Steward / Personal Trainer
A steward or stewardess who is also a qualified personal trainer. You do the full interior job of service, cabins and laundry. When an owner or charter guest wants a workout, you run it. Yachts hire for this when they want a trainer on board but cannot spare a cabin for a dedicated one. Your contract will usually say which half of the job comes first.
The jobWhat fills the day
Most days you are a working stew. That means breakfast service, turning down cabins, laundry, polishing and keeping the interior to the standard the chief stew sets. On top of that you look after the gym and the fitness kit. That covers cleaning and checking the equipment, logging any faults for the engineers, and keeping towels, mats and water stocked. When a guest books a session you step off the interior rota and run it. That might be a gym workout, a beach circuit, a run ashore or stretching on the sundeck.
With the owner aboard the routine is often fixed: a 07:00 session every day and a programme you build around their goals and any injuries. Charter is less predictable. Some groups never go near the gym. Others want two classes a day plus paddleboard fitness. On a 45m yacht you may be the only person doing service and housekeeping for part of the day, so any time spent training puts pressure on everyone else. On 70m and up there is usually a spa team you can slot into, and the trainer side of the job grows.
Captains and chief stews want someone who is a good stew first. A Level 3 personal training qualification or an equivalent such as NASM, ACE or REPs-recognised is the minimum. You also need an STCW Basic Safety certificate, an ENG1 and real experience coaching clients. Gym instructors from hotels, cruise ships and private clubs move into this role well, particularly if they have done some hospitality work. Yoga or Pilates on top makes you more useful and helps your CV get shortlisted.
There are two ways up. If you stay on the interior side, you move to second stew, then chief stew, and fitness becomes a useful extra. If you lean into the trainer side, you can join a large yacht's spa team as a dedicated personal trainer, or go private with one family. That job often follows them between the yacht, their homes and hotels. Some trainers move on to become spa managers. Building a strong book of references from owners and principals counts for more than collecting extra certificates.
Skills captains look for
- Silver service and housekeeping
- Programme design for adults
- Injury-aware coaching
- Gym equipment care
- Group and outdoor classes
- Discretion with principals
- Flexible daily scheduling
A day aboardCharter day, 55m motor yacht, Exumas, Bahamas
Set up the sundeck with mats, kettlebells and water before guests wake. Check the gym and wipe down the rower and bike.
Forty-five minute circuit for three charter guests, adjusted for one guest's bad knee. Then a short stretch while the deck crew wash down.
Change into service uniform and help with breakfast service in the aft deck dining area.
Cabin rotation with the third stew: beds, bathrooms, restocking amenities. Laundry goes on between cabins.
Lunch service on the beach club while guests use the water toys.
Two hours off. Your own workout in the crew area, then a rest in the cabin.
Stand-up paddleboard fitness session off the swim platform with the deckhand driving the tender as safety boat.
Evening turndown, then help with dinner service and clearing the bar.
Off watch once the chief stew releases you. Tomorrow's session plan is already written.
Pay by yacht sizeMonthly, before tips. Estimates. Bars share one scale.
Charter tips are shared equally among the crew and can add 10-20 percent of the charter fee per trip. Some owners pay a personal bonus to a trainer they rate. Rotation is rare below 80m. See the Stewardess & Interior Crew salary guide for figures from live adverts.
Tickets and visas
Must have
- STCW Basic Safety Training
- ENG1 medical certificate
- Level 3 Personal Trainer or equivalent (NASM, ACE)
- Current first aid and CPR
Gets you hired
- GUEST Introduction to Yacht Interior
- Food Hygiene Level 2
- PDSD
- Yoga or Pilates teaching certificate
- RYA Powerboat Level 2
Visas
- B1/B2 US visa
- Schengen access
Where it leadsA typical career path
Stewardess & Interior Crew jobsOpen now on SuperyachtRoles.com
Questions crew ask
Do I need yacht experience to get this job?
It helps a lot. Yachts with no experienced crew on board will often take a strong trainer with hotel or restaurant service experience, though. Doing a season of daywork in Antibes or Palma first makes you a much easier hire.
How much of the job is actually training?
On most yachts it is under a quarter of your hours. Some charters it is close to none. If you only want to coach, look for dedicated personal trainer roles on yachts of 80m and up.
Does a personal training qualification raise my pay?
Usually by a few hundred dollars a month over a stew role on the same yacht. The bigger benefit is that you stand out from other candidates and build relationships with owners, which can lead to private work.
What equipment will the yacht have?
Anything from a few dumbbells and a rower on a 45m to a full gym with a Technogym line on a 90m. Bring resistance bands and a programme you can run with almost no kit.