5 APA Costs Every Porto Cervo Charter Provisioning Plan Covers

Provisioning a multi-day charter from Porto Cervo raises one recurring question: what does the APA actually cover before the first case of wine or fresh catch goes aboard? The short answer is that the Advance Provisioning Allowance funds running costs incurred during the charter — fuel, marina and anchorage fees, food and drink, and incidental crew expenses — separate from the charter fee itself. Understanding this split before you order ahead saves confusion once the yacht leaves Porto Cervo marina.

What Does an APA Actually Cover on a Multi-Day Sardinia Charter?

The Advance Provisioning Allowance, or APA, is not part of the charter fee — it is a working fund the crew draws on for costs incurred while you are aboard. On a multi-day charter departing Porto Cervo or Palau, this typically covers fuel burned between anchorages, marina and mooring fees at stops such as Porto Rotondo or Palau marina, food and drink ordered for the guests, and incidental costs the captain settles on your behalf, from ice to dockage. The charter fee pays for the yacht and crew; the APA pays for what the yacht consumes while running. Any unspent balance is returned at the end of the charter, and any shortfall is settled before disembarkation — which is why a clear breakdown before booking, not after, matters more on longer itineraries than on a single day out.

Where Provisioning Actually Happens Before You Leave

Porto Cervo marina has a small supermarket and chandlery, useful for topping up but not built for provisioning a full multi-day run. Crews planning longer circuits — a Costa Smeralda island-hop toward Porto Rotondo and Cala di Volpe, or a longer passage south — generally provision through Olbia or Palau, both of which offer wider supplier access for meat, fish and wine. If you are ordering ahead, discuss quantities and dietary requirements directly with the captain once vessel and route are confirmed; a family day trip into the Maddalena Archipelago carries very different provisioning needs from a week aboard covering the Bonifacio Strait and back. Browse our [fleet in Sardinia](#) to see which vessels suit which route before locking in numbers. Ordering through the crew rather than an outside supplier also keeps everything inside the APA ledger, so nothing arrives as a separate invoice once you are back at the dock.

Matching Route Length to the Provisioning List

A shallow, sheltered day circuit through the Maddalena Archipelago — Cala Corsara on Spargi is a common stop — needs little more than lunch, drinks and ice, since the yacht returns to Porto Cervo or Palau by evening. A multi-day run along the Costa Smeralda toward Porto Rotondo, or further south to anchorages like Cala Luna, changes the calculation: breakfasts, multiple dinners, and provisioning for a crew cooking aboard for several nights all draw on the APA rather than a single afternoon's budget. Longer itineraries also carry more fuel cost per mile covered, so a route that runs 30-40 nautical miles as a day trip looks very different once it is stretched across three or four days with overnight anchorages added. See our [Sardinia day-charter itinerary](#) for a sense of how a shorter circuit compares before deciding on a longer route.

What Your APA Breakdown Should Itemise Before You Order Ahead

A workable APA breakdown reads like a working budget, not a single lump figure. Before ordering ahead, ask for these lines separately:

1. Fuel consumption - tied to the nautical miles the planned route actually covers, not a flat estimate that ignores whether you are doing a short Maddalena circuit or a longer Costa Smeralda run. 2. Marina and mooring fees - costs for stops such as Porto Rotondo or overnight positions inside the Maddalena Archipelago National Park, where anchorage rules can apply. 3. Food and beverage - what is being ordered ahead for the group, kept separate from general crew incidentals so you can see exactly what you are paying for. 4. Crew incidentals - ice, dockage charges, and small on-the-spot purchases the captain settles during the trip. 5. Clearance costs - relevant only if the itinerary crosses the Bonifacio Strait toward Corsica, where French customs formalities apply. 6. A contingency line - covering changes made if the afternoon Maestrale forces a different anchorage than the one originally planned.

Ask to see this itemised before departure from Porto Cervo or Palau, not as a single total handed over at the end.

Customs, the Maestrale and Multi-Day Route Changes

Multi-day itineraries that cross the Bonifacio Strait toward Corsica carry an additional layer: French customs clearance at Bonifacio, which experienced crews handle as part of route planning rather than an afterthought. Closer to home, the afternoon Maestrale is a real factor across the Sardinian Strait through July and August — skippers brief on it each morning and adjust anchorage choice rather than holding to a fixed plan regardless of conditions. That matters for provisioning too: a crew that shifts from an exposed anchorage to a sheltered one may need supplies loaded and secured earlier in the day than originally planned. Building this flexibility into the APA discussion, rather than assuming a straight line from Porto Cervo to the final anchorage, is part of what separates a workable multi-day plan from one written on paper alone.

Plan Your Charter

Provisioning a multi-day charter from Porto Cervo works best when the route, the vessel and the APA breakdown are settled together, before a single order goes in. Whether the plan is a short run into the Maddalena Archipelago