Sailing to Guadalupe Mexico from San Diego

[jjordan1]

Hi. We are sailing to Guadalupe Island on April 30 and there seems to be some question as to whether you have to check in to Mexico when sailing out there for a few days. Does anyone know anything about this? Thank you!

[Charlie]

I was wondering about that question myself. I wanted to go to the Rio San Thomas. My understanding is that you don't have to check into Mexico till you get to an official Port of Entry. When I did the Baja Ha Ha last year I didn't check in till we got to Cabo San Lucas b/c that was the first port of entry even though we had stopped three times in Mexico prior to getting to Cabo and we followed the rules but . . . I would like to see the rules in writing. If we go to Rio San Thomas and skip Ensenada by these rules we could go back to the US and check out by radio as we did on the return trip to San Diego.

[nhschneider]

Unfortunately, it's unlikely that you'll ever see Checking In Procedures ever written from an authorized Mexican government official. It's also unlikely that all port captains will agree on what the check-in/check-out procedure entails. Whereas it is correct that a vessel is only required to check-in once they arrive in a port with a port captain, a close friend of mine had taken his boat to Isla Guadalupe and was stopped by the Mexican Navy. They ordered him to proceed to Isla Cedros and check-in there.

Personally, I'd recommend checking-in in Ensenada where it is very easy (all government agencies in one building and on one floor - when we did it last December, it took us less than 2 hours to do everything) and then continuing on to Isla Guadalupe.

As much as I love Mexico and as quickly as it is evolving into an industrial nation, there remains isolated areas where discrepancies continue to exist. It is a small and unique price to pay to visit this remarkable country.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[rebel heart]

I went from San Diego to Guadalupe Island back around ~2001 and just headed over and threw up a courtesy flag once I passed SD buoy. Went out there just to get some offshore experience, anchored (in a bad anchorage), and came home. Long haul trip on the way back.

Not in anyway knocking your plans but some of the northern Channel Islands like San Miguel will give you a run for your money in the right weather and you can island hop your way up there (or at least have the option to if you like).

Edit: Not in anyway advocating the way I went to Guadalupe (not clearing), and it was ten years ago. I was 22 and didn't really think/care about technicalities like I do these days.