Costa Rica Tightens Procedure for Visiting Yachts

Created by webmaster. Last modified on 2002-08-19 00:50:55
Contributors: Bruce Blevins
Topic: Cruising Information
Countries: Costa Rica

In the past Costa Rica's customs department would gladly except a photo copy of the documentation for port clearance procedures. Unfortunately, several individuals falsified copies of vessel documentation, and created a serious problem for the customs officers. As a result of those incidents, Customs often requests to see original documentation (with valid dates on all stickers, and in the case of a vessel that is registered to a corporation or registered to a person that will not be aboard, a letter of authorization from the owner or the corporation will be helpful. Port clearance in Golfito is very straightforward and the attending officers are very professional, courteous and go out of their way to be helpful. It would probably be more accurate to say that some dishonest boat owners made it difficult for the Customs officers to accept Banana Bay Marina offers assistance to minimize delays with the clearance process.

Bruce Blevins