La Paz - Clearance
ALERT: Hurricane Norma (22 October 2023) damaged dozens of watercraft in La Paz as well as docks in at least three marinas. Recovery is expected to take several weeks and could impact cruising boats arriving for the peak winter season. Addionally, a multi-boat fire occurred on 2 November 2023 at Marina Palmira with at least one boat sinking in the fairways. Investigation is underway to assess the full extent of damage to the marina docks.
Clearance:
See Mexico Clearance page for full details.
Club Cruceros de La Paz has a boater’s guide to a clearing in and out of La Paz which gives all the details you need to know in order to clear in and out of this port yourself. See http://www.clubcruceros.net/CruisingBaja/InOut.html
Customs and immigration offices are in the Federal building behind the municipal quay. Port captain’s office in Calle Francesco Madero north of the quay.
Note that the port captain will not process a crew list for boats heading for other Mexican ports, they only require you to call them. This practice can be sticky if you head directly for Barra de Navidad, where the port captain requires paperwork!
Obtaining a Temporary Import Permit here, if this is your first Mexican port, is reported to be straightforward.
If you choose to use an agent, the cost for obtaining an international zarpe to leave Mexico from La Paz is about US$150, $100 of that is for a “sanitation” inspection, which amounts to the official filling out the paperwork. It is possible to NOT use an agent in this port, and clearing out can be significantly less expensive (usually around US$15).
Last checked: April 2017
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Related to following destinations: La Paz, Mexico, West Coast (Mexico)
Port Navigation
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Hurricane Norma (22 October 2023) damaged dozens of powerboats and sailboats in La Paz. Several of the boats sank in their slips at Marina Cortes and at least one at Marina Costa Baja. The high waves also damaged docks in at least three marinas. Recovery is expected to take several weeks and could impact cruising boats arriving for the peak winter season.
Addionally, a multi-boat fire occurred on 2 November 2023 at Marina Palmira with at least one boat sinking in the fairways. Investigation is underway to assess the full extent of damage to the marina docks.
Report from Maryanne Webb – Clearing out of Mexico from La Paz
This page (see Clearance section) indicates the cost to clear out of Mexico in La Paz is around $150.
This may be true if you use an agent, but you can also do it yourself. There are excellent instructions on the Club Cruceros web site – Paperwork page – http://www.clubcruceros.net/CruisingBaja/InOut.html
I can verify it is possible since I *just* did it (with help from those who have gone before) – and the crew aboard Begonia just completed the process today (April 5 2015) – and all that was due was about $280 pesos ($14 US)
Allow 3/4 of a day to get everything done – you can get medical a day early which helps.
Posted on behalf of Rob Overton of SV Akka:
We’ve spent just over a year in the La Paz area, off and on. Here are some observations:
All the damage from Hurricane Odile has been repaired. The new channel is some 50 meters west of the one described in the excellent cruising guide “Sea of Cortez”, but if one follows the channel in the guide there will be no problem, as all the danger lies to the west. The channel is well (and correctly) marked. There is a new channel marked across the sandbar and along the Mogote side of that bar (the side away from La Paz). As of this writing, there is no Fisherman’s Cross on Mogote to mark the channel across the bar, so vessels should rely on the waypoints given in the cruising guide or on the channel markers.
The port captain closes the port in heavy weather, and there are stiff fines for leaving port when it is closed (announced by blue and yellow flags flying at Marina de La Paz and Marina Palmira). This requirement holds whether the boat is in a marina or at anchor. Unfortunately, the captain frequently closes the port when the wind is no higher than 15 knots or so, when many boats would consider the weather perfect for a sail; so cruisers should check with the marinas about the current status. In winter months especially, strong northerly winds blow for several days at a time, so cruisers wanting to leave may be held up for a while until the port captain signals it’s OK to leave.
Cheers,
Rob Overton
SV Akka
Stevens Custom 50