The following is info we have acquired about the check in procedures
for Mexico. Upon arrival you must call the Port Captain on VHF and
notify them that you have arrived. They should make arrangements for
Sanitation to come to the boat to do their inspection. No crew should
go ashore till that is done. Once they have inspected, the Q flag can
come down and you can proceed. There is no charge for this. Next you go
to Immigrations with your passports. They fill out a short form and
stamp the passports. They will give you a form to take to the bank to
pay the Immigration fees. They were $21.00 US per passport. The bank
stamps the form and returns it to you. Don't lose that form. Next stop
is the Port Captain. Upon our arrival we were told we must hire an
agent. We had been expecting this. We informed them that we were aware
of the change of law and that an agent is not required. They told us
the law here in Isla Mujeres is that an agent is required. We knew that
was not true. We had a copy of the December issue of Latitude 38
stating all of the changes for clearing under Reglamento 69 passed and
signed in to law by President Fox which applies to ALL of Mexico of
which Isla Mujeres is part. Our next contact was to Tere Grossman of
the Mexican Marina Owners Association. She was instrumental in getting
this legislation passed. She is in constant contact with the Director
of Port Captains in Mexico City on just these issues. By the end of the
day we received a email from her stating that she had passed our email
on to the Director and he was to call the Port Captain here and inform
him that he was not to require an agent. When we returned to the Port
Captain office we were processed with no problem but we had been told
that they were only doing this for us and others would have to use an
agent. The charge depends on the size of the boat and was $26.00 US for
Sea Trek which is 40 feet. You still must have or acquire the Importada
for the boat and that is another process. Under Mexican Federal law it
is illegal for a Port Captain to require a PLEASURE boat to hire an
agent. It is also illegal for a Port Captain to charge additional fees
to check in to other ports after you have cleared in to Mexico
officially. Tere Grossman can be contacted at
and welcomes anyone that is having
problems. It appears that the Port Captains in Isla Mujeres and Puerto
Morelos on the Atlantic side are the only ones not in compliance. We
hope our actions and that of other cruisers will change that. We
emphasize that through this entire process we remained friendly and
courteous and believe that helped move the situation along. They know
this is wrong but don't want to let go of the old ways. They acted as
if this was something they knew nothing about. There was a meeting in
Mexico City of all Port Captains to explain the new law when it was
passed. Hope this info helps.