New Mexican Check-in Procedures

New check in procedures are in effect now. There is a new building next to the Port Captains office across the street from Agencia Arjona. It is called Centro Integral de Servicios.
It contains all of the necessary offices in one room.

As you walk in, there is a placard explaining the check-in sequence and procedures.

The 5 windows are:

Immigration, Port Captain. Customs, Fishing License and Payment Center

They are open 7 days a week. Monday thru Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Saturday, Sunday and Holidays from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

You start with immigration by filling out the Tourist Cards furnished by the officer. Once you returned them filled out, go to the payment window and pay for them. Back to immigration where the officer will hand you the tourist cards (ask for 180 days validity) and the stamped crew lists.

With the crew lists, copy of your documentation, your liability insurance policy and copy of your passports, go to the port captain. You can pay his fees right at his window. He will sign your crew lists and return them to you. Return to immigration to leave a signed copy of the crew list with the officer.

Now you go to customs to get your import permit for your boat. The agent will want to see copy of your boat registration. He will fill out the form and ask you questions regarding the boat like what type of engines, models, etc... Once he gathered all of this information, he will print it out for you and sign it. Again, go pay for his services at the pay window.

Last stop is fishing permits. Get a permit for the boat and one for each crew member, valid for one year. You will need your passports and boat documentation. Once he fills out the papers, go pay for the services and get the permits. If you have crew for the time of the delivery south only, get fishing permit only for that period, not for a year.

Voila, you just finished checking in to Mexico. It’s that easy.

The staff is very helpful and cordial. The whole process takes more or less about an hour to an hour and a half, depending upon how many people are ahead of you. It is best to go early in the morning, since at about 11:00 AM the ship agents for the different marinas show up to do the bulk processing for all new arrivals.

If you plan to cruise in Mexico, you will need to check out of Ensenada. All you have to do is fill out a new crew list with destination Puerto Madero, Chiapas. On the sentence where it says: “ con escala en los siguientes Puertos:” fill in only “intermedios”. Pay your port fees at the port captain’s office, leave a copy with immigration and off you go.This will let you cruise all over Mexico for as long as you want. Every time you arrive at a new port, all you have to do is either call the Port Captain on CH. 16 and announce your arrival or use the log in the marina you are staying in. Same procedure with leaving the harbor.

Documents needed for entry:

Crew list and 5 copies
Copy of boat documentation

Copy of passport of every crewmember

Mexican liability insurance

Credit Card (Visa or MasterCard)

Documents needed for exit:

New Crew List and 5 copies

Your arrival crew list

Ship papers and passports.

Make extra copies of your crew list and boat documentation, because in many ports, they want a copy of them for their files. In most cases all you do is sign a log book and voila, that’s it.

Keep in mind that rules do change. These rules were in effect in August 2005