Livingston - General Info
Where is Livingston?
The small town of Livingston sits at the mouth of the Rio Dulce in Honduras Bay. It has no road or rail connections to the hinterland, just boats, and planes. The center of the town is at the top of a steep hill.
Entrance Notes and Cautions for Livingston:
It is not a port to be entered at night, as the lights are unreliable and fishermen often set their nets then, too.
There is a wide sandbar at the entrance to Rio Dulce; boats with a draft of over 5 ft (1.50 m) must enter at high tide and the maximum draft which, in theory, can be carried through at high Spring tide is 7.5 ft (2.20 m). However, the channel frequently changes. Advice on the state of the tide may be obtained on Channel 68. The bottom is soft mud and not rocky.
Cruisers also warn that the location of the outer marker buoy can not be trusted and it is recommended to request a local guide on first-time entering (contact Raul, approximate price $25). Raoul has a towboat on standby and monitors VHF Ch 16 and 68 continuously, especially near high tide.
There may be a multitude of small fishing vessels covering the channel, so plan ahead. If you can have a spring tide at first light, this is the best plan. Obviously good visibility is helpful.
Security
Yachts are advised never to leave the boat unattended here. If for some reason you cannot leave a person onboard, be sure to lock up and do not leave anything on deck. Dinghy and outboard theft continues to be reported here along with thefts from yachts at anchor. See Noonsite Security Reports.
Position:
15° 49.56’N, 88° 44.18’W (river entrance)
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Hi – do you have a contact email / whatsapp for Raul re. agent for Gautemala? Thank you
Hi Linda – see https://www.noonsite.com/business/servamar/. To find Clearance Agents you go the country, click on the blue button “Explore Country” – click on “Formalities” and then “Clearance Agents”. To see business listings in all sections you have to click on the button that says “See Related Businesses”.
I made over the sand bar it in a 1.8m draft vessel (neel 51), Waiting for spring tide (highest possible). Starting from the only light in existence, the Red light, which you should keep to PORT (contrary to normal nav rules in this part of the world). Take a bearing of 220 mag. Although my depth sounder read 1.3 at one moment, the silt and mud is actually quite light at times viscous, the motor and ship had no problems passing through on average 5.5Kn. I would have preferred to sail through but there was no wind at the time. If you have radar, this buoy is seen easily at it is large. There may be a multitude of small fishing vessels covering the channel, so plan early. If you can have a spring tide at first light, this is the best plan. Obviously good visibility is helpful. Note, there is a lot of silt so anchor drift at the entrance is almost inevitable. Plan for it. Best of luck with it. At present, Immigration will do a PCR test for the virus and the regs seem unclear, but we are told that we will still need to quarantine irrespective of results. I doubt that will actually happen. Please also note. use a reputable tide calculator. I had a lot of incorrect ones. The time zone is CST. Confirm this.
Please not the light may also drift. As there are supposed to be 2 others. Non existent.