Reported by Phil Magistro – January 2019: Clearing in and out of ports on the Caribbean side

Here is some information I’ve dug up on clearing in and out on the Caribbean side of Mexico.

I just spoke on the phone with the Port Capitan’s office in Mahahual regarding clearing out of Mexico.  He was very friendly and spoke extremely clearly in Spanish, so I was able to understand more or less the entire conversation.  I repeated back to him all the salient points and he confirmed, so I think that this information is as accurate as anyone can get.

It is possible to clear out of Mahahual, but he does not recommend it.  He emphasized that Mahahual is a small town with very limited infrastructure.  His opinion was that it is better for cruising boats to clear out of the country north on the Peninsula, in Isla Mujeres, Cozumel, Puerto Morelos, or Puerto Adventuras.

There is a cruise ship dock north of the town.  This is not open to sailboats.  There is a small dock in town, where fishing boats enter and exit.  This is open, and available.  The reef cut is small, however, and the Port Capitan recommended hiring a local guide.  Inside, depths range from 4-5 feet.  It is possible, thus, especially for shoal draft vessels.

The Port Capitan’s office is perfectly capable and willing to complete the Zarpe for cruising boats to leave the country.  The office is staffed from 8 am until 3 pm Monday through Friday, and they are willing to come in from 8-1 on weekends in extreme cases.  Their phone number is 983-834-5789, email cp.mahahual@semar.gov.mx

However, they do not have an immigration officer in Mahahual.  The Port Capitan recommended hiring an agent and said that there are two agencies that offer agents in Mahahual.  One is Grupo TMM (transporte Maritimo Mexicano), the other name I failed to catch.  TMM has a website. He said we could call TTM and discuss rates, but I didn’t do so as it doesn’t seem like the best option for us to clear out in Mahahual.  Immigration officers come from Chetumal, which is a 2-hour drive, and cruisers would be responsible for their costs.  When cruise ships are docked in Mahahual, the immigration officers are present and it may be possible to take advantage of those times to clear out.  I didn’t ask when or how often cruise ships dock there.

I also spoke to him about visiting Banco Chinchorro.  He said that, as it is a Biosphere Reserve, cruising boats are not generally permitted to land there.  It may be possible to solicit permission from a CONAMP office in Cozumel or Cancun, or from the guardaparques there.  That’s all I learned from the Port Capitan in Mahahual.

Here’s my take, having come down the coast and talked with agents in Isla Mujeres, Puerto Morelos, and Puerto Adventuras, chatted with other cruisers and read as many blogs and websites as I could find.  It is simple, relatively cheap, and very easy to clear in or out of Mexico at a marina in Isla Mujeres.  Our total cost for clearing at el Milagro Marina was $170, plus $60 for the TIP.  In Puerto Morelos and Puerto Adventuras, we were told that the agents would have to come from Cozumel.  We haven’t stopped in Cozumel, so I can’t say firsthand.  I’m told that Xcalac has a Port Capitan but no immigration officer.  Furthermore, from discussion with marina staff, it sounds like we may sail south and anchor as we wish AFTER clearing out of Mexico in Puerto Adventuras, as long as we don’t intend to stop in any marinas.  To clear out in Puerto Adventuras is reportedly “expensive” due to the cost of officials coming from Cozumel, but I haven’t gotten a number on what “expensive” means.  We are looking into sharing the cost with other southbound cruisers on the same timetable.

For southbound cruisers heading from Isla Mujeres to Belize, thereby, the best bet I think is to clear in and out of Mexico in a marina in Isla Mujeres and head south without going to a marina, or clear in in Isla then clear out in Cozumel before heading south if you intend to stop at marinas along the coast.

Phil Magistro

Reported by Brian Simm of SY Scraatch – January 2019.

Scraatch, 56ft Sundeer, with two on board arrived at Isla Mujeres ( off Cancun ) from Belize for the slowest and most paper intensive check in met anywhere worldwide in 12 years cruising.

The Port captains office and Immigration office are close together opposite the main ferry terminal. Both speak some English but we found the port captains office totally unhelpful and monosyllabic while immigration were cheerful and helpful. There is a small dinghy dock across from Port captain, 1st one south of ferry dock.

The procedure is as follows :- prices in Peso, Mx, at about 20 to US dollar. At every stage, all your photocopies will be stamped by each department.

