APA (Advance Provisioning Allowance) is pre-paid money the captain spends on trip running costs.
APA stands for Advance Provisioning Allowance. It is not a fee and not the charter price: it is your own money, paid in advance, that the captain spends on your trip as it happens — fuel for the boat and tender, food and drinks, marina and port fees, water and shore power, and similar running costs [1].
It exists so you are not settling a bill at every fuel dock and quay; the captain pays as you go and you get one account at the end [2].
The operator sets it as a percentage of the charter price, usually somewhere between 20% and 40% [2]. Sailing yachts sit at the lower end because they burn little fuel; motor yachts sit higher because fuel is most of what the APA pays for [3].
On charter.boats you see the operator's own rate and the amount for your dates before you book — for example "APA (30% of list price)". The percentage is taken on the operator's list price, before any discount, so on a discounted week the APA is a bigger share of what you actually pay. Where an operator states it on the price before VAT and we can't be sure how tax applies, the amount is marked "est.".
The APA does not cover the charter itself, VAT on it, or crew tips [1].
On each boat the APA is shown under Deposits, beside the security deposit, and in the price box on its own line under the Total — marked either "charged now, included in Due now" or "paid at pickup, not included in price", depending on the operator.
It is not the security deposit: the deposit is a guarantee against damage that you get back if nothing is damaged, while the APA is spent on your trip.
Send the crew a preference sheet before you go — what you eat and drink, how much you want to motor, whether you prefer anchorages or marinas — and ask for the APA statement at the end [5].
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