Prices have gone up for “clearance” in January 2015 due to transport costs of the officials to visit the harbour or your yacht to be paid by the yacht owner(new 1/1/2015). And there is an Ebola check now so also ICA (ministery of agriculture) is involved now. Total price (up to 2-month stay) has gone up to us$280-$350 ( Jan 2015) Agent costs are just about $100. It really is a lot of work. (23 forms) White Light agency (Manfred +57 311 400 6394) in Cartagena did his work well. You have to show up several times( different days) to sign papers If you are with a group of several yachts you can negotiate as “travel cost” and ” propinia” can be shared.
We sailed from Aruba with next port of call “Cartagena”.

We stopped 4 to 5 times in Colombia and even were visited by the coastguard for ” inspection” No trouble at all”. Do not say “your motor broke down” or they order a mechanic for repairs. Only the captain can decide or he is too tired or it is blowing too hard) We were 3 weeks on route to Cartagena. We did not stop in Santa Marta but just anchored in Taganga 2 miles north and went by public bus. If you cleared in Santa Marta (Marina is also Agency to clear you in now) you have to pay again in Cartagena only for the Port registry and Agent fee in Cartagena). (Cartagena port control have an AIS receiver and sent you a request to contact them) .

Nb The port captain legally only deal with agents. Other officials can be done by yourselves but I certainly do NOT recommend this as is see how time-consuming this is (days) even for a professional as your agent
!!! White light Agency gave us a sound bill with all costs specified). Nb the noonsite info ” New Fees” dates from November 2011 so is not up to date anymore!)

Just to let you know we are now hosting both the Colombia Tourism’s Cruising Guide Book as well as our Pacific Lesser Known Coast of Colombia cruising guides on our website:
http://www.svsarana.com/free_guides.php#COL

The tourism’s book is a massive 300Mb so we encourage only people who really plan on cruising there to download it. Otherwise, it costs us a lot to host such a big file.
Eric & Sherrell – SV Sarana

Arrived at IGY marina in Santa Marta on Nov 1st 2013 and stayed until mid-January 2014 whilst we travelled extensively in Columbia and Ecuador. We had the marina highly recommended to us and we also had our agent Dino also highly recommended and both were absolutely right. The staff at the marina were courteous, friendly and very helpful at all times, and facilities were excellent with showers, laundry, lounge and clean toilets.
Dino was superb.

He handled all the customs and immigration requirements efficiently and effectively, keeping us informed throughout, and even attempted to teach us Spanish! Sorry, we weren’t such good pupils Dino!
Santa Marta is a great base to travel from in this corner of SA. Cartegena is one of the prettiest cities you could imagine, but make sure to stay in the old town.

Bogota is a ‘must’, very cosmopolitan, with many museums (particularly the Gold Museum), opera house and much more – get a guide, it’s a good investment.
Barichara is a short flight and taxi ride from Bogota but is another ‘must see’ place. Stay in one of the fabulous little boutique guest houses, and do the walk from there to Guane – fantastic!
We moved on to Ecuador to do Quito, Cotopaxi, and a week in the Yasuni National Park experiencing pristine Amazonian rainforest – stupendous! Then the easy trip back to Santa Marta via Bogota.

Peter and Helen
S/V Common Crossing
Tatyana 48cc