1. Take to Port captain IN DATE originals and 5 photocopies of Zarpe, Crew list, Ships registration and each passport. (Photocopy shop 2 blocks along and 1 back )

2. Be sent to the hospital to find, or better ask for attendance at the office of, ‘international Sanitorio’ for crew medical clearance. Mx150 for taxi or Mx50 tip for attendance.

3. Go to immigration office – go to the bank to pay Mx585 per person – return to immigration. Collect and keep receipts. 6 month visa given.

4. Return to port captains office for agricultural clearance, an official in attendance mornings.

5. Ask for customs attendance, probably from Cancun by ferry, wait. Visiting clearance for up to 10 days. Longer is a different procedure for temporary import that has to be done in Cancun.

6. Start Port captain clearance – go to the bank to pay Mx980, keep receipts – return and wait. Eventually, after Port captains signature you are done.

Total 4 hours 1st day and 6 hours 2nd day and about $120 total.

Just as well that we cruisers have time on hand…

Check out is simpler with only 2 sets of photocopies for immigration and Port captain.

Note, items mentioned or on papers but not physically checked …..

Agriculture .. full fumigation needed if arriving from the south… next time.

Health …. no discharge of grey or black water in Mexican waters.

Other… $50 fishing permit needed for any fishing in Mexican waters. From Cancun?

Customs …. can only clear for 10 days….

Customs …. in theory, you need a photo of ships VIN number, not the registration. Older boats may not have one……

Temporary Import for more than 10 days is a different department and process.

Other report

On the same day, a new American arrival reported that his anchor rope, no chain, was cut in the night and 30ft boat ended up on the beach. No confirmation of cut or breakage of rope. $400 to be towed off the beach, no other harm done.

Brian Simm

SY Scraatch

Reported by SY Sea Bear – 13 June, 2017:

We sailed from Cuba to Islas Mujeres, Mexico arriving on Monday, May 29th with no pre-arrival registration. We went to a lovely tiny marina, El Milagro, where all boats have a dock space, free water, and cheap electricity for $1/ft. The atmosphere is great here, very relaxed and welcoming.

If you stay here, the agent fee is only $50USD (instead of $75). It was very easy, and straight forward. All the required officials came to the marina, and no one needed to come aboard – the inspection was done from the end of the dock. We were checked in and had all of our paperwork back within 24 hours.

Our friends who sailed with us decided to do it themselves. While they saved the $50, it took them 5 days and numerous visits to various offices to accomplish the same thing. For us, this was $50 well spent.

Reported by MV Tropical Blend: May 2017 – Checking in without an agent at Isla Mujeres

We cruised from the Caymans to Isla Mujeres, which took 54 hours. We did not make a pre-arrival notification. We asked the marina to notify the authorities, but they said they do not do that. We could not figure out any way to notify authorities before arrival.

We arrived at Marina Puerto Isla Mujeres around 9:30 on a Tuesday morning. After docking and registering at the marina, we proceeded to Centro to check in. The marina made all of the necessary copies for us: clearance from Grand Cayman (which includes a crew list), boat documents, and passports. We arrived with a buddy boat, Symbiosis. The taxi to the Port Captain’s office cost 60 pesos, a little over $3.

At the port captain’s office, we were greeted in a friendly manner, and were given two forms to fill out. They were only in Spanish, and some of the words didn’t translate, but we managed – it was data on ourselves, the boat, and our recent ports. The office, who could only speak a little English, explained the process to us:

• Health inspection – he called the doctor, who would see us at the port captain’s office
• Immigration – about three blocks from the office
• Agriculture – done at the office
• Customs – done at the office
• Port fees – done at the office

1. Health Inspection

We only had to wait about 10 minutes for the doctor. He actually asked health-related questions (unlike when we checked in at Cozumel in 2014), such as our recent state of health, and he measured our body temperatures. Our buddy boat had officially checked in to Haiti (Ile la Vache) so they got more scrutiny. We were all asked if we had ever gotten measles vaccinations, or had measles. After completing the interview, he stamped all of our documents, gave us the two health forms (sanitation in Spanish), and charged us 50 pesos per boat.

2. Immigration

We proceeded to the immigration office, where English is spoken easily. We handed over four copies of our docs – the ones stamped by the doctor. The officer then gave us the forms for the bank payment, and recommended we go to Banamex, as it would be faster. The bank is just a block away, and we quickly paid the 500 peso each ($27) for the tourist cards. We returned to the immigration office, filled out our declaration forms, and received our tourist cards and a couple of the stamped docs. The officer reminded us to keep the receipts. In Mexico, when you check out, you have to show the receipt for the tourist cards, or they charge you again.

3, 4. Agriculture & Customs

Returning to the port captain’s office, we were told that the customs officer would be there in 30 minutes, but she actually showed up in about 10 minutes. The agriculture officer was also there. The officers quickly completed the forms – we weren’t asked anything about ship’s stores and provisions. Technically, you cannot bring meat and produce into Mexico, but they never asked.

5. Port Fees

We then gave the final docs and forms to the port captain, and he gave us a payment form for the bank. Both boats were charged 813 pesos, which I guess covered our customs, agriculture, and port fees. We paid this at a nearby bank, HSBC. Note that you can only pay the fees in cash, but there are ATM’s at all of the banks.

We returned with the receipts, and we were told it we be a few minutes. This was the only hangup in our check in: a few minutes turned into an hour and a half, and we have no idea why. We asked a few times, but the answer was always “un momento, por favor”. Finally, we received our cruising permits.

How long to check in here without an Agent?

Including the hour and a half wait at the end of the process, the total time for checking in was 4 hours. That was worth not paying $100 for an agent.

The procedure here was much simpler than in Cozumel, where we spent over two days and $20 in taxi rides.

As an aside, we were not asked about a TIP. We had one from our previous Mexico cruise, but our buddy boat did not. We told them we were planning to stay one to two weeks – perhaps a TIP is not required for a short stay?

We recommend checking in at Isla Mujeres instead of Cozumel, and we don’t think that an agent is necessary, or justified by the expense.

Larry Gaddy
M/V Tropical Blend (43 ft Nordhavn)

Posted 14 May, 2017

As of May 2017, Pre-Arrival clearing into Isla Mujeres does NOT need to be done.  I lost 1000 pesos pre-clearing with the Banjercito link in the Pre-Arrival section.

We sailed from Cayman to Isla Mujeres on very short notice.  Because of Noonsite, my wife was worried we needed to check in and do the pre-arrival thing. So, I went to your site and followed the procedures.

When we got here we used Marina Mackax and Polo Meyer as our agent.  He took care of bringing everyone to the boat and getting us settled.  He told us that procedure was put in place because of the drug running especially around the Mexico/California border and for people that don’t have a Zarpe who get a gas receipt from the US, come from Columbia, and claim they are coming from the US.  So it may be that the Zarpe having the right destination company is the biggest thing.

Another sailor we met checked into Cozumel from Guatemala without pre-arrival and he had no trouble as well.

Banjercita won’t refund the money or apply it here, so we effectively just lost 1000 pesos.  If we want to get a refund we can use the ferry to go to Cancun and apply there and we might get it back, but round trip on the ferry would be a fair chunk of change out of that 1000, so unless we are going there for other reasons it will just be lost money.

Mark Jones

Posted 14th February, 2014

We thought readers might be interested to know how difficult it is for a private vessel to clear in at Isla Mujeres, Mexico.   We arrived on 6th February and went straight to the Port Captain’s office to start the check-in process.   We had been warned that it is a long drawn out affair but nothing prepared us for the frustrations and complete unjoined up system that exists here.   First, you will need 7 copies of your passports, crew list, ships papers, etc.   After reporting to the Port Captain, you will be sent to sanitation first at the hospital who will stamp your papers.   Then on to immigration for another set of stamps and payment (this part takes a good hour).   Payment can only be made at a local bank unless it is the weekend when you pay direct but suffer an additional weekend fee.   After that, you need the agriculture people to stamp your paperwork and finally the port captains stamp.   Now, only 2 more items outstanding, Customs and the temporary importation paperwork if you are staying for 10 days or more.

