Palmerston - Clearance
It is imperative that all sailing vessels planning to visit Palmerston clear into a designated port of entry first, before visiting Palmerston. It is no longer possible to clear in here.
Palmerston Island officials also require an Advance Notification of Arrival (Form 27).
See Cook Islands Formalities for complete clearance information.
Biosecurity
Following a rat-eradication project in July and August 2023, the Palmerston Island Government re-opened their border from 1st October 2023. However, more stringent biosecurity measures have been implemented to ensure no rats are introduced to the island. This means all items (bags) to be brought ashore will be inspected on board vessels by the biosecurity officer to ensure no reintroduction of rats into Palmerston.
Arrival
On approach (maximum 15nm), all yachts must call Palmerston Island Administration on VHF Channel 16 with an approximate time of arrival.
Locals monitor the channel 24/7 and the community will send someone out in a skiff to assist with mooring/anchoring.
Yachts are welcome to stay for as long as their permit allows them, but still have to be checked by the Executive Officer and have to pay the local government landing fee.
Fees:
- Palmerston Island Council has increased Landing Fees from NZ$5 to NZ$10 per person. Landing fees are compulsory for all persons coming ashore on Palmerston.
- Other currencies not accepted.
- All fees collected are used for development/services purposes on the island.
Departure
Yachts cannot be cleared out of the Cooks from Palmerston, they must return to one of the official ports of entry to clear out.
Last updated: September 2023
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Related to following destinations: Cook Islands, Palmerston, Southern Cook Islands
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Palmerston Island Government with its multi-agency partners will be implementing a rat eradication project in July and August 2023. The bait laying phase of the project will take place during the month of August and the Palmerston Island Government has imposed a restriction on visitors to Palmerston during this month. Ships and sailing vessels (small crafts) are restricted from calling into Palmerston during this period until the restriction is lifted.
Received from Olivier at AVP in French Polynesia via email:
A friend’s catamaran (Oxygen) stopped at Palmerston on April 18th/19th, arriving at night.
They found the moorings field, and tied to a first mooring, which immediately broke its line. A second mooring also broke its line right away.
The owner then decided to anchor, but for the first time in over 6 years, the anchor dragged (thankfully on all three occasions, the boat drifted away from the reef).
The 4th attempt was successful and after a short night’s sleep, they were told (as half expected) that they were not allowed to disembark.
They proceeded to raise the hook, only to find it was wedged between two underwater “cliffs”, requiring a scuba dive to free the chain in over 20m of water and a distance of 50+ meters.
Not a good experience for them and a warning to future visitors as to the state of the mooring lines.
The boat has now arrived safely in Fiji.
I would like to respond to Olivier’s email of April 28, 2022, copied below.
1) S V ‘Oxygen’ was in breach of Cook Is Maritime Border regulations as the maritime border was closed to all vessels at the time (arrival 18 April).
2) S V ‘Oxygen’ made no attempt to inform Cook Islands authorities and / or the Palmerston Is authorities declaring an emergency need to stop over in Palmerston.
All other genuine vessels in distress requiring assistance, rest or repairs that have stopped over in Palmerston since the closure of our maritime borders in 2020/2021 had the courtesy to make contact beforehand and we have attempted to assist them as is possible under restrictions.
3) The Palmerston Is police officer contacted SV Oxygen’ the next morning (19 April) informing it of the border closure, as to the vessel’s intention and that they are not to disembark and they need to depart as per the regulations.
4) In this instance this vessel got off lightly without any prosecution being pursued.
5) In reference to the state of mooring lines, you tie up to them at your own risk. Note we have been closed for 2 years (2020, 2021) NO MOORING LINES HAVE BEEN CHECKED OR MAINTAINED SINCE because there has been no need to. This is what happens when you just show up thinking you have full entitlement to call into Palmerston Is when the Cook Islands maritime border is closed.
6) NOTE – Cook Is Maritime Border has been opened since May 1st 2022.
Palmerston Island is not a Port of Call. Regrettably no approval will be granted to any vessel seeking to visit Palmerston Island in 2022. At this stage Palmerston Island Government does not have the capacity to satisfy national health, biosecurity, customs, immigration and security agencies processes. This will be reviewed again in early 2023. Once national agencies are satisfied with our capacity to undertake these processes we will give notification.
Regards,
Arthur Neale
Executive Officer
Palmerston Island Administration
From Will Rowe via email:
My wife and I have the only AIS station on Palmerston to assist approach. We also provide internet and weather update facilities free of charge to all cruisers no matter whom they are hosted by on Palmerston.
We check the AIS traffic and our email every four to six hours.
Vessels intending on making Palmerston their next port of call can contact us at [email protected] and expect a prompt reply with answers to any questions they may have.
Meitaki korereka,
Will Rowe
DO visit Palmerston! We did so this year and the welcome was just wonderful.
We contacted Bill Marsters in advance and brought much-needed supplies from Rarotonga. Our reward was to be adopted, fed, and brought into their daily life, with No Charge for the use of their (newly laid) mooring.
Bill’s wife Metua makes delightful necklaces and wristbands and various other beautiful mementos and gifts for very reasonable prices. I bought a shell necklace for my 96y/o mother and mailed it to her – she wears it every day! I and my 3 crew had a wonderful time, and we cannot praise Bill, Metua and their lovely family, enough.
I cannot say how the other families treat you, but I can wholeheartedly recommend getting in touch with Bill and stopping with him if you can.
Only one caveat……the mooring is on the reef, which will be a lee shore if the wind becomes N round to W. We only left because a trough was coming, which would have – and did, I am told – make the anchorage untenable.