HUB · TIER 1 · UPDATED AUGUST 2026
Palma for green yacht crew: when to arrive, where to stay, who hires
Fort Lauderdale
United States, Florida
Best windowSeptember to November
PassportUS visa in your passport first
Hub pageChapter 06Newport
United States, Rhode Island
Best windowMay to October
PassportUS visa in your passport first
Hub pageChapter 06Antibes
France
Best windowMarch to May
PassportSchengen visa or exemption
Hub pageChapter 06Palma
Spain, Mallorca
Best windowMarch to May
PassportSchengen visa or exemption
Hub pageChapter 06
Second tier: St Maarten, Antigua, Viareggio, Auckland, Sydney, Dubai, San Diego. Cape Town for cheaper certificates.
Palma is a first tier Mediterranean hiring and refit hub, so crew beds cluster in three walkable pockets.
The three pockets
The old town and La Lonja hold Hostal Apuntadores, The Boat House Palma and The Crew House, all near Moll Vell and the crew agents based there. Santa Catalina holds Urban Hostel Palma, Crew Property's Son Espanyolet flat and the Caimari and Santa Catalina Properties office. The streets around the STP shipyard are where agencies pitch a 10 to 15 minute walk to the yard gate. Bluewater's Palma office sits in La Llonja, which is why most recommendations point back to the same square mile.
What a bed costs in 2026
Dedicated crew house beds start around EUR 20 to 25 a night for the most basic shared room. A budget hostal double at Apuntadores or Urban Hostel runs roughly EUR 18 to 65 depending on the season. A monthly furnished flat through an agency runs into the low thousands, with short stay surcharges: Crew Property adds 20 percent under a four month minimum. A room in an ordinary shared Palma flat averaged about EUR 750 a month as of mid 2026.
The March to May squeeze
Hiring traffic peaks March through June, with a smaller wave late September into October, and crew houses fill before then. Every source says the same thing. Book ahead, do not arrive and hope.
Deposits and one name to avoid
The clearest warning in this sweep concerns SUYT, long recommended as an apartment share service near STP. Its site is now a parked domain, and a Tripadvisor Palma forum thread titled "Avoid the rental agency Suyt.es" describes an unadvertised cash only check in fee, a refusal to issue a second key, and a damage claim raised after checkout. Treat any guide still naming SUYT as stale.
Legitimate crew houses here run like hostels. You pay as you go, there is no lease and usually no deposit, so a crew house demanding a wire transfer before arrival is a flag. A few names from a 2022 round up, Hostal Ritzi, Hostal Corona and The Palma Estate Agency, had no current booking trace and were dropped rather than carried forward unverified.
How crew actually book
Word of mouth and the big Facebook groups do most of the matching. Crew houses and hostals take direct website or phone bookings, and the budget hostels also sit on Booking.com and Hostelworld. Agencies work by phone or email against current listings rather than instant booking.
Where these came from
acrew.com, sovrencrew.com, yachtinsidersguide.com, palmayachtcrew.com, mycrewkit.com, apuntadoreshostal.com, theboathousepalma.com, crewproperty.es, santacatalinaproperties.com, suyt.es, crewhouse.net, Booking.com, Hostelworld and Tripadvisor, all checked 19 August 2026. A 2022 yachting-pages.com article was used for background only.
Where crew stay: 11 places, checked 19 August 2026
| Name | Type | Status | From | Min stay | Distance | Booking | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hostal Apuntadores 8 (UepHotels)Not crew-only, but repeatedly named in crew guides as the go-to budget hostal in Old Town near the marina and crew agents. Rates fluctuate hard with tourist season. | Hostel | EUR 64 a night | Close to Moll Vell and the marina area; widely cited in crew guides as walkable to shipyards and crew agents | Website, Booking.com | 19 Aug 2026 | ||
| The Boat House PalmaNamed first in most Palma crew house round-ups. Site is JS-rendered (GoDaddy builder) so no prices could be scraped; exact address and rates need a direct enquiry. | Crew house | no published rate | Central Old Town; cited as walkable to marina and shipyards in multiple crew guides | Website, Email, Phone | 19 Aug 2026 | ||
| Crew Property (crewproperty.es)Monthly-rental agency for crew apartments, not a per-night crew house. Listed price was not published on the page (site said 'contact for rate'); a 20 percent surcharge applies under 4 months. | Agency run | no published rate | 1 month (4 months to avoid a 20% short-stay surcharge) | Son Espanyolet listing is a 5 min walk to Santa Catalina; distances vary by property | Website, Email, Phone | 19 Aug 2026 | |
| Urban Hostel PalmaNot crew-dedicated but sits in Santa Catalina, the area Caimari and others name as crew-friendly. Fallback if crew houses are full. | Hostel | EUR 18 a night | In Santa Catalina, one of the areas crew guides recommend for proximity to marinas and shipyards | Website, Hostelworld, Booking.com | 19 Aug 2026 | ||