As I said, we started our check in process on Thursday 6th February and finally completed it Monday 10th.   There are several hurdles to overcome.   Firstly, there is no system to deal with private vessels.   Secondly, the offices close for the day at 14.30 except weekends when they close at 12.   None of the offices communicate with each other so there is no guarantee that the person you need to see will be available or even when they may become available.   For us, the biggest problem was accessing Customs.   We were told by the Port Captain that they would be in Isla Mujeres on the Saturday and we waited for 4 hours, only to be told that the office had to close for the weekend and to come back Monday morning.   This we did, only to be told that the Port Captains office had no idea when Customs would arrive, if at all that day.   So, at the port captains suggestion, we took the ferry to Cancun and a taxi to the airport (cost $45).   When we got to Customs, they told us Customs were at Isla Mujeres and that would want to physically inspect our boat.   At this stage, we were upset and frustrated so a helpful Customs girl agreed to stamp our paperwork.   She also told us that Customs never come to Isla Mujeres at the weekends so we have no idea why the Port Captain kept us waiting around for 4 hours on the Saturday.

The temporary import licence was straight forward enough, although you have to get back from the airport to the Port Captains office in Cancun at the harbour.   This time we took a bus to the centre and walked to the office.   Here we were told that they needed a copy of the immigration form,  much like a landing card.   We told her we didn’t have a copy and she told us we needed to go back to the centre to get a copy.   When she saw our faces fall in disbelief she took pity on us and copied it on her fax machine.

So, the lesson learned, do not, under any circumstances, try to clear in at Isla Mujeres unless it is absolutely necessary.   We should have cleared in at Cozumal where we understand that all the offices are close by and they know what they are doing.

From Yacht Blackthorn

Posted 31st May 2013

This report was prepared for Noonsite by Damon Jones of S/V Mother Jones (a 34ft catamaran). See their website http://www.somanybeaches.com

SV Mother Jones

In a nutshell, it was not as hard as we thought to do it on our own.

Paperwork and Documents

For sailing vessels, you will need:

– Your passports

– 6 copies of:

• Passport(s)
• Zarpe from previous port
• Crew List
• Vessel Document papers

For vessels with a dog you will need:

• Proof of current rabies & parvo vaccination and internal/external parasite prevention (frontline/heartguard).

For vessels staying for more than 2 weeks:

You need to acquire a Temporary Import Permit (TIP) in Cancun (take the ferry). Take with you:

• All paperwork from a completed clearing in process
• Serial numbers on your engine(s)
• 1 color copy of your visa (you get it from the immigration department)
• $50 USD

You’ll walk to several offices on the north end of the island (some possibly more than once) with your paperwork as you collect officials’ stamps and additional paperwork/receipts. This will take a few hours.

We were never, at any point, asked about insurance for our boat. We don’t have any currently, and it wasn’t a problem for us.

Total charges for everything, including our import permit and taxi/ferry fees, came to about $170USD

Checking in without an agent

We had read that it was a potential massive headache to clear into Mexico without an agent (in Isla Mujeres) due to the many requirements and departments that needed to be met, but, as we like to do things ourselves (feeling of accomplishment, feeling of fuller wallet), we weren’t 100% sold on needing agent services. Luckily, upon our arrival into Isla Mujeres (on a Monday morning), we got some helpful information from the cruising community via the 8:30 (US Central) cruisers net held on VHF channel 13.

For proceeding sans agent, one fellow cruiser offered us the use of a custom map with homemade step-by-step instructions on clearing in on our own. If we didn’t want to deal with all the running around, it was recommended that we check in with Chepo at Marina Paraiso for more info. He was rumored to be one of the most helpful fellows around, and his agent services were knows to be very reasonably priced.

After anchoring in the south end of the north lagoon (across from Marina Paraiso/ Marina El Milagro) we took the dinghy to Marina Paraiso and met with Chepo, who was indeed very friendly and helpful.  He gave us the rundown of the fees involved with checking in, and told us that we’d need to come into a marina slip for the day if we wanted to use his services* and he would arrange for all the officials to come to the boat (rather than going to multiple offices downtown). The added cost of the marina slip on top of the agent fee (which added nearly $80USD to what it would cost to clear in ourselves) was enough to convince us to give it a shot on our own. Chepo was very understanding and proceeded to give us some additional directions and advice on going through the process without an agent, and soon we were in a taxi and headed to town.

*Note: since we’ve been here, we’ve spoken with another captain in the anchorage who used Chepo as their agent without having to enter the marina. This was not our experience, but apparently, it is possible.

