How and When We Hire a Car While Traveling

You can’t always explore a place by boat. Sometimes you need a good way to move around on land. Our usual answer to this problem is to run, walk, bike, or skate.

But sometimes we want to go further — and so we hire a car! The promise of air conditioning for a day is also quite a compelling factor.

So, how and when do we hire cars?

How We Hire a Car

Hiring a car from a boat is very similar to hiring a car while on holiday — you just have to find a way to get to the rental place.

Most of the time we’ll look online, find a company and phone number, and organise things from there. Other times we’ll be walking through town, see rental signs, and reach out that way.

Once we’ve organised the time, cost, and place of pickup (more on cost in a minute), we’ll head in and grab the keys.

Sometimes — actually, most times if I’m honest — it’s not that simple and someone ends up running a few kilometres to get the car. But oh well!

How Much It Costs to Hire a Car

Let’s talk cash for a second.

The cost of a rental car varies greatly from country to country, but I can give you a rough idea of what we usually pay.

For a small four-door, five-seater — something like a VW Polo or Suzuki Swift — which is usually one of the cheapest options, we normally pay around $40–$80 AUD per day (USD conversion).

I know your brain hurts when I say five-seater — yes, there are six of us, and yes, we hire five-seater cars. Use your imagination!

When we do need a bigger car that actually has enough seats, things get much more expensive, so we rarely get one. These usually cost $80–$120 AUD per day or more (USD conversion).

The next thing to mention is insurance. You know when they give you all the options like windscreen protection or scratch protection so that if something happens you’re not paying a huge fee? Sometimes those protection fees can be pretty reasonable.

Depending on the feel of the place you’re in, the roads, and the other drivers you’ve seen, it’s up to you whether or not you want the extra protection. If the company offers it, we usually take it — sometimes it’s better to play it safe.

A quick tip here: always make sure you know the full price of the rental before you drive away. It sounds obvious, but just double-check! Some rental people can be a bit cheeky.

When We Hire a Car

So what circumstances call for a hire car when you live on a boat? Here are a few common ones:

Exploring Waterfalls and Remote Spots

Sometimes we want to explore something like a waterfall on the other side of the island. We’re not going to move the boat because there’s no anchorage and it’s windy. We’re also not running there because the waterfall is 35 km away.

The answer? A hire car.

Big Grocery Runs

Sometimes it’s time to stock up on heaps of groceries and the store is far away. When we know we’ll be buying far too much to carry — and definitely won’t fit in a taxi or Uber — hiring a car makes life much easier.

Running Around a Big City for Boat Parts

This happens quite a lot. We’ll be in a big city needing boat parts from several different stores. Since taxis and Ubers charge for every ride, it’s usually cheaper to hire a car and run around town on your own schedule.

Exploring More of the Island

This is probably the most common reason we hire a car. We always want to see as much of the places we visit as possible, and the best way to do that is often driving around the island or town.

You’ll find things you never would have seen if you’d stayed on board.

Getting to a Surf Spot

Sometimes, in places like South Africa or New Zealand, the best surf spots aren’t near the boat. That means hiring a car, loading it with people, boards, and wetsuits, and making the most of the session.

A Few of Our Favourite Places We’ve Hired a Car

I thought I’d throw in a fun list of some of our favourite places to rent a car.

South Africa. Mind-blowing roads and incredible landscapes. It’s really cool to explore by land when the boat is sitting safely in the marina.

Thailand. Specifically Phuket. It’s busy and everything is quite spread out, so hiring a car makes it much easier to get around. Oh, and since it’s Asia — you should definitely rent a scooter motorbike for a day too!

Seychelles. The views from some of the island roads are amazing, and you can actually do a full lap of the island in one day.

New Zealand. You absolutely have to do some road-tripping in New Zealand. There’s so much to see.

Panama. Hiring a car helps a lot here when stocking up before crossing the Pacific. We actually ended up renting a van and filling it with food!

Indonesia. Don’t get a car — get a scooter motorbike! It’s so much fun driving around, and somehow you see more when you’re on a moto.

Summary

Hopefully you’ve learnt a bit about what it looks like when we hire a car from the boat.

It’s always a fun time when we jump in a car — which I know most people would think is ridiculous — but it’s true!

Hiring a car almost always pays off, so knowing how and when to rent one while traveling can be really helpful.

If you have any questions or tips from hiring a car yourself, please comment and let us know!