Apr 17, 2019 07:00 AM

We spent 9 months at Djibouti. Djibouti is not dirtier than some Asian or African countries and can be a very good stopover for refueling. A very large French super market is a 5 minute walk from the jetty to the Bawadi Mall where we find lots of very good products and an ATM that provides in dollars or Djiboutian francs. At the exit of the fishing port while continuing towards the city, we also find a new department store with products like tools, plumbing, paint or epoxy impossible to find elsewhere in Djibouti.

The entrance formalites are really simple. On arrival, you drop anchor in the port, between the old marina, which no longer exists, and the fishing port on the right, then you take your dinghy to join the harbor master’s office and complete your visa formalities. The price of visas has fallen sharply and there is now a transit visa for up to 15 days ($ 10 to $ 20). The port fees are paid per period of 3 days, a month costs is around $ 120. The anchoring is done by 3 to 5 meters with is of very good behavior.

To go to town, leave your dinghy to the pontoon of the coastguard, otherwise someone will automatically ask you a backshich to keep it. A taxi to the city center costs 500 francs or 30 minutes on foot. Djibouti is a very safe city and the sailboat will not risk anything to leave it several months and enjoy it to visit the country. We left our sailboat more than a month and a half.

Useful information
– ATM in town center or Bawadi Mall
– Diesel : By ordering more than 1000 liters, we bought diesel at a price of around $ 0.60 / L which is half the price at the pump. For this, you have to ask for a paper at the captaincy then go to town – near “le cafe de la Gare” – in order to pay his diesel and return with receipts. Once did, you will be allowed to come to the dock fill your tank.
– Postoffice : We have repeatedly tested the post that works very well and we paied only the reception fees depending on the size of the package around 2 to 7 euros but never paied taxes. Attention, if you go through DHL or Fedex, taxes will be added and you will pick up the parcel at the airport and not at the post office. Count a month for delivery.
– Shipyard : in Djibouti, there is no real shipyard for sailboat but only for tanker or cargo, but you can still lift your boat if it is less than 10 tons at DSE (near Kempinsky) which has a crane. Do not go to shipyard of port they charge the slipway and the docks as cargo price and prices tend to double once on site.

Djiboutian are very smiling, relax and nice people but it is very difficult to count on them… Be patