Port Louis (Mauritius) - Clearance
This is a port of entry. See Mauritius Formalities for full details on clearing into and out of the country.
Port opening hours: 06:00-18:00
This is the main harbour and the only official port of entry and exit for Mauritius. One must clear in here before visiting any other anchorage.
On arrival at the outer markers, call “Port Louis Port Control” on channel 16. They will probably ask you to switch to channel 14. If you do not request permission to enter the port, you may be intercepted by the coast guard in one of their orange speedboats.
The port is open during daylight hours; arrivals after 18:00 may not be acknowledged by radio. It is acceptable to anchor clear of the entrance until morning.
Docking for Clearance
On obtaining permission to enter, proceed to the Customs and Immigration dock (020° 09.6′ S, 057° 30.0′ E). This is poorly marked and is located in an old grey building, next to an old windmill (also grey) on the port side right at the end of the main channel. There is only a small dock in front of the building with a sign saying Customs
This dock is not designed to accommodate small vessels. There are no bollards or cleats and lines must be tied to the railings. It is also very difficult to get off the boat here as the dock is very high. Be very careful with wash/surge. It is advisable to try and tie up to the north/south wall as the swell/wakes tend to roll along it. Take care to avoid the rocky shallow area to the starboard of the direct line to the Customs Station. It is now marked with a small yellow buoy.
See reports on clearing in here and the comments section from cruisers.
Officials
The first official to board the boat at the clearance dock is the Health Inspector. Once he has provided clearance then Customs will board the boat. If they do not then it is advisable to move into the marina and visit the remainder of the officials on foot.
Nobody (except the skipper) should leave the yacht until the Health/Quarantine Officer has completed his inspection.
Customs, Immigration and Coast Guard formalities are all completed in the same building or they may visit the boat. Formalities can take over an hour as various officials will need to be called. Be prepared to fill in the 13 forms required by Customs. Be sure to keep the Certificate of Clearance and Yacht Declaration forms safe as they are likely to be checked by the Coast Guard while you are in Mauritius waters.
Occasionally they will board the yacht for inspection.
Guns and spearguns must be declared and surrendered to Customs until departure.
Be sure to get a copy of your clearance papers because it may be required by coast guard boarding parties if you visit other ports in Mauritius.
Yachts may visit other anchorages and ports around the island after informing Customs of their intentions and after a clearance certificate has been issued.
Clearing out
This is best done early in the morning. Be sure to report accurately where you are moored at the Coast Guard patrol daily and note all foreign vessels in each sector.
Yachts must officially clear out even if leaving for Rodrigues or Saint Brandon as well as for a foreign port.
An application form requesting clearance to depart should be completed and presented to Customs at the post office. There are no charges associated with clearing out.
First, visit Coast Guard Harbour Security and inform them you are leaving. They can notify Immigration and Customs, or you can make the necessary appointments yourself (for before 10 am). Once all the paperwork has been done, make a second visit to Coast Guard Harbour Security for them to update their ledger.
Last updated: October 2018
National Coast Guard Harbour Security
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Related to following destinations: Mauritius, Mauritius, Port Louis (Mauritius)
Port Navigation
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domander says:
Jul 06, 2018 08:55 AM
Yoann is indeed a reliable electronics fellow who is very friendly and capable. He would like you to also have his email address for all your electronic repairs. He’s fixing Prince Diamond’s Raymarine chartplotter. He can be reached at the phone number seen above or at yoann.ddm@live.com
Report from Chris Higham – September 11th, 2017
We are currently in Mauritius and have an update about the availability of gas refills in Port Louis.
We visited three stations as mentioned on noonsite but they all stopped doing gas refills two weeks ago. Apparently, they do not have enough demand. Local Gas bottle swap is still an option.
Further comments from SY Lusi following their experience:
The best solution when tying up for clearance is to tie a vessel to the N/S wall as swell/wakes tend to roll along it. It was full when we arrived so we were directed to tie to the E/W wall. The swell tends to hit this wall at 90 degrees, so bounces off and is worse. It was calm when we tied up.
The walls are both terrible with any wake in the inner harbour, which happens many times a day. We just got a particularly bad one and on the worst wall.
The walls are not designed to accommodate vessels – there are no bollards or cleats so the boats are just tied to the railings (which are strong). There aren’t any steps, ladders or gates so you must scramble up however you can – difficult with a low tide.
We had 3 fenders out, which worked fine in the normal conditions, but when the extreme roll came they squashed under the pressure.
My vessel has quite an angle inwards to the water line so there was more pressure at the deck level. We were being pushed out about a metre at deck level then slammed back in – it was the most violent thing I have experienced on a vessel in 45 years of boating and 40,000 ocean miles.
Only the health inspector came to the boat and all he wanted was a chat and a crew list. Other crews said he just stayed on the dock.
Best advice is not to use E/W wall, fender up as much as possible, get off as soon as health has been as all the other officials can be visited on foot.
Caudan Marina is not boated friendly either – there is a nasty lip on the concrete wall that can catch the deck on a rising tide.
Highly recommend Patrick, a mechanic. He has done a great job with both our engines. He serviced and troubleshoot both. He is thorough, extremely helpful and very reasonable. He has been working on other boats here too, and the responses have been positive. Call him on 5942-9989. Speaks good English.
Posted on Hehalf of Gary & Jackie King of SV Inspiration Lady
We have found an excellent repair shop for alternators, starters, generators ( wind & water) and refrigeration compressor motors,
We have been carrying all of the above-broken parts for several years, not wanting to part with the items, hoping somewhere we would find a repair facility. Jamal Automotive Centre is the cleanest repair workshop we have seen in our travels. We have had 2 obsolete Balmar alternators rebuilt ( internal and external regulated), an obsolete Red Baron wind generator rewound, a Northern Lights alternator repaired that the supplier says is not a serviceable alternator and the commutator repaired on armature assembly of an obsolete, 12 V 1hp compressor motor for Glacier Bay Refrigeration. The latter item failed in Reunion Is, where no one would attempt repair necessitating bringing in a replacement motor from the US. Items were repaired with a 1-2 day turnaround. Repair costs were very reasonable, and excellent value vs replacement costs.
Jamal Automotive Centre is located in Port Louis on Royal Rd. It is within walking distance of the Caudan Marina basin or the bus terminal if coming in from Grande Baie.
Contact details are,
Moona ( shop manager) email: jamalac@myt.mu. Ph +230- 57125563
The Customs dock at Port Louis is very dangerous. Sailing vessel Lusi was damaged yesterday. The damage was caused by a Coast Guard vessel exceeding the port speed limit. The wake threw Luci into the wall many times.
Finding a taxi in Port Louis is very easy. Finding a taxi driver who takes no advantage of you is not that easy. We tried several of them and most of them overcharged us. We also used one who was recommended on this website and decided not to use him anymore (he was getting too greedy) Finally we continued to use Mr Wu. One of the nicest taxi drivers we ever met. We could ask him anything and nothing was too much for him.
We know his way around. If you need spare parts you could ask him and he will bring you to the right place. You need a refill of your gas bottle he will get you the refills etc…
He is even a fantastic guide.
He drove us around the island showed us many interesting places. A one day trip cost 2500 Rs. (doesn’t matter how many hours) A round trip to the supermarket Bagatel cost 800-1000 Rs. (He brings you and waits until you finished your shopping). Whatever you need he will try to find it for you.
Anyhow this is the experience we want to share with you.
contact details: Josian Wu +(230) 52530391.
You will not be disappointed.
Hire car – good value, clean car and friendly person to deal with.
Hire Car – Gerard Monet, Monet Car Hire, e-mail: admin@carhiremauritius.io, Web Site: http://www.carhiremauritius.io, Tel: 00 230 5251 1802
For Metalwork section: We had some work done and it was done very well.
Integrity Metal Works Ltd
Marine Road, Albion Docks, Port Louis, Mauritius
Tel: +230 216 9321
F: +230 217 6148
E: contact@integrity.mu
W: http://www.integrity.mu
Re Caudan Waterfront, there has been no limit to our stay. We’ve been here four weeks and have had no trouble extending week by week. Docking fees are MR300 per day for a 12m boat.
LPG – Gas refills available from VIVO Energy on Cemetery Road, about 4kms north of Caudan Waterfront. You can get a taxi but be prepared to pay for two trips as you may have to leave the bottles and return later. Was easier for us to hire a car. Cost in July 2014 was MR67.60 per kilo (A$2). VIVO Energy Mauritius, Cemetery Road, Roche Bois, Mauritius, Tel: +230 206 1225