Bahamas Customs and Immigration 2024

[dougweibel]

Hello all,

Can cruisers who have visited the Bahamas this season describe the current check in procedures? Click2Clear working? Pay online? Paper forms? Etc.?

Also, if anyone has checked in at Inagua or Ragged Island and knows the office hours there that would be appreciated.

[SailingHarmonie]

Originally Posted by dougweibel

Hello all,

Can cruisers who have visited the Bahamas this season describe the current check in procedures? Click2Clear working? Pay online? Paper forms? Etc.?

Also, if anyone has checked in at Inagua or Ragged Island and knows the office hours there that would be appreciated.

Click2Clear has been working for years. Although the interface is a bit clunky, it has always done exactly as advertised for us, including today. You do the online procedure, and show up at the Port of Entry with your paperwork and the rest is very easy. You pay online. Watch the official youtube instructional videos for details. They are very clear. The only catch is that mobile browsers (tablets and phones) are reported to not work well with it. No personnel experience, we always use a "real" computer.

The staffing at Inagua Customs is normal business hours. I do not recall the weekend hours. But I bet if you type "custom hours inagua" into google you'll get an answer.

Ragged Island is absolutely NOT a Port of Entry.

You must proceed to a valid port of entry FIRST. They are not real hard asses about this, but if you are anchored and do not have a cruising permit and are boarded by one of the patrol boats (it has happened to us--twice) you will be in an untenable position.

The Bahamas official websites are current and accurate. If you are new to this, you should read them.

[dougweibel]

Originally Posted by SailingHarmonie

The Bahamas official websites are current and accurate. If you are new to this, you should read them.

Not new to it at all. I've been to the Bahamas many times but it has been over two years since my last trip. I don't share your confidence in the Bahamian governments websites or information. Many times in the past their information online has been wrong. Hence my reaching out to people who have current firsthand knowledge.

Thanks for the update.

[Cheyne]

I have used Click to Clear the last three years with zero problems. Pay online. I printed the forms, but when we checked in at Great Harbour the officials had a copy already stamped and ready to go. The marina there had immigration forms for us to fill out while we waited for the officals to get to the office.

Cheyne

[dougweibel]

Thanks for the info Cheyne.

We have also had good experiences checking in at Great Harbour with one Covid exception.

[Montanan]

Reference link:

https://www.bahamascustoms.gov.bs/vi...ising-permits/

PLEASURE VESSEL CLEARANCE

PLEASURE VESSELS (Digital Submission Process)
The digital submission of pleasure vessels came into effect in the Islands of the Bahamas as of the February 22nd, 2021. All pleasure vessels will be entered and paid for using the Cruising Permit Module within the Click2Clear system. Bahamas Customs aims to go paperless and cashless in the near future and this process is to facilitate that very same notion.