Which Port of Entry - Greek Ionian

[Alenka]

A belated thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. We are now ‘mission complete’ and tucked up in our new berth in the Ionian. Herein are our experiences for others following in our wake.

We eventually brought the boat into Greece at Ingumenista.

Ingumenitsa, is a large and unattractive port that actively discourages all private pleasure boats. At first we were asked to leave and go elsewhere but when we explained we needed to ‘clear in’ with the port police we were shown to a tatty berth at the far end of the old port.

With the amount of ferry traffic entering and leaving it is easy to see why the authorities don’t want an armada of yachts descending upon them. That being said the service we received was extremely friendly and efficient.

The port police office is located in the (new) main buildings at the southern end of the harbor. They are up on the first floor and to the back of the building. The girl behind the reception desk walked us through the building to the office we initially needed. They in turn walked us to the various departments to get documentation copied, stamped and fee’s paid. The tax department and the harbor authority are all on the same level within metres of each other.

From memory we paid 19€ for the DEKPA (cruising permit), 15€ for the tax and 19€ for berthing the boat. (This would have been less if we had moored stern to instead of alongside).

The documentation they wanted to see was; The boat’s registration documentation (very keen on this one), insurance documents in Greek, The boat specification, LOA and Beam, hull number and engine serial number plus its rated HP. If they checked the VAT invoice I wasn’t aware of it. They also insisted on a list of all crew and passport numbers and seeing evidence of experience. They were happy with an RYA Coastal Certificate and copied mine and my wife’s passports as we were the owners.

The whole process took just over an hour. Some of that time was spent with one young and charming official who was keen that we should see his home island of Corfu.

Apart from a very efficient service Ingumenitsa itself has nothing to offer the visiting yacht. We wanted to be on the mainland but in a place ideal for getting crew on flights back home. In this respect it is well placed with hourly(ish) ferries over to the island. They take between 30-60mins depending on which sort of ferry you catch and cost around 10€.

Preveza airport is not particularly well serviced by UK airlines and ticket prices are far more expensive than those to Corfu. Taxis are also expensive, around 170€ from Preveza to Ingoumenitsa ferry port. I understand there is a bus service but I have no information on this.

Before we left the officials were very keen to point out that is we stapled the tax receipt to the DEKPA we would not be asked to pay anymore tax for the life of the DEKPA. Everywhere we have been since have shown no interest in the document which is supposed be stamped at least once per month.

We did meet one other cruiser who tried to clear in through Preveza and was told to come back in a month or so because they had run out of their stock of DEKPA’s! All very relaxed apparently.

When we flew home at the end of the season the Marina completed all the documentation and notified the port police to say the boat was not being used until next year!

If you are entering Greece and do not want to put people on aeroplanes then I think it would be wise to go to one of the smaller named ports of entry where you don’t need a taxi to visit port police or tax offices, which are not always located together.

Be organized with your paperwork and take every last bit of information you need about yourself and the boat, including where you intend keeping it over winter. Note, photocopies of official documents are not really acceptable.
Whilst (we found) officials were not out to make the process difficult it was obvious that they would not short cut the procedure. If you don’t have the documents they want to hand they will send you back to your boat to get them.

However, all in all, the experience was far less troublesome than we expected. Long may it remain so!!!!

[goboatingnow]

Was this for a EU flagged boat. I thought the Depka was done away with for EU yachts. As whatever is done must be done for the locals

Dave

[Alenka]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Was this for a EU flagged boat. I thought the Depka was done away with for EU yachts. As whatever is done must be done for the locals

Dave

This is for an EU yacht. As of September 2013 you still require a DEKPA and there was nothing to suggest that it was about to change anytime soon. But let's face it the cost is very low, it wouldn't even cover the labour charges for issue. The inconvenience is finding someone to stamp the thing every month.

Met a couple returning from Croatia who said that even though that country had now joined the EU they were still charging visiting EU boats for a cruising permit. When challenged officials said they were not planning on changing the system! Another case of a country joinging and taking everything and giving nothing? Maybe the situation needs to be watched closely by the RYA!

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Alenka

This is for an EU yacht. As of September 2013 you still require a DEKPA and there was nothing to suggest that it was about to change anytime soon. But let's face it the cost is very low, it wouldn't even cover the labour charges for issue. The inconvenience is finding someone to stamp the thing every month.

Met a couple returning from Croatia who said that even though that country had now joined the EU they were still charging visiting EU boats for a cruising permit. When challenged officials said they were not planning on changing the system! Another case of a country joinging and taking everything and giving nothing? Maybe the situation needs to be watched closely by the RYA!

My understanding in Croatia this year from friends there is that the cruising tax ( sojurn) is now extended to all EU and local boats albeit at a low cost. The vignette is being done away with from 1.1.2014 as EU yachts must be treated the same as domestic yachts.

The DEPKA must apply to local boats as well as EU boats to remain legal. I believe there is an action against Greece in relation to restrictions applied to yachts.

Dave

[athene]

See separate thread in this forum on 'CROATIA CRUISING PERMIT AND SOJOURN TAX' for the definitive answers on this subject (which is not really relevant to this thread anyway).

[Alenka]

Originally Posted by athene

See separate thread in this forum on 'CROATIA CRUISING PERMIT AND SOJOURN TAX' for the definitive answers on this subject (which is not really relevant to this thread anyway).

Thank you Athene

You are correct. The ethic of cruising tax is off topic.

If anyone wants to talk to me about 'our' experiences of getting a boat into Greek waters please feel free to PM me. I am not an expert but I might be able to make your expereince more enjoyable.

In short, the whole thing was not as bad as expected and, in my view, the Greek cruising experience is worth the effort.

[Katiusha]

We checked in at Corfu (non-EU boat, non-EU crew): 45 EUR for transit log, 15 EUR for the coast guard (port police). All very polite, very courteous.

Corfu is stunning with its two forts, a canal that you can dinghy through, and a fun and vibrant town.

[Alenka]

Have to agree Corfu is stunning.

We were put off making it our first port of call because we had heard that the tax office and the port police are some distance away from each other and the main marina in Gouvia. The latter can also be expensive.

Katiusha, maybe you could add a bit of detail to your expereince so others might benefit. Personally, I have no idea where the tax office is.

Thanks

[Katiusha]

We spoke to some cruisers in the marina who said the same thing when they were checking in 2 years ago. We decided not to listen and check it out for ourselves.

Turns out now the check-in is done in the cruiseship terminal, a.k.a. New Port. For the check-in you need to go to two buildings (about 3 min walk between them): Port Authority and Customs.

We took the dinghy from Gouvia Marina to the terminal, a long, but pretty ride. If you were staying at the marina, you could also take a bus. Yet another option would be to anchor near the cruise ship terminal on the side closer to Gouvia Marina - there is a designated anchorage on the charts. Or anchor under the old port/tie up to the town wall on the south side of the old fort and take a bus.

P.S. We found Gouvia marina prices to be reasonable when compared to marinas in the Adriatic

[jckb]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Was this for a EU flagged boat. I thought the Depka was done away with for EU yachts. As whatever is done must be done for the locals

DEKPA applies to all EU leisure boats 10m LOA to 24m LOA, including Greek registered. Non-EU get cruising permits instead and pay a tax every 3 months.

Draft changes to the regulations have been circulated for the last 3 years, and have occasionally been in force for a month or two before being rescinded after heavy moans from big boat owners. This has caused confusion among officials, leading to a variety of opinions about how to treat visiting EU boats.

JimB

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by jckb

DEKPA applies to all EU leisure boats 10m LOA to 24m LOA, including Greek registered. Non-EU get cruising permits instead and pay a tax every 3 months.

Draft changes to the regulations have been circulated for the last 3 years, and have occasionally been in force for a month or two before being rescinded after heavy moans from big boat owners. This has caused confusion among officials, leading to a variety of opinions about how to treat visiting EU boats.

JimB

Yes this is what I heard , and the basis of my query
Dave

[Alenka]

Just to complete my part of this thread.

The Journey - YouTube