Senegal - Clearance
Cruisers recommend Dakar as the best port of entry for pleasure yachts.
PRE-ARRIVAL
The port authority should be contacted on VHF Channel 16 for instructions on arrival.
ARRIVAL FORMALITIES
Customs & Immigration offices are open 08:00-12:30, 14:00-17:00 Monday to Friday. Customs will require a copy of the Ship’s papers, and payment.
Immigration will hold either the ships papers or a copy of the same, give you a receipt, stamp your passport and then most likely enquire if you feel like giving them a “gift” – as a charge. This should be politely refused – it does not cause any problems.
CLEARING OUT
On clearing out it is only necessary to visit Immigration who will stamp the passports and then return the ships papers in return for the receipt (they will even return the copy).
No clearance document (zarpe) of any kind is available which should be taken into account if leaving for a port which needs one. (Keep this in mind if departing Senegal for trans-Atlantic crossings, because most Caribbean and Central/South American countries need these documents.)
NOTE: If intending to travel to or from Guinea, know that the inland border maybe closed due to Ebola risk and entry may be refused if travelling by yacht as well.
Last updated: November 2018
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CASAMANCE EXPERIENCE:
We arrived in Zinguichor directly from The Gambia without going to Dakar first. I can not recommend anyone else to do this. Overall the experience with the authorities here has been horrible. Mandatory military checkpoints are along the river and tributaries, we were not told by the customs or military they were required but we got in trouble each time we passed one (they are difficult to see).
Once we were forced to stop sailing and anchor, another time we were forced to go back 2NM to a dangerous jetty where the current pinned us for 6 hours. The military all carry large machine guns in an aggressive manner and are by no means friendly or provide an explanation for these requirements.
The Port authority in Zinguichor demanded 160€ at check in showing us a paper saying the money is for a river cruising permit. After returning many times, and explaining we cannot afford such a large fee and undergoing a very stressful and unpleasant day, the port captain in the end chose to waive the fee when we said that we would leave Senegal directly.
After going to 3 offices for customs, we went to the airport, where a plain clothed police man demanded we pay again for a visa for the country. We showed him online there are no visas needed for our passports, he flashed his gun at us and told us to pay him what we thought it was worth. We declined again and asked for any document saying that the fees are required, he said it doesn’t exist.
In the end we didn’t pay but felt extremely uncomfortable, and he put an exit stamp in our passport for only 1 week as punishment forcing us to leave by this date because we refused to pay his bribe. The local people here are friendly and the river is beautiful but our experience is severely marred by the military and authorities. It is hard to feel welcome when treated like this.
On the other hand The Gambia was very pleasant, we had to pay 40€ each to enter. We wish we had skipped Senegal and stayed longer in The Gambia.
Visa regulations have again changed, as of May 1 2015 the biometric visas are no longer required for most nationalities and you can just get an entry stamp upon arrival.
Visa regulations have been changed:
Valid from 1 July 2013, Senegal requires visa for ALL visitors except West Africans (CEDEAO countries + Morocco and Mauretania). The visa type is biometrical so honorary consulates will not be able to issue them.