Steps for Clearance (see maps below):

• Port Captain (on the westernmost main street, Avenida Rueda Medina, just north of the Naval Base, right next door to the white, multi-story Bahia Chac Chi hotel; enter the door on the left). Here we confirmed which offices we needed to visit (and in which order) and where they were located. Nothing else to be done here at this point.
• Sanitation/Health Department (walk about 3 blocks north on Avenida Rueda Medina from the port captain’s office, take a right at the Senor Frog’s store (Morelos St), and walk east three blocks until the street ends. The clinic, which houses the sanitation department, will be across the street to your left).  Proceed through the main entrance, pass the reception desk and straight back to the last door on the right. The official that helped us was very professional, spoke English, and processed our paperwork very quickly. We were told that he can be particular with the formatting of some crew lists; ours are 8.5in x 11in, have all our vessel information, passport numbers, DOB, last port of call, and our signatures. We had no problems. After you fill out a form, he will request copies of the documents listed above (all but passports), keep a few and then return the rest with his stamp applied. He also gives you a health department clearance form. NOTE: the building his office is in is also a minor-emergency-type clinic. We had an abscess and the cost to see the doctor and get it opened and drained was $4 USD.
• Immigration office (head back down the street you came up, and at Senor Frog’s, take a right and head north another block or so on Avenida Reuda Medina. Immigration is in a clearly marked building on your right).  Here they will need your passports and all your stamped copies.  After filling out the standard-issue immigration forms (one per person), you will need to pay. It was about 350 pesos per person for us (exchange rate at the time of writing is about 11pesos = 1 USD).  If the immigration officials aren’t busy, they’ll take your cash, walk to the bank, get a receipt, and bring it back to you while you wait in the immigration office. If they are busy, you have to go to the bank yourself, make your payment, get a receipt and return it to the Immigration office. When you return to the immigration office with the receipt from your payment to the bank, they will complete your paper work, stamp your copies (make sure they stamp all your copies!), issue your visa, and send you on your way.
• Port Captain’s office (you’ve already been here). This office houses the Customs, Agriculture, and Port Captain. This stop can feel a bit hectic as each office representative comes at you from the small window behind the tinted glass. We were asked several questions (in Spanish) and filled out a few forms and overall the process went smoothly. Here we were charged 455 pesos. The agriculture officer asked us if we had any fruits and veggies on board, and if you reply you do not, they will generally bypass boarding (unless you are coming from Columbia, in which case we have heard they will search your vessel with a drug dog and possibly a diver). He then handed me a form he filled out, which had a box checked that we had no animals on board. I told him we had a dog, and he asked to see the health papers for the dog and copies of our exit zarpe for Guatemala, where we last had our dog “checked out” and where we got our most recent vet documents about a month prior. After looking over the documents, he said he needed to see the dog, so as soon as we were finished with the rest of the paperwork, we all jumped in the dingy and headed to the boat. He didn’t inspect our dog other than to visually confirm that he matched the physical description of the dog listed on the paperwork, and then we returned the official to the island. We had to pick up an animal import permit from him the next day at the port captain’s office, and then we were finished with the clearing in the process (humans and dog alike).

Getting a temporary import permit (TIP)

We were told this needed to be done within three days of clearing in, but we’ve talked to folks that took a week to do it with no problems.  As far as we understand, agents are not allowed to handle this step; you must do it yourself.

From Isla Mujeres, get on a ferry to Puerto Juarez (the Magana ferry dock is closer –walking distance- to the Customs office in Puerto Juarez, and it’s a bit cheaper than UltraMar at 130 pesos, round trip). From the Magana dock, go right on the road and walk for a little more than a quarter mile. The customs building (which looks a lot like the port captain’s office in Isla Mujeres) will be on the left, across the street  (on the west side of the street).

Enter the building and head to the desk straight back and to the right of the restrooms. It’s got a sign that says “Banjercito” and several posters with information on fees associated with importing vehicles. Unlike several other desks, there was no line when we went. Here they will want copies of your zarpe & crew list (with all five department stamps on each of them: sanitation, immigration, port captain, agriculture and customs –make sure you have ‘em all!), passport, vessel registration, and visa.  The Banjercito clerk requested color copies of all except passport (so she could clearly make out the color stamps), which meant I needed to walk up the street to an internet café to have a few color copies made (Also, the port captain prints on the back side of the zarpe, so don’t forget to get a copy of that as well).   She also requested engine serial numbers, which I didn’t expect to need but was able to get via a phone call to the boat.

Once I returned with all requested copies, I was charged $50 (specifically in US dollars, not pesos, in exact change, and with no torn or marked bills), filled out an inventory form for the boat, and we were finally done with everything!

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