Hi from Distant Drummer

We’ve just been through the process of getting a permit for Isla del Coco and thought it was worth sharing the “latest” information.

You can download the forms from www. isladelcoco.go.cr
Fill in the application form for entry to PNIC and deliver it or send it to the Director of the ACMIC at the address below. Allow a minimum of 15 days prior to the date of expected arrival in PNIC.
Área de Conservación Marina Cocos
Parque Ecológico SINAC
Santo Domingo de Heredia (antiguo Inbio Parque)

The form must be sent with a cover letter giving the following additional information:
1. Full name, gender, passport number, nationality, date of birth for each person
2. Diving certification number of each diver
3. Itinerary of the activities planned in PNIC for each day of the visit including the number of persons carrying out each activity

Support documents:
1. Certified copies of passports for each person
2. Certified copy of the certification of seaworthiness or equivalent documents which specify the range of the vessel *
3. Evidence of permission to operate in Costa Rican waters. We submitted copies of our Zarpe and our Certificate of Temporary Importation
4. An affidavit stating that the vessel complies with the following requirements:

a) effective systems for handling emergencies
b) a holding tank for sanitary waste
c) a radio with marine frequencies

5. If you are planning on diving an affidavit stating that if the vessel meets the following requirements:

a) a life vest for each passenger
b) equipment necessary for a marine rescue

* We did not have a “Certificate of Seaworthiness” so we included in the affidavit a statement outlining our sailing experience on board Distant Drummer. We included certified copies of our arrival documents in French Polynesia and Hawaii to demonstrate nautical miles covered.

Notes:
They ask for an address or fax number to receive notifications but you can use an email address if you prefer. If you deliver the documents to their office by hand they will want to see the original copies of all the support documents. If you are sending the application in by mail you will need to get all the support documents certified.

Make sure you clearly understand the fees as they are pretty high and stack up quickly. The document explaining the tariffs is Decreto Tarifas ASP – No. 38295.pdf and is 25 pages of Spanish. Read the parts about Isla del Coco (PNIC). In summary for us:

• Admission: $50 per person per day
• Anchoring for vessel <15m: $40 per day
• Snorkeling: $10 per person per day
• Diving: sorry – not sure about this but there will be a fee

A very good contact for information and questions is Johanning Corrales Vega (johanning.corrales@sinac.go.cr). He answers emails promptly and completely and was very helpful to us.

Hope this is useful
Suzy Carmody
S/V Distant Drummer
http://www.carmody-clan.com

Posted on Women Who Sail Facebook Page

Re: Tropical Storm Nate – 5 October 2017
Here in Costa Rica, we are being hit hard by Nate, and it’s all about the flooding. Mudslides, bridges out, roads closed, six confirmed dead so far, 600 reportedly homeless, 5000 in shelters, houses sliding off mountains.

We have moored up a tidal estuary in Puntarenas, and when the tide and the river are going the same way, it’s pretty intense; lots of uprooted trees going by or sometimes getting hung up on us. Costa Rica will recover, but it’s going to be grim for Nicaragua.

Do not enter this country on your non-CR registered vessel if you are a CR resident (pensionado, rentista, etc.). CR Customs will hit you with the import tax at 85% of the value of the boat and the news that residents are not allowed cruising permits. I was ordered to pay up or leave immediately when I asked for a cruising permit at Golfito in March 2015. I left!