Due to recent issues with the Bureau of Custom at the Philippines port of Davao, cruisers are strongly advised to avoid visiting the area. Holiday Oceanview Marina, Samal Island is not accepting any new arrivals until the Customs issues are resolved.

Published 19 hours ago, updated 8 hours ago

Cruisers have reported that The Bureau Of Customs in Davao has been serving vessels at the Holiday Oceanview Marina with Customs notice that they are only allowed to stay 15 days and vessels who have exceeded this are going to be assessed for import tax at 40% of the value of their vessels and warned that boats could be treated as abandoned and seized.

Cruisers Hit with Overstay and Import Duty Notice

In a comment posted to Noonsite, cruisers currently in Oceanview Marina stated:

“We have been attempting to get clearance from customs for nearly a week. Nobody there understands what is going on and they just keep suggesting we speak to an agent. Perhaps customs want an agent to explain to them what they need to do. We arrived five months ago and have been working on our boat in Oceanview Marina since then. We were cleared by customs when we arrived, and given the all clear of any import taxes. There was no mention of the 15 days only that the vessel was allowed to stay before it became subject to import duty. Two weeks ago all vessels received a notice from customs advising that we had overstayed this 15 days and were going to be assessed for import tax at 40% of the valued of our vessels.”

Francis Hawkings of the Royal Cruising Club Pilotage Foundation (RCCPF) and the author of The Pacific Crossing Guide 4th Edition emailed Noonsite with some background information and practical advice on dealing with the situation.

“Although cruisers in the Philippines have to be careful about keeping their immigration status up to date, it has always been understood that once a foreign yacht is sailing in the Philippines, it can stay without limit (provided it remains a foreign yacht with valid registration overseas and doesn’t engage in commercial activities),” he said.

“In 2025, however, the Bureau of Customs in Davao (and only Davao as of August 2025) started to demand that all the yachts in Holiday Oceanview Marina, Samal Island submit the sort of Goods Declaration required of commercial ships, irrespective of how long the yachts had been in the Philippines and regardless of the fact that the yachts had already been cleared into the Philippines by the Bureau of Customs when they first arrived in the county.

The Bureau gave no guidance on how to make the Declaration and could not make a form available, other than saying “send your documents” by email. The Bureau of Customs threatened to treat the boats as abandoned (and therefore liable to sale by the Bureau) if owners did not make their Declarations. The concern, apart from the inconvenience of making some complicated yet vague Declaration and possible penalties for not doing so (up to forfeiture of the vessel), is that the Bureau would deem the yachts and their contents to have been formally imported into the Philippines and hence liable to pay import duty at some huge rate (as much as 50%). The Davao Bureau appears to be claiming that six months is the duty-free limit and has apparently tried to charge duty on boats who have tried to leave recently.”

Situation Remains Unclear

“It is not clear whether the Davao Customs problem is a fast- or slow-moving situation,” says Francis Hawkings.  “The best way to find out the latest situation would be to follow the Sailing Philippines WhatsApp and/or Facebook groups, or from the Marina itself.”

• WhatsApp: WhatsApp Philippines Group Invitation Link
• Facebook: Sail The Philippines
• Holiday Oceanview Marina manager: Dina
  • Email:  holidaygroup.oceanviewmarina@gmail.com
  • Cellphone: +63 917 326 2003

Verify Local Information

Local advice is for cruisers planning to go to Mindanao to avoid  Davao for now and consider Surigao as the practical alternative; reports note that Surigao Customs is not following Davao’s approach.  However, advice is also to verify information locally before arrival if possible.

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Related Links:

• Republic of the Philippines – Department of Finance – Bureau of Customs

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