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Puerto Obaldia - Clearance
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See Panama Formalities for full details on clearing into Panama, costs and paperwork involved.

It’s recommended to check into Panama here and obtain a manual cruising permit before going to the San Blas Islands.

Be sure to have lots of cash with you, in small bills, as all fees must be paid in cash, and there are no ATMs. Checking in and cruising permit costs approx. $250.

If weather conditions are such that it’s not safe to leave the boat unattended, you may be able to get permission to leave one or two crew members on board.

The next nearest port for clearance is Porvenir, Portobelo, or Colon.

For international yachts arrivals, three offices need to be visited here by all crew members and photocopies can be made at the shop next to immigration:

1. Police checkpoint

Located at the head of the dock. Police will record crew details from passports, no fee, no documents given.

2. Immigration (Migracion)

Ask the police for directions to the Immigration office in town. Take passports to get visas.

3. Port Captain

Victor Otero: +507 6468-7437

Located around the corner from Immigration in a blue/white building (also visible from the anchorage). This is where you pay nominal fees.

It is not possible to get an official Cruising Permit in this port as there is no Autoridad Marítima Marina Mercante. The closest port for a Cruising Permit is Cristobal. The Port Captain in Puerto Obaldia has blank Cruising permits which can be filled in manually, however, this type of permit is not approved by the AMP Merchant Marine Authority and may cause problems when cruising around Panama or when checking out.

Instead of going to Colon, it is possible to obtain a Cruising Permit through an agent, which can be requested prior to arrival in Panama and can then be scanned and sent to you by e-mail. Note, however, that official cruising permits can take almost two weeks to obtain.

Last updated:  February 2023

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Puerto Obaldia was last updated 1 year ago.

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  1. September 27, 2018 at 5:25 PM
    Data Entry3 says:

    Checked in Obaldia on April 2018 and the entry fee of $105 for entry visa was removed. Several copies of passports and boat documents are required but shop able to make copies are available next to the immigration office. Cruising permit requires “few” stamps to be applied to document: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkCzD563lXg&t=37s

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  2. February 5, 2018 at 11:46 AM
    Data Entry3 says:

    Reported by SV Totem:

    We arrived in Panama recently and cleared into Panama’s eastern Caribbean corner at Puerto Obaldia on January 27, 2018, after hearing positive reports on the ability to check into this relatively frontier post from other boats.

    Clearance was a three-step process:
    Police checkpoint (no document given, no fee) at the head of the dock; officer wrote down details from each crew members’ passport.

    Immigration (visas for the crew, $105 per person for US citizens): office in town, the basic direction from a police checkpoint. Passport.

    Port Captain (clearance provided, total cost $197: the cruising permit is $185, a few other nominal fees are noted on the receipt): around the corner from Migracion, blue/white building is also visible from Anchorage.

    The crew should all go ashore. We were able to avoid doing this because conditions in the bay were unsafe for leaving the boat unattended – officials relented in our case, but we know they’ve required all crew to disembark in other clearances this season.

    During peak trades, Jan-March, swell rolls in and this anchorage are barely tenable. We found good holding, but given the pitching of the boat in swells, did not want to linger.

    Puerto Perme, approx. 10 km east from Puerto Obaldia, is a very well protected bay and the perfect place to move once formalities are completed.

    Behan & the Totem crew

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