is coming in, treat each day as an audition. Work hard, be early, be tidy, and be easy to have around, because attitude gets crew hired more than raw skill. Collect references from every boat and keep them organized. Tell the captains and mates you day work for that you are looking for a permanent or seasonal spot, since they hear about openings across the fleet. When a season role opens, your track record of solid daywork and a stack of good references makes you the obvious pick. Keep every application, reference, and lead in one place so nothing slips, and it is worth taking a moment to build your free YSN crew profile and apply to open Riviera roles so the online jobs work for you around the clock while you sleep off a long turnaround.
Everything above about dockwalking and agencies is true and it works. But the industry has moved online too, and captains increasingly post roles directly to reach crew quickly and without paying agency fees. That shift is good for you, because it means more jobs are visible and applying is free. Yacht Service Network is a free marketplace connecting yacht owners, captains, crew, and marine contractors. For a job seeker, it means you can see and apply to real yacht crew jobs on the Riviera, keep your CV and certificates in one profile that captains can find, and manage every application from one place. It costs nothing, and it runs alongside your on the ground hunt rather than replacing it.
If you are completely new to the whole industry and want the wider picture beyond just Antibes, start with our full guide on how to work on superyachts and get started, which walks through the industry, the roles, the certificates, and the career path in depth. Pair that background with the Antibes specific plan here and you have a complete roadmap. The last step is the simplest one, so create your free crew account now and start applying to yacht jobs on the French Riviera, then get on a flight to Nice.
No, though you do need the basic certificates. Plenty of crew start in Antibes with zero sea time. The standard route is to arrive with your STCW and ENG1 in hand, get a crew house bed, and start dockwalking for daywork. Green crew, deckhands, and junior stews are hired every season without prior yachting experience, especially in spring. What you bring instead of sea time is a strong work ethic, a tidy appearance, and any transferable background such as hospitality, sailing, or trades. Do a few days of daywork well and the experience builds itself.
Spring, specifically March through May, with April often called the sweet spot for newcomers. This is when captains and chief stews build their crews for the summer Med season, so permanent hiring peaks and daywork is everywhere as boats prep out of refit. Arriving in early spring gives you the widest choice of roles and the best odds of landing a full season contract. If you can only come for a short window, aim it squarely at spring rather than the busy but largely full middle of summer.
You walk the docks at Port Vauban, early in the morning, and politely ask each boat whether they need daywork or crew. Dress in clean deck shorts and a plain polo, carry printed CVs, and ask for the boatswain or the mate rather than the captain. Never board a boat unless you are invited. Stand on the dock, be brief and friendly, hand over your CV if they will take it, and move on. Start around eight in the morning when deck crew are washing down, since that is when an extra hand is most welcome. It is a real and effective way to find your first jobs on the Riviera.
If you hold a non EU passport with visa free access, you are generally limited to ninety days inside the Schengen Area within any rolling one hundred and eighty day period as a visitor. That total counts across the whole zone, not per country, and job hunting on the docks burns those days even when you are not being paid. Overstaying can lead to refused entry or bans. Crew manage this with boats that sail outside Schengen, with long stay visas, or with seafarer arrangements that depend on the boat's flag and commercial status. EU passport holders are not affected. If you are non EU, plan your days before you arrive and get proper advice.
Two are essential: STCW Basic Safety Training, which is the mandatory maritime safety course and runs about a week, and the ENG1 seafarer medical, which confirms you are fit for work at sea. Almost no boat will take you, even for daywork, without both. You can get them in Antibes or before you travel. Beyond those, a food hygiene certificate helps for interior and galley roles, and a powerboat or tender license helps for deck work. Get the two essentials sorted first, because a captain wants to see them in hand, not hear about your plans.
Junior deckhands and junior stewardesses commonly earn roughly 2,500 to 3,500 euros a month, with food and accommodation covered aboard while you work, so most of that pay is disposable. Daywork typically pays around 120 to 180 euros a day. On busy charter yachts, tips can add a meaningful amount on top across a season. Pay climbs quickly with experience and rank, so a chief stew, chef, or engineer earns far more. The best way to see current, real figures is to read live job listings where captains post actual salaries.
No. A legitimate crew agency is paid by the boat or the management company, never by the crew. If any agency asks you for a fee to place you in a job, treat that as a warning sign and walk away. Registering with reputable agencies in Antibes is free and a normal part of the process. Register with several, do it in person where you can, keep your certificates ready, and stay in friendly regular contact so you are the crew they remember when a boat calls needing someone that day.
Yes, and the smartest crew do both. More captains now post roles directly online to hire quickly and skip agency fees, which means more jobs are visible and applying is free. Yacht Service Network lets you see and apply to real Riviera yacht crew jobs, keep your CV and certificates in one profile captains can find, and manage all your applications in one place at no cost. Run your online applications alongside dockwalking and agencies rather than instead of them, so you reach every boat that might hire you. Set up a free profile, keep it current, and let the online jobs work for you while you walk the quay.