Beauty Therapist
A yacht beauty therapist brings five-star spa standards to sea. You treat owners and charter guests in an onboard spa, often at odd hours and with no salon down the road to borrow from. Most yachts hire therapists who already have solid salon or hotel spa experience. They are also expected to pitch in with the interior team when the treatment room is quiet.
The jobWhat fills the day
The job covers the treatment side of the onboard spa. That means facials, manicures and pedicures, waxing, lash and brow work, spray tans and often some massage. You consult with each guest, keep treatment records, manage product stock and keep the spa to clinical hygiene standards. On most yachts you also do hair and make-up before dinners and events. Owners notice the details, so a spotless treatment room and an accurate booking sheet matter as much as your technique.
With guests aboard, your day runs to their timetable. Bookings stack up between lunch and dinner, and you may be doing a full set of nails at 23:00 before a party. Off charter the pace drops. You deep clean the spa, reorder product, service equipment and often help the interior team with housekeeping or laundry. In quiet weeks you will usually give crew treatments, which wins you a lot of goodwill. A spa that is fully booked in July can sit empty in a shipyard in February.
Dedicated beauty therapist roles are mostly on yachts of about 70m and up. There you usually work in a spa team of two to five under a spa manager. On 50 to 70m yachts the job is nearly always combined with stewarding and advertised as steward/beauty therapist. Expect to spend more hours on service and cabins than on treatments. Some private yachts over 90m carry a therapist who works almost entirely for the owner's family and travels with them.
Captains and chief stews look for a recognised Level 3 qualification, such as an NVQ, VRQ, CIBTAC or CIDESCO diploma. They also want at least two years in a five-star hotel spa, on a cruise ship or in a busy day spa. Brand training with Elemis, ESPA or similar helps. Adding massage qualifications moves you towards spa therapist roles, and from there to spa manager on a large yacht. Others go back ashore into hotel spa management or open their own clinic.
Skills captains look for
- Facials and skin analysis
- Gel and acrylic nails
- Waxing and threading
- Lash and brow treatments
- Event hair and make-up
- Spa hygiene and stock control
- Discretion with VIP guests
A day aboardCharter day, 85m motor yacht, Maldives
Set up the spa, sterilise tools and warm towels. Check the bookings the chief stew passed on after last night's dinner.
Hydrating facial for the charterer after two days of sun, with aftercare and SPF advice.
Manicures and pedicures for two guests on the sundeck, timed around their snorkelling trip.
Crew lunch in the mess and half an hour in your cabin.
Afternoon treatments back to back: a leg wax, gel nails and a lash lift. Note products used for the stock log.
Hair and make-up for three guests before a beach barbecue on a sandbank.
Dinner while the guests are ashore with the deck crew and chefs.
Clean and restock the spa, put the towels through the laundry and update the treatment records.
Off duty, but on call in case a guest asks for a late treatment.
Pay by yacht sizeMonthly, before tips. Estimates. Bars share one scale.
On charter yachts, tips of roughly 10-20% of the charter fee are shared among the crew and can add several thousand dollars a month in season. Rotation is rare but does exist on some larger private yachts. See the Spa, Wellness & Childcare salary guide for figures from live adverts.
Tickets and visas
Must have
- STCW Basic Safety Training
- ENG1 medical
- Level 3 Beauty Therapy (NVQ, VRQ, CIBTAC or CIDESCO)
Gets you hired
- PDSD
- Massage qualification (Swedish or deep tissue)
- Brand training (Elemis, ESPA or similar)
- GUEST interior course
- Food Hygiene Level 2
Visas
- B1/B2 (C1/D) for US waters
- Schengen visa if non-EU
Where it leadsA typical career path
Questions crew ask
Do I need yachting experience to get a beauty therapist job?
Not always, but it helps a lot. Large yachts with a spa team will take a strong therapist from a five-star hotel or cruise ship. On smaller yachts the role is combined with stewarding, so some interior experience makes you a much safer hire.
Will I have to do massage?
Usually yes, at least some. A yacht has limited cabin space, so captains want therapists who cover more than one discipline. Adding a recognised massage qualification makes you far easier to place.
Where do I find these jobs?
Most hiring happens in Antibes and Palma in spring, and in Fort Lauderdale before the Caribbean season. Register with crew agents, keep your STCW and ENG1 in date and have a portfolio of your nail and make-up work ready to send.
How much of my time will be spent on treatments?
It depends on the yacht and the guests. On a busy charter you may be fully booked every day. On a private yacht with an absent owner you could spend weeks helping the interior team, so go in expecting to work flexibly.