An island-by-island Caribbean yacht clearance guide for crew: customs, immigration, cruising permits, online systems and the paperwork guests need.
Caribbean clearance is fragmented in a way that surprises crew arriving from the Mediterranean. Every island is a separate country, and a week from St Maarten to Antigua crosses four or five of them, each with its own procedure, fee schedule, forms and office hours.
Each Caribbean island is usually its own country, so yacht clearance, customs and cruising permits shape the route as much as the weather does.
None of it is difficult; all of it is time, and time on a charter week is the guests'. This guide sets out the systems, the island-by-island position, the fees that changed recently, and how experienced crews build clearance into the itinerary instead of discovering it. It is written for planning, not as legal advice — rates and rules change, so confirm the current position for each island before the charter.
Most of the English-speaking Caribbean has moved to advance electronic notification, which turns a morning at the customs office into a formality. There are two systems and they do not talk to each other.
SailClear. Anguilla, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, BVI, Cayman Islands, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Turks and Caicos. Register once and update between islands; a modest annual subscription applies. Turks and Caicos requires filing at least 24 hours before both arrival and departure. eSeaClear. Antigua and Barbuda. Free; long established. Antigua has trialled SailClear as an alternative. French regime. Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint-Martin, St Barths. EU territory: typically a self-service computer terminal in a chandlery or café, quick and inexpensive. US regime. US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico. US federal customs and immigration; CBP Roam and local reporting requirements
Advance notification is generally not mandatory, but manual clearance is being phased out and the time saving is real. Register the yacht once at the start of the season rather than island by island.
1. Office hours are the constraint, not the paperwork
Nearly every island charges overtime outside normal hours, typically around 08:30 to 16:30 on weekdays. St Lucia, for example, charges customs overtime on Saturdays and after hours on weekdays, and more again on Sundays and holidays. The BVI applies overtime charges outside weekday office hours too. A charter that starts on a Sunday and clears in on arrival pays for the privilege, and the cost is trivial next to the hour of guest time it consumes. Where the schedule allows, clear on a weekday morning.
2. Clearing out starts a clock
In several islands, including Antigua and Barbuda, a vessel that has cleared out must depart within 24 hours. Clearing out a day early to save a morning is therefore not a shortcut — it is a commitment to leave. Plan the outbound clearance for the day you actually go.
3. The captain clears; the guests stay aboard
The near-universal pattern is that the vessel flies the yellow quarantine flag on arrival, everyone stays aboard until the vessel is cleared, and the captain or a nominated crew member goes ashore with the ship's papers, passports and crew lists. Antigua asks for a call to the Coastguard on VHF 16 from six hours out; Turks and Caicos asks vessels to call ahead because officers are not permanently stationed at every port. Keeping guests aboard for an hour on arrival day is much easier when it was in the itinerary they read before they travelled.
4. Carry more copies than you think
Several islands still want multiple physical copies of the crew and passenger list — Antigua asks for six on the way in and four on the way out. Prepare a stack at the start of the season with the yacht's details pre-filled. It is a small thing that saves a repeated queue.
5. Cruising permits and park fees are separate from clearance
Clearing in does not usually include the right to cruise or to use the national parks. Most islands charge a cruising permit and many charge park fees on top, and the two are collected in different places. Build both into the APA conversation before the charter.
6. Charter licences are a management question, not a crew one
Several islands require a commercial or charter licence distinct from the cruising permit — St Lucia issues an occasional licence valid up to six months, priced by length; the BVI and USVI have their own regimes with real teeth. These have lead times and, in some cases, four-figure costs. Confirm the yacht's licence position for the whole season with the management company in the autumn, not per charter.
BVI. SailClear. Fees rose substantially in 2025: around $16 per person per day cruising permit, about $55 per week national parks, roughly $10 environmental levy and $2 VISAR. Foreign-based commercial licence rose to $8,500 a year from 1 November 2025, with seven charter entries annually and a 60-day limit over 500 GT. USVI. US federal. Foreign-flagged yachts with foreign crew may only charter if the itinerary includes a foreign component, in practice the BVI. National park needs a Commercial Use Authorization for commercial vessels. St Maarten / Saint-Martin. Dutch and French. Two jurisdictions on one island; clear separately. St Barths. French. Port de Gustavia on VHF 12, office roughly 07:00 to 18:00 daily; online pre-clearance up to 24 hours ahead. Antigua and Barbuda. eSeaClear. Call Coastguard on VHF 16 from six hours out; quarantine flag; cruising permit required; extra National Parks Authority fees in English Harbour, Falmouth and Nelson's Dockyard; depart within 24 hours of clearing out. St Lucia. SailClear. Clearance from EC$5 to EC$15 by length, pratique EC$10 to EC$40, nav aids EC$15, departure tax EC$33; charter licence EC$200 to EC$400 by length; SMMA mooring fees separate. Martinique / Guadeloupe. French / EU. Terminal clearance ashore; an EU border, so crew visa positions matter. Dominica. SailClear. Portsmouth and Roseau; PAYS runs the northern moorings and security. St Vincent and the Grenadines. SailClear. Tobago Cays Marine Park charges $15 per person plus $60 per 24-hour mooring; Carriacou and Grenada are a separate country. Turks and Caicos. SailClear. File at least 24 hours before arrival and before departure; anchoring permit required over 60 feet, valid 30 days. Bahamas. Bahamas regime. Cruising permit plus charter tax and VAT; Exuma park charges moorings by length band, anchoring per foot, and a further per-person daily fee for charter passengers
The habit that separates a smooth multi-country week from a scrappy one is treating each clearance as a scheduled event with a named window, exactly like a restaurant booking. Put it on the day with a time, note the office hours and the overtime threshold, note who goes ashore and with what, and tell the guests in the itinerary what it means for them — usually an hour aboard on arrival morning, which reads as normal when it was written down in advance and as an inconvenience when it was not.
In Guest Trip: each clearance sits on its day with the practical detail attached, and the guest-facing itinerary can say simply that the morning starts aboard while the captain clears the yacht in.
Usually, yes. Each country handles customs and immigration separately, and guest details are typically declared on clearance. Check current requirements for every island on the route before the charter.
Both are advance electronic notification systems for yacht clearance. SailClear covers most of the English-speaking Caribbean including the BVI, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, Grenada and Turks and Caicos, and carries a modest annual subscription. eSeaClear is used by Antigua and Barbuda and is free.
Yes, in almost every case: each island is a separate country. A single week from St Maarten to Antigua can cross four or five jurisdictions. Sint Maarten and Saint-Martin are two clearances on one island.
Typically under an hour where advance notification has been filed and the yacht arrives inside office hours, usually around 08:30 to 16:30 on weekdays. Outside those hours most islands charge overtime, and without advance notification it can take considerably longer.
In several islands, including Antigua and Barbuda, a vessel that has cleared out must depart within 24 hours. Clearing out early to save a morning therefore commits the yacht to leaving, and staying can require clearing in again.
Every clearance held against its day with office hours and who goes ashore.
Guest passport details and crew lists against the trip rather than in an inbox.
Tell guests what arrival morning involves before they travel, so an hour aboard reads as normal.
Save a multi-country week with its clearances and reuse it next season.
Planning a 7-Day Caribbean Yacht Charter Itinerary: St Maarten, St Barths and Antigua
Put every clearance on the day it belongs to, keep crew lists with the trip, and tell guests what arrival morning involves before they travel.