Ahoy all,

That was fast. I've had an inquiry about the process of Checking into a foreign port of call.

Many of you are acquainted with the check in process of Mexico. Well here in Costa Rica things are not too dissimilar from that of Mexico except:

The custom and immigration offices are not very close to the three marinas that make up the Pacific side of Coast Rica. The permit cruising office is not near either of the customs or immigration offices. This makes traveling between the offices both complicated and expensive. In our case staying at the Papagallo Marina that has a customs and immigration agent. Now, what they don't tell you is that agent lives almost 3 hours away and worked the entire Pacific side of Costa Rica. If you're not on his route by 10 AM in the morning plan on seeing him the following day, which was our case. Now after contacting the agent he will work to get the agents from both the customs and immigration's offices out to the boat in a timely manner. I might add at this point that having them on board has been the absolute smoothest clearance into a country that I've ever had and our agent handled everything. I think the only reason I was there was for my signature.

However, after being cleared one must still travel to the cruising permit office. They do not come to the boat. Whether you are staying at Papagallo Marina or in the very popular anchorage of playa de cocoa, one must take a taxi to the town of Liberia. That small village is about a 45 minute drive each way ad further if you are anchored in Playa de Coco.

Unlike Mexico which will grant you departure at the same time when filing for arrival clearance, Costa Rica does it any two-step process. Once you were granted your traveling papers the date in which you leave you must run back to the cruising permit office to receive your Zarpe or exit papers. Normally I would say this is not a problem however the distance can create a headache's both financially and physically, no matter where you are staying along the coast.

Now, if you arrive on a Friday or Saturday do not plan on departing for at least four days as all the offices are closed on Sundays and they will NOT grant you both documents on the same day.

I hope that helps you fellow Cruisers out there to understand the process for arrival and departure's in the country of Costa Rica.

If you plan on doing most of the work yourself besides the cost of cruising permits, immigration cost per person, and customs fees add somewhere between $350-$500 in cab fees. I'm not kidding you it's that expensive! Hiring an agent will cost you exactly the same as doing it yourself.