{
  "what_it_is": "Head-to-head charter comparisons: Croatia vs Greece, BVI vs Bahamas, Greece vs Turkey, Croatia vs Italy, Mallorca vs Ibiza, Thailand vs French Polynesia and catamaran vs monohull. Each has a direct answer and a verdict per traveller type, which is our published rule applied to the data (12 Knots prices, NASA POWER and NOAA weather, licence rules, itinerary distances), never a ranking by any source. The same answers as https://catamaranindex.com/compare/ . For any other pair use the MCP tool compare_destinations.",
  "checked": "2026-10-29",
  "method": {
    "V1": "On a budget, flexible dates: the side with the lower 12-month mean of 12 Knots' average weekly asking prices (our arithmetic). A gap under 5% of the lower mean is \"about the same\" (our choice).",
    "V2": "Fixed dates: no single pick. We list the months in which each side has the lower 12 Knots price (our arithmetic).",
    "V3": "Summer holidays: the side with the lower mean of the July and August prices; a gap under 5% of the lower figure is \"about the same\" (our choice).",
    "V4": "Christmas and New Year: the side with the lower December price; a gap under 5% is \"about the same\".",
    "V5": "Families with children: the higher best-month family score on our published method (calm wind, short hops, warm sea, season); scores within 5 points are a tie (our choice). No pick where a score is partial (Thailand) or both sides share one dataset (Mallorca and Ibiza).",
    "V6": "First charter without a sailing licence: the side whose licence regime is lower in the order none, résumé, not confirmed, licence required (our classification of the sources); the same regime is a tie. Beginner scores on our method are printed beside it.",
    "V7": "Steady wind or calm: no single pick. We print each side's force 6 days per year (22 kn or more, NASA POWER, 2016–2025, our calculation) and which side has more; a gap within 2 days is a tie (our choice).",
    "V8": "Warm water, snorkelling: the side with more months at 24 °C or more by NOAA's mean sea temperature at our reference point; equal counts are a tie.",
    "V9": "Seasonal weather risk: no pick. We quote each side's weather-risk answer and link its page.",
    "V10": "Fishing from the boat: no pick. We quote each side's licence rule and any warning from our fishing pages.",
    "airport": "Nearest airport to the base is our choice (not the airport with the best connections). Distances are straight lines between OpenStreetMap coordinates, our calculation; the road or ferry trip is longer. We make no claim about flights.",
    "truecost": "True cost per person = (12 Knots charter fee + fuel + 6 marina nights + mandatory extras + food at €20–40 per person per day) ÷ 6 people (our arithmetic, The Globe Sailor's September 2026 figures). Where a side has no Globe Sailor row (BVI, Bahamas, Thailand) the total is partial and the like-for-like row uses charter + food only for both sides.",
    "labels": "Verdicts are our rules applied to the data, not a ranking by any source. Means, differences, per-person totals, distances and verdicts are our arithmetic or our rules."
  },
  "constants": {
    "tie_pct": 5,
    "tie_score": 5,
    "tie_f6_days": 2
  },
  "answer": "We compare six destination pairs and catamaran vs monohull with the same sourced data: 12 Knots prices, NASA POWER and NOAA weather, official licence rules and our published rules. Over the year the cheaper side is Croatia, BVI, Greece and Turkey about the same, Croatia, Mallorca and Thailand, but the cheaper side in July and August differs for Croatia vs Greece, BVI vs Bahamas and Greece vs Turkey.",
  "comparisons": [
    {
      "id": "croatia-vs-greece",
      "title": "Croatia vs Greece",
      "answer": "Croatia is the cheaper of the two for a catamaran charter in 12 of 12 months: 12 Knots' average weekly asking price runs €3,558–9,324 in Croatia against €4,527–9,538 in Greece (updated October 2026). By our rules the best-weather months are June to September in Croatia and June to October in Greece; on licences both are \"Licence or recognised certificate needed\" in our classification, and Greece scores higher for families on our method (100 vs 80 out of 100).",
      "v1": "Croatia",
      "v3": "About the same",
      "api_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/api/compare/croatia-vs-greece.json",
      "canonical_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/compare/croatia-vs-greece/"
    },
    {
      "id": "bvi-vs-bahamas",
      "title": "BVI vs Bahamas",
      "answer": "The BVI is the cheaper of the two for a catamaran charter in 10 of 12 months: 12 Knots' average weekly asking price runs €6,816–9,773 in the BVI against €6,591–10,799 in the Bahamas (updated October 2026). By our rules the best-weather months are December to May in both the BVI and the Bahamas; on licences both are \"No legal licence found; sailing résumé\" in our classification, and the Bahamas scores higher for families on our method (87 vs 80 out of 100).",
