Lebanon - Clearance
Pre-Arrival Procedures:
ATCL Jounieh marina (20km from Beirut city centre) is the best place to clear into Lebanon.
Captain Naaman [+961 3352928] is the ATCL manager in charge of entry procedures and berth availability. Arrangements must be made with ATCL prior to arrival.
ATCL will contact the Lebanese Navy to inform them of your arrival. You need to provide your ETA to ATCL 24 hours before your arrival in Lebanon.
At 12NM from the coast, call the Lebanese Navy (call sign Oscar Charlie) on VHF Channel 11 or 16, request permission to enter Lebanese waters and advise them of which marina you are heading to for inward clearance.
Only after receiving permission, should the yacht proceed.
The authorities should be contacted again when 6NM from the marina entrance. The arrival should be timed to be during daylight hours. The port captain should be contacted on Channel 16 when about to enter the marina to be given directions to a free berth.
General Clearance Process:
All formalities are completed in the marina and there are various clearance fees, which can be paid in US dollars.
You will be asked for a port clearance form from your last port (zarpe) and they estimate the time you have been at sea from leaving there and arriving in Lebanon. It is no use handing in a two week old Port Said form as you will be asked to leave. This also applies to Syria.
Customs will issue you with a 3 month cruising permit. This can be renewed. There is a Customs charge.
Immigration will want to see passports, and there is also an Immigration charge.
Domestic Cruising:
As with all yacht movements in Lebanon, Military Operation Control (Oscar Charlie) must be contacted prior to departure or arrival at any port in Lebanon, even when already cleared into the country.
An unreported movement will soon be followed by a visit from a Lebanese Navy patrol boat and endless questions.
Immigration must be visited on departure and arrival, from and to any subsequent marina after clearing into the country. There is a departure and arrival charge each time.
Overnight anchoring is not permitted, however, daytime anchoring is possible as long as you return to the marina before dark.
Clearing out of Lebanon:
Clearing out requires an agent, for which there is a charge, although the ATCL marina includes this service for visiting yachts.
See Fees for details of all charges.
Last updated: July 2023
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Reported by Italian sailor Giorgio Clerici
of SY Laurora who spent last winter in Lebanon:
Entering (November 2022) it was $300 USD for Customs which issue you 3 months validly permit. This permit can be renewed once, paying again 300 USD .
ATCL marina Lebanon has Customs on-site, but the marina fee in ATCL are around 1000 USD per month for a 13 meter vessel.
Entering the ATCL you meet the Immigration which will charge 50 USD per crew. Yachts can move 4NM south to la Marina Joseph Khoury -Dbaye where the mooring price was 300 USD per month.
To move from one marina to another you have to pay 50 USD to Immigration to clear out from the ATCL and 50 USD to clear in at the next port/marina.
These fees are compulsory every time you leave and enter an harbour inside Lebanese waters.
To clear out of the country (which we did in February 2023) from a Marina, an agent is required who charged us 200 USD.
We were in Lebanon during the winter and the other ports of Lebanon outside the Beirut area were not reccomended in winter. Around Beirut there are some more little private marinas which have berth availability, but negotiations have to be done prior to arrival.
In the summer it would be possible to cruise to the ports of Batrun- Byblo – Sidone, very interesting places. For entering Tripoli or Tyro, a special permit has to be required through the agent . Nice anchorages around the coast, but the police do not permit overnight anchoring. During the daytime you can leave your marina without any check or fee – but you need to be back at your berth before dark.
It’s very important to have cash in USD with you as the local money is not accepted anymore and loses value every day (even more the 10% daily ).
Debit card and credit card don’t work in Lebanon, so it is very important to have your budget in cash. Fuel is cheap and easy to find, but payment only by USD cash. Euro is not available as is has to be converted in to dollars before tuse. The Euros is traded at a very bad exchange rate .
The Country is nice, SAFE and beautiful, even though they are facing a difficult economic crisis.