Check-in Cha-Cha, Costa Rican style

Monday morning I made copies of the paperwork suggested by “Explore Central America! Part 2” by Eric Baicy and Sherrell Watson of S/V Sarana. Three copies each of passports, boat document, crew list, zarpe and documentation of last 5 ports visited. I had everything in the boat binder.

Rich and I got the dingy ready. This is always an experience getting it from deflated and upside down on the foredeck, to inflated, right side up in the water with the chaps, seat, oars, wheels, and engine. We are getting better at the process but it still takes time.

Rich called the port captain on the radio and said we would be in soon. She answered ok. Another cruiser, Jerry called on the radio and invited us over to give us some information. Jerry and his wife are on SV Northern Lights from the Yukon Territories. Jerry gave us some of the tips that all cruisers want to know like: where to leave your dingy when going into town, where is the Port Captain, Immigration and Aduana or customs, the best grocery store for provisioning, where do you catch the bus and how much does it cost, the bank, a good place to get something to eat, etc. He had a wealth of information. So armed, we went in.

First stop was the Port Captain which was a short walk down the beach to the main street in town. She wanted copies of the boat document, passports, zarpe from Nicaracgua and crew list. Rich completed an entry form to a crew list with data from the boat document including our last 5 ports of call.

Second stop was Immigration which was a short walk down the main street. The woman helping us wanted copies of the boat document, passports and crew list. She completed a form in quadruplicate using carbon paper. When the form was done, she had Rich sign it. Oops, he signed in the wrong spot, so she completed the form again, in quadruplicate and made sure Rich signed in the correct spot. She stamped our passports and sent us back to the Port Captain.

We made a detour at this point and stopped at the bank with an ATM to get some cash. The currency here is colones but US dollars are also accepted as far as we know since the ATM would provide either. Since the bank was next to the recommended grocery store we peaked in and were pleasantly surprised at the selection. The plan was to stop back at the store after the Cha-Cha.

Back to the Port Captain we showed the paperwork from Immigration and we were told to go to Aduana or Customs. The bus stop was in front of Immigration so back we walked up the street. The bus was upscale and we asked to be dropped off at Aduana. We met a couple vacationing from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, taking the bus into Liberia. Just passed the airport the bus dropped us off. In my best Spanish I said hello and asked the woman behind the desk if spoke English. She smiles and starts speaking in fluent English. She wanted copies of the boat document, passports and crew list. I filled out a form which asked for information on the boat, the engine, the dingy and outboard. She asked if we had a jet ski, we replied no. An agent, Tony, was there also and offered to help if we wanted to import the boat or a car. No thanks. Customs provided us with a temporary import permit, similar to what we had in Mexico and she explained some of the rules about bringing in boat parts. Each person on board is allowed to bring in up to $500 worth of boat stuff within a six month period. After that you need to pay duty, interesting.

When we were finished we waited outside for the bus back to Playa de Coco. Supposedly the buses run every half hour to 45 minutes. It seems like a long wait in the hot sun with no shade but a bus did arrive and we waved it down. We walked back to the Port Captain. She tried to have us fill out paperwork to leave Playa de Coco. We explained that we wanted to stay and that we would return on Wednesday morning. There was a little bit of a communication gap here but we think we sorted it out.

Since we were done with the Cha-Cha, at least for today, it was time to get something to eat. We found a nice restaurant and ordered two salads. It was good to have a rest. We walked back up to the grocery store to buy just a few items, schlep it back to the dingy and back to the boat. Dusk was arriving soon and we had a full day with plenty of walking.

And you ask how we get our exercise while cruising….