x-no-archive:yes

I didn't know about the $100 per visit fee for Bahamians in the US,
but I talked to some of them when I was there last. They said that it
is cheaper for them to fly over to the US, rent a car, and buy stuff
(like furniture) and ship it back even with all the import taxes etc
that they have to pay on it then to buy it in the Bahamas.

In any case, if they are charging $15 (or $18 in the case of Freeport)
exit fee per person that's not equivalent to charging a boat with two
to 4 persons $300. And I don't know if they charge the cruise ship
passengers anything extra or maybe it is included in their passage.

Most Bahamians have no contact with private boat cruisers or they
don't realize that they are cruisers. So the animosity towards people
from the US is probably toward non-boating tourists.

As for our getting parts for free that are in Bahamian stores - that's
a laugh. Bob went to all the stores in Bimini and all the stores in
Nassau and quite a few of them in Freeport, and he bought what he
could which wasn't much. We had to go back to the states to get any
serious engine parts. Even when they had them, they didn't want to
look for them, or couldn't find them.

And we don't get them for free - we have to pay for them and pay sales
tax just like anyone else. All we escape is paying Bahamian duty.

I also wonder how this is going to affect Canadian visitors who
usually live a little closer to the bone because of the exchange rate
than we do.

In any case, my SIL who is the sort who will run over to Bimini for
the weekend has said he won't go anymore - not so much because of the
fees in the Bahamas, but because of the hassle getting back into the
states.

We first went to the Bahamas in order to stay longer in FL than the 90
days allowed. It's cheaper to pay the fee now than to go to the
Bahamas, particularly if they charge us additional for each dinghy.


grandma Rosalie