Stop the madness!
On the day that we hiked to the top of the Mt. Liamuiga, our driver Everton was playing the part of tour guide, telling us about the island of St. Kitts. He was explaining how the sugar industry has all but disappeared from his island with tourism now accounting for the majority of their income. I assume this is a similar situation to what is occurring in most Caribbean islands. Tourism = dollars! With that said, it’s time to stop the madness.
Tourism offices really need to have a “sit down” with the Customs and Immigration people and explain to them that they represent the all-important first impression that tourists have of their island. Good impressions = more tourists and more dollars spent. Bad impressions = the obvious, less and less. I bring this up because so often we are met with stone-faced government employees who seem to be trying extra hard to appear unpleasant. Why anyone would want to do that is beyond me but it’s true.
Here is our Antigua experience (don’t worry — it’s not all bad). After reading our guidebook and determining that there is a Customs and Immigration office near the Jolly Harbor Marina, Rebecca and I anchored just outside the channel, near the other boats. As we always do, we took great care to make sure that we were secure in our chosen spot, including diving on the anchor and backing down on it to make sure that it was well set. As you might imagine, this takes a bit of time. With official documents in hand, we then left ZTC at anchor with her yellow Q flag (Quarantine flag) flying in the breeze as we went to check in. As often happens, we underestimated the size of the harbor and ended up touring all over the huge area, searching for the Customs office. We ultimately tied our tender to the first dinghy dock that we saw and then, after asking directions, ended up walking a considerable distance until we found the place. After entering the office, I presented the Customs officer with a big smile and informed her that we had just arrived and were there to check in. Her response? We were told to go back, get our boat and bring it in there and tie it up to their dock! Seriously? Yes, seriously!
Furious was probably a good way to describe my mood at the time, and it didn’t help that my blood sugar was low because I had yet to eat anything that day (as Rebecca will attest, this is never a good thing). I was convinced that the process of taking our dinghy back to our boat, raising anchor, rigging lines and fenders to go in there to check in and then reversing the procedure to re-anchor again, was going to take us about 2 hours start to finish (and I was right). Grrrr!
As it turns out, when we actually did arrive back at their dock, the three ladies that we had to fill out paper for were all very pleasant to us, including the first officer who made us move our boat. And we appreciate that. Thank you! At this point I am blaming the guidebook for not being strong enough in its wording to say that you MUST take your boat into the dock. Although it says to “head straight to customs dock,” that is pretty much what you’re supposed to do everywhere so we followed the exact same procedure that we have used in every other island that we’ve visited, but in this case, it wasn’t enough. So to be clear, if you do go to Antigua and wish to check in at Jolly Harbor, which is a nice place, you MUST take your boat in and tie it up to the Customs dock to do so (look for the large yellow flag flying in front of their office — that too is an important piece of info that would have saved us some time but was not mentioned in the guide book).
Anyway, we are checked in now and were issued a month-long cruising permit for the grand total of $30.00 EC, less than what we had to pay to stay 1 DAY in St. Barth’s. Can you believe that? I think we’re going to like this place. But tourist bureaus, please do as I suggest… have a heart-to-heart with your front-line troops. It really is important.
Be different… smile. Trust me, it won’t hurt!
A smile does go a long way! Glad your second visit and interaction was pleasant, but it sure would be nice if these guides were up to date. Thanks for keeping your readers updated!
One month for $30 .. sweet!
$30.00 EC = about 10 bucks US.
To bad you didn’t just go around to English Harbor and clear in like you always do (you did it right by the way) along with the thousands and thousands of sailors that have have been clearing in there for hundreds of years.
Jolly is a newbe and most all the oldbe’s don’t have much to do with it if they have a choice.
Do not miss Nelsons Dockyard. Have fun!
We do intend to go there. I am not sure of the amounts involved but I do believe there are additional harbor fees if you due if you wish to stay in Falmouth and English harbors.
Really? Wouldn’t surprise me, but I’m sure you can go there and anchor now for nothing
extra, now that your signed in. Good for you on the savings. I wish I could ….help show
you guys around. I have a hankering real big, to fly in when “Slapdash” comes through.
I’m not so sure of that. I believe they charge daily harbor fees to anchor there. This was relayed to us by some friends who had done just that and it also seems to confirm that in our guide book. Nonetheless, we do plan on visiting there for a while. As for Slapdash, we hope we’ll see them too. If you do come in make sure you hook up with us too.
There are fees to be paid to the National Parks if using the facilities in Nelsons Dockyard – that’s why many locals check in & out in Jolly – it is cheaper!
Enjoy Antigua – as you seem to be finding out, its not all bad!
Hi Pippa
Could you clarify if fees are due to anchor in English or Falmouth Harbors or only if you are at the marinas?
