Bringing Your Boat to Costa Rica

Those of you who owns yachts and sailboats will be pleased to know that there are two marinas where you may dock your boats in Costa Rica. And plans call for a couple of more to be built in the future. In the Pacific Northwest area in the Flamigo Marina and in the Central Pacific, the new marina at Los Sueños Resort. The latter has 75 slips and is the only marina where you can keep your boat in the country legally for over 6 months. Slips rent for about $13-$15 per month per foot. The marina will eventually offer membership in the Los Sueños Yacht Club, a full range of sport fishing charters, day cruises as well as other water sports activities.

In the past the longest you could keep a boat in the country was 6 months without having to pay taxes on it. Duties can be as high as 53 percent of the boat’s real value. This is still the case at the Flamingo Marina in Guanacaste. Most people get around this by taking the boat out every 6 months and then returning. Unlike with cars you can keep doing this. However, the Los Sueños Marina is the only licensed marina in the country and has a special agreement whereby a boat may be kept in the country under the cover of the marina for up to two years without taking it out of Costa Rica. We understand that you can then renew your permit for another two years. This exemption is only for non-commercial boats and does not apply to those who use their boats for sport fishing. For additional information we urge you to call the Los Sueños Marina at 011-(506-643-3941).