      "v1": "BVI",
      "v3": "About the same",
      "api_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/api/compare/bvi-vs-bahamas.json",
      "canonical_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/compare/bvi-vs-bahamas/"
    },
    {
      "id": "greece-vs-turkey",
      "title": "Greece vs Turkey",
      "answer": "Greece and Turkey cost about the same over the year (€6,319 and €6,332 on average per week, our arithmetic on 12 Knots' prices), but Greece is cheaper in October to May and Turkey is cheaper in June to September (updated October 2026). By our rules the best-weather months are June to October in Greece and June to September in Turkey; on licences both are \"Licence or recognised certificate needed\" in our classification, and both score within 5 points for families on our method.",
      "v1": "About the same",
      "v3": "Turkey",
      "api_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/api/compare/greece-vs-turkey.json",
      "canonical_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/compare/greece-vs-turkey/"
    },
    {
      "id": "croatia-vs-italy",
      "title": "Croatia vs Italy",
      "answer": "Croatia is the cheaper of the two for a catamaran charter in 11 of 12 months: 12 Knots' average weekly asking price runs €3,558–9,324 in Croatia against €5,082–9,633 in Italy (updated October 2026). By our rules the best-weather months are June to September in both Croatia and Italy; on licences both are \"Licence or recognised certificate needed\" in our classification, and Italy scores higher for families on our method (96 vs 80 out of 100).",
      "v1": "Croatia",
      "v3": "Croatia",
      "api_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/api/compare/croatia-vs-italy.json",
      "canonical_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/compare/croatia-vs-italy/"
    },
    {
      "id": "mallorca-vs-ibiza",
      "title": "Mallorca vs Ibiza",
      "answer": "Mallorca is the cheaper of the two for a catamaran charter in 12 of 12 months: 12 Knots' average weekly asking price runs €4,170–9,602 in Mallorca against €6,439–11,687 in Ibiza (updated October 2026). By our rules the best-weather months are June to October in both Mallorca and Ibiza; on licences both are \"Licence or recognised certificate needed\" in our classification.",
      "v1": "Mallorca",
      "v3": "Mallorca",
      "api_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/api/compare/mallorca-vs-ibiza.json",
      "canonical_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/compare/mallorca-vs-ibiza/"
    },
    {
      "id": "thailand-vs-french-polynesia",
      "title": "Thailand vs French Polynesia",
      "answer": "Thailand is the cheaper of the two for a catamaran charter in 7 of 12 months: 12 Knots' average weekly asking price runs €4,996–10,235 in Thailand against €5,009–10,592 in French Polynesia (updated October 2026). By our rules the best-weather months are May to October in French Polynesia, and we name no best-weather months for Thailand, where the southwest monsoon usually runs from mid-May to mid-October; on licences Thailand is \"No legal licence found; sailing résumé\" and French Polynesia is \"No legal title for sailing craft\" in our classification.",
      "v1": "Thailand",
      "v3": "Thailand",
      "api_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/api/compare/thailand-vs-french-polynesia.json",
      "canonical_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/compare/thailand-vs-french-polynesia/"
    },
    {
      "id": "catamaran-vs-monohull",
      "title": "Catamaran vs monohull for a charter",
      "answer": "A catamaran charter costs about 2.3× a monohull's in Croatia and 2.2× in Greece per week on Mali brodari's 2026 averages (€6,258 vs €2,753 and €7,586 vs €3,425; ratios our arithmetic), and it burns more fuel and pays more for a marina berth. It suits families, groups and anyone who wants a flat, stable boat and shallow anchorages, while a monohull suits budgets and sailors who want to sail upwind, by the rules below.",
      "v1": "monohull",
      "v3": null,
      "api_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/api/compare/catamaran-vs-monohull.json",
      "canonical_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/compare/catamaran-vs-monohull/"
    }
  ],
  "canonical_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/compare/",
  "api_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/api/compare.json",
  "book_url": "https://catamaranindex.com/go/samboat?dest=catamarans&pos=api",
  "attribution": "Cite \"Catamaran Index\" with a link to the canonical_url of the page the figure comes from, and name the original source listed with it.",
  "affiliate_note": "book_url links go through /go/samboat, an affiliate link: Catamaran Index may earn a commission on bookings, at no extra cost to the traveller. It never changes the data."
}