| New Art Hostel - Albergue JuvenilGeneral youth hostel in Portixol, not crew-dedicated; useful fallback for crew wanting the Portixol side of town rather than Old Town/Santa Catalina. | Hostel | EUR 23 a night | 500 m from Portixol Beach, about 15 min walk to Old Town | Booking.com, Hostelworld | 19 Aug 2026 | ||
| Palma Port Hostel (Albergue Juvenil)Named 'Port' but sits west toward Bellver Castle, not walkable to the marina/STP. One August 2026 review flagged bedbugs alongside otherwise clean reports; check current reviews before booking. | Hostel | no published rate | 2.8 km from the city centre; not an easy walk to STP or Moll Vell despite the name | Hostelworld | 19 Aug 2026 | ||
| Crew Guest House PalmaSame contact block repeated across several crew-house articles with no fetchable evidence dated 2025 or 2026. Apply only via the Facebook group; could not confirm it is still taking bookings. | Crew house | Unsure | no published rate | 15 min walk to marina, STP shipyard and yacht club | 19 Aug 2026 | ||
| The Crew HouseWeekly and long-term apartments per crew-guide directories, with a real address in La Lonja. Could not confirm current trading: the live domain now shows only a generic app shell, not the original crew-house content. Call before relying on it. | Crew house | Unsure | no published rate | La Lonja, walkable to the marina area | Email, Phone | 19 Aug 2026 | |
| Caimari Estate Agency & Crew Accommodation (Santa Catalina Properties)30-year Santa Catalina estate agency historically recommended for captains and crew, but the live site's copyright footer dates to 2019 and current listings look like general real-estate sales, not crew room shares. Confirm by phone before relying on it. | Agency run | Unsure | EUR 3,400 a month | Santa Catalina, close to Paseo Marítimo and STP | Website, Email, Phone | 19 Aug 2026 | |
| Monzly RentalsMonthly furnished-apartment rental aimed at STP and maritime-sector tenants, no agency fees claimed. Could not confirm it is still trading: the monzly.com domain would not resolve today even though third-party directories still list it. | Short let | Unsure | no published rate | Varies by apartment; office address is in Can Pastilla, not walkable to STP | Website, Email, Phone | 19 Aug 2026 | |
| Short let | Closedsuyt.es now serves a registrar parking page (webmail/control-panel links only, no business content), confirming the domain is no longer run by the business | no published rate | 10 min walk to STP and marina (historical claim, unverifiable now) | 19 Aug 2026 |
Also checked
- Port Adriano marina has crew facilities (crew bar, gym, transport) but no dedicated land-based crew house or hostel found; Monzly Rentals covers Mallorca broadly rather than Port Adriano specifically
- Puerto Andratx / Andratx search turned up only yacht charter listings and luxury villa rentals, no dedicated crew house or hostel found
- Accommodation Palma (accommodationpalma.com) domain now 301-redirects to santacatalinaproperties.com, treated as the same business (see Caimari entry)
- The Palma Estate Agency named in an older crew-guide round-up as a La Llonja short-term rental agency for crew; could not find a working site or any 2025/2026 evidence it still trades under this name
- Hostal Ritzi named in an older crew-guide round-up (near the Borne, old town, budget-friendly); no current listing found on any booking platform, likely closed or renamed
- Hostal Corona named in an older crew-guide round-up (foot of Bellver Castle); no current listing found on any booking platform, likely closed or renamed
- Hostal Terramar named in an older crew-guide round-up (harbour area, old town); confirmed to exist on Tripadvisor but could not pull the exact listing page, price, or a 2025/2026 date to confirm current status
- Hotel Colon named in the 2022 yachting-pages article as a budget option north of the centre near the bus/train station; not close to STP/marina and no crew-specific evidence found, so left out rather than force-fit
Checked by hand on 19 August 2026. Prices move, houses fill and owners change; confirm the rate and the deposit terms in writing before you pay anything. If a listing here is wrong, email ahoy@joinyachting.com and it will be fixed within a week.
Who hires here
AgenciesBluewater, Sovren Crew, Global Crew Services, Van Allen. Register with every one in your hub, then go and stand in front of them.
Job boardsYotspot, DayWork123.
Straight answers
When should I arrive in Palma?
March. Hiring traffic peaks March through June, with a smaller wave in late September and October, and the crew houses fill before that peak arrives.
What does a crew house bed cost in Palma?
Dedicated crew house beds start around EUR 20 to 25 a night for a basic shared room. A budget hostal double runs roughly EUR 18 to 65 depending on the season. A monthly furnished flat through an agency runs into the low thousands.
Which Palma crew accommodation should I avoid?
SUYT. Its site is now a parked domain and a Tripadvisor forum thread titled "Avoid the rental agency Suyt.es" describes an unadvertised cash only check in fee, a refusal to issue a second key, and a damage claim raised after checkout. Treat any guide still naming it as stale.