Cruising guides

Bimini is about fifty miles from Fort Lauderdale, and almost everything that goes wrong on that crossing goes wrong on paper rather than on the water. These are the clearance rules both ways, and what the Bahamas charges, taken from the government pages themselves and dated so you can see how fresh they are.

• Bahamas Cruising Permit Fees 2026: What It Costs to Take Your Boat Across

  Every charge in one place: permit fees by boat length and duration, anchorage fees including the FDCC’s own, the passenger tax, the fishing permit, the AIS rule for boats over 50 ft, what a trip actually comes to, and two ways to get money back.

  Checked 1 October 2026

• Entering and Departing the Bahamas

  Clearing in to the Bahamas by boat, step by step: the yellow flag rule, who may leave the boat, filing on Click2Clear, what to have aboard, the firearms exemption and its three month limit, pets, clearing out, and the ports of entry.

  Checked 2 October 2026

• Entering and Departing the USA by Vessel

  What a private vessel must do on arrival from a foreign port, what failing to report actually costs, what CBP ROAM does and does not cover, who can hold a cruising licence, and what you may bring home.

  Checked 2 October 2026

A guide, not advice. Fees and procedures change, sometimes without warning, and every source is linked at the foot of each page. Check them before you sail. Aspire Yacht Sales is a yacht brokerage, not a customs broker and not a law firm.