Suriname - Clearance
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Enter Suriname through the Suriname River as both Paramaribo and Domburg (upstream) lie on this river.
Enter preferably during daylight, as it can be confusing during the night with the numerous lights.
In addition, there is a dangerous wreck at the entrance which was reported in May 2016. See details here.
Fly the ‘Q’ flag, lower the sails and motor in with the tide.
If waiting for daylight and/or the tide, you can safely anchor at the river mouth, OUT of the shipping lane in five meters of water and wait.
While all formalities must be completed in the city of Paramaribo, a new government rule does not allow yachts to anchor near the town or in front of Torarica Hotel (unless special permission has been granted), so all visiting yachts must proceed directly upstream to Domburg and travel to Paramaribo from there (only 10NM away).
Visiting yachts have 2 days after arrival to complete formalities in Paramaribo. The marinas can assist with clearance.
ARRIVAL FORMALITIES
Advance Notification:
From 12.8 km (eight miles) out, call MAS (Maritime Authority Suriname) on VHF Channel 12 or 16, to advise them of your arrival. If nothing is heard just proceed to Domburg, under the bridge over the river (height 41 meters). The navigation channel is clearly marked with buoys.
- You will pass Paramaribo at approx. 8NM up-river.
- Domburg is approx. 13NM up-river.
- Marina Resort Waterland is approx. 18NM up-river.
General Process:
Clearance is not required immediately. Once settled in at Domburg, the skipper and crew should attend to clearance formalities in Paramaribo, easily reached by taxi or a direct bus link from Domburg. See transport for details on buses between Domburg and Paramaribo.
The skipper and all crew must attend all offices for clearance. Again, the marinas can assist with this.
Note: It is sensible to dress reasonably smartly as cruisers have been refused access to the Foreign Police office because they were wearing shorts (long pants (no shorts), closed shoes and shirt with sleeves). Being polite and always greeting an official or person before asking a question will serve you well.
Some marinas will assist with clearance formalities and help with completing paperwork in advance and organizing taxis etc.
Clearing In from Domburg:
The day before you plan to head into Paramaribo to clear in, go to the Domburg internet shop and make three copies of your crew list. Remember, all crew (with their passports) must complete clearance.
Minibusses into a town run from 06:00 to 16:00 and it is strongly advised to start early (around 07:00) as not only is the journey into Paramaribo lengthy, but visiting the various offices can take some time too. Allow approximately 7 hours to complete the process. The marina can assist with a taxi clearance trip from Domburg for approx. US$30.
The bus ends up at the Heiligenweg bus stop. While it is possible to take buses to the various offices (see this cruiser’s report ), it is much simpler to take a taxi from the Heiligenweg bus stop to all the various offices you need to visit. Arrange a set price for two hours (cost approx. SDR 40/hour).
Arriving yachts must first check-in with:
1. Maritime Authority Suriname (MAS)
Located on Cornelis Jongbaw Street #2 (between Hofstede and Wilhelmina Streets).
See Documents for the paperwork you need to take for clearance.
You will be given several entry documents to fill in. They will keep one of your crew lists and may stamp your other crew lists as well (or may not).
2. Foreign Affairs
Located on Grote Combeweg (near the intersection of Henck St and Tamarindelaan Streets).
This is where you obtain the paperwork for either a three-month tourist pass or a visa.
You must then pay at the bank with USD or Euros only (Central Bank is on Waterside Street, between Mr J.C. De Miranda St and Kromme Elleboog Streets – easy walking distance) and bring the receipt back to the foreign affairs office and the tourist pass/visa will be issued.
They will keep one of your crew lists as well.
3. Military Police (MP)
Located on the corner of Henck Aaronstraat and Tourtonnelaan.
Here they will stamp your passports. Be sure to keep one crew list.
- Note: All of the above offices are in “Government complexes” with multiple buildings. Although not the cheapest option, you will save a lot of time and headaches by using a taxi as mentioned above, as he can take you to the correct buildings.
CLEARING OUT
International Clearance:
Clearing out requires a visit to the MP. When leaving the country, just an exit stamp on your crew list is needed.
If however, you have changed crew in Suriname, you will need to first go to MAS to get your crew list changed, and then to MP to get it stamped.
Cruisers have reported; “They will ask you when you are leaving. It cannot be further away than “tomorrow” otherwise they will tell you to come back. In practice, nobody checks to see that you have actually left”.
Last updated: June 2019
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Related to following destinations: Suriname
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I left my boat, a Oceanis 473, in the water from may to october 2019 in the small marina Waterland Suriname. The owner Noel and his crew took very good care of it. The electrician Aad Smit is great, and sympathetic. As in many small countries, he is skilled in many crafts. He also did an excellent plastic job on my boat.
Its important to cover the properly, the deck was stained by yellow dust.
Currently moored in Domburg in Suriname and planning to clear in tomorrow in Paramaribo (27 May 2019)
After meeting and discussing the issues/process with Netti (Harbour Resort Domburg), it “seems” to me that MAS is basically acting as “Customs” and if I understand the process, a private vessel must “1st” go there to receive entry documents for the vessel then “2nd” secure a tourist card (or visa) with the Consular Affaires (which also requires a trip to the Bank with USD or Euro ONLY no SRD – not sure why they don’t take their own money) and then “3rd” the Military Police to get passport stamped (basically acting as Immigration). While I admit this might seem a little “opposite” them most places (where Immigration is 1st and Customs next) it seems to be how they want it done and it’s their country.
Also for information, we attempted to notify MAS on VHF 16 and 12 of our arrival at the mouth of the Suriname River as suggested in the Noonsite “Clearance” section but no response was received so we continued up river to Domburg.
TY bclark.
To all visitors who plan to come to Suriname.
Do not fear or think that anything is hard to get.
All is there for you to explore.
All you wil meet is very friendly people to guide you to where and what to do, after entering Suriname river by yacht.
My strong advice is never to enter at night, so plan your arriving at incoming tide, at daylight.
This due to many lights at shore at night who may confuse entering even with a good map or electronic charts!
Anchor out at 5 mtr dept and wait to daylight and incoming tide.
Never enter in sailing, due to ships who enter as well, but motor in.
When at Domburg or at Waterland Resort you have three days before going for a visa.
And believe me from there you will receive all the help you need, to start a beautiful time in Suriname.
And remember, this is a very special country and you will not get this grand arrival feeling elsewhere, not in many other islands .
Enjoy and have a wonderful stay.
Mieke mv Southern Cross!
We stayed for almost 1 month at Waterland resort. Highly recommended as it is a secure place to leave your ship when visiting inland.
On Sundays, you can have a very good brunch at the resort and from time to time also BBQ in the evening. Beware: dinghies have been stolen at Waterland and at Domburg this year. Be sure to keep them well locked!
They currently have BBQ on Saturday afternoon and excellent all you can eat buffet on Sunday afternoon. Bar is open every day and snacks are available. The dock has electricity and water. There are plans for another dock to double the capacity. I think this is the only marina between Brazil and Trinidad. Noel was most friendly and helpful for getting us a rental car, help for a diesel a problem and information on batteries as ours had died en route. We stayed a week and a half before continuing north and it was an excellent experience.
The sail across from Ascension Island to the Suriname River mouth took us 25 days – about 2652nm. Crossing in the path of the Amazon River, we were affected by cross-currents, even 260nm out. Coming in closer to Suriname, there were a lot of fishing boats with nets extended all over the place and it was very difficult to pick your way though it all, especially at night, so take great care on the approaches or come around at higher latitudes and then turn South heading straight for the entry markers.
We anchored just off the river mouth to wait for a full days light. MAS (Maritime Authority Suriname) would not allow us to anchor closer in, we had to either proceed up to Domburg or wait outside, and so we waited. The current was hectic at 2 am so you have to very careful as of where to anchor and keep watch.
We arranged a docking at Marina Resort Waterland which is about 27nm up the river. GPS – 05deg39’.503N and 055deg03’.833W (see their website http://www.waterlandsuriname.com and they have a facebook page). Fees were €27 + 8% tax per day with water and electricity. Very nice, relaxing place to recuperate after the long sail.
The owner, Noel, arranged a taxi for us to go into Paramaribo to check in. This took about 6 hours as we needed a visa from Immigration. Visa fee was $45 each and had to be paid at the Central Bank which was a short walk away. Everyone was friendly.
We stayed on a dock for 2 weeks then moved 6.7nm back towards Domburg and went on a mooring ball at Harbour Resort Domburg GPS – 05deg42’.222N and 055deg04’.899W. Also very nice with a restaurant (River Breeze Restaurant & Bar), swimming pool, showers and a small laundry machine. Fees were €8.75 for the mooring ball.
Although while we were there, there was construction working in progress along the bank retaining wall so there was no floating dingy dock and difficult access to land. There was no “water supply” to your boat as part of the facilities/services and the “cooking gas service” entails hiring a car or taxi and going to town yourself.
The Tourism Foundation has a fairly comprehensive tourist destination guide and there is also the Suriname Travel magazine and a variety of smaller brochures/booklets that will assist any visitor to Suriname. These are available at the immigration visa office and Marina Resort Waterland.
Regarding clearing out in Paramaribo, please note that you do not go to Vremdelingenspolitie, but to the Military Police on the corner of Tourtonne Laan, same police post you have been visiting when checking in.
I was told that this is the case since 2 or 3 years already.
Please note that sometimes you get your crew list stamped, sometimes not – we did not get a stamp.
Vremdelingenspolitie is still the point to go when you stay longer than 4 weeks and you have to get you 3 months visa re-stamped.