Our guide book, which has proven to be not up to date on other occasions, states:
“Vessels at Nelson’s Dockyard Marina, Antigua Slipway, Falmouth Harbor Marina and Catamaran Marina are subject to National Parks Authority Harbor Fees.” This does not talk about vessels at anchor.
By the way, as you may already know, Phil from Miramar was the examiner when I did my Yachtmaster test in Grenada. I hope he is doing well.
Mike
$30 EC (East Caribbean), if I am correct..that’s about $11-12 US Dollars !!
Exactly! St. Barth’s was 9.50 Euros per DAY for us.
Needless to say, your experience is exactly why ActiveCaptain exists. You’ll note the anchorage marker has been updated to reflect your recent findings:
https://activecaptain.com/X.php?lat=17.075205&lon=-61.895985&t=s&z=15
It explains, based on your description above, that you need to tie up at the customs dock. The information positioned right there on the anchorage and in context when others need it will help thousands who follow in your wake. It’s why adding your experiences to the data helps the community. Putting a review on each of the anchorages you stayed at will also provide your opinion of that location to the others behind you as well.
You are 100% right, Jeffrey. I visited your site frequently when in the US but down here have been omitting to. I intend to rectify that though and to also add our experiences. Thanks!
How peculiar! I checked into Jolly Harbour on 3 different trips between 2008 – 2010 and NEVER took the boat in. I did have my excuse ready though (and it was true at least once!) – I was having engine problems and it would be too difficult to bring the boat to the dock.
FWIW, checking in @ English Harbour does incur lots of extra fees (sadly found out the hard way for our kitty).
We saw many other boats going to their dock so it seems as if we were the only ones not in the know.
The lady in question had messed with so many people in ways you would find very hard to believe. The law is actually not to proceed directly to the Customs Dock (as I found out before I was fined US $2000). The law says that you can’t come to the dock (or any port) after 6pm. Anyway, check this blog I wrote about that horrible customs lady: http://antiguaisland.blogspot.com/2010/11/crazy-customs-fines-will-have-negative.html
She is “friends” with someone very high in the gov which is why she gets away with this BS. I always tell people to stay the hell away from clearing into Jolly Harbour. I own property there and have four boats in the harbour, but I would rather clear into Nelson’s Dockyard to avoid that one lady.
WOW! Just WOW! Everyone should read that link.
Despite occasions when I too have been frustrated at the Customs and Immigration dock, I think it is unfair to suggest that people stay away from Jolly Harbour – I too live here, and clear in and out on a regular basis, I would always choose JH over EH – cheaper, and obviously more convenient. If visitors are made aware that they need to bring the boat to the dock at the Customs office to clear in, they should not have any major problems. The shopping facilities in JH are far better than in EH, and if cruising yachts are arriving requiring stores they will be pleased to find a very good supermarket within easy walking distance of the dinghy dock. Don’t be too quick to dismiss Jolly Harbour, it does have a lot of positive points!
Thanks again, Pippa.
I think it’s very important for people coming here to know exactly what the actually scoop is. The fines described in the other commenter’s link are out of this world given the gravity of the infraction.
As for the rest of Jolly Harbor, including the grocery store that you mentioned, we like it.
This is a timely topic – there has been a very active thread started lately on this very thing over on TTOL…. here’s the link:
http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=bvi&Number=1371271&fpart=1&PHPSESSID=
Sadly I can’t get that link, or any link on TTOL for that matter, to load. I’ll try later.
Yes, it seems to be a nightly occurrence; around 7 or 8pm PST I can no longer get on and it remains that way until I go to bed. It’s frustrating. I think they shut down their servers or something to save on bandwidth charges maybe. I don’t know but it is always back on in the morning.
I’ll try again. 🙂
I hope your Antigua experience improves. My wife and I were there for a week last year, and found it to be incredibly unwelcoming. It’s a beautiful island, and some of the people were nice, but most were obvious about not wanting us there.
That said, Jolly Harbour was a high point. The long, narrow, patio/pub is a great place to relax, and their Jerk Chicken is fantastic!
That’s interesting Matt. In all the places we’ve been I can’t say that I’ve ever felt that way. There are definitely places where we’ve gotten the vibe that people wanted something from us, thinking we were money-laden tourists, but not that we were unwelcome.
That’s good. I’ve also heard a rumour that cruisers get more of a welcome than those of us that fly in (due to the yachting community in general giving more to the island). But that might just be a rumour.
Perhaps, but I’m not sure how they’d tell the difference, except that cruisers tend to dress in a bit more scruffy clothing (at least we do). We do our best to always be polite, (say ‘Good Morning’ and ‘How Are You Doing’ before trying to do business, etc.) that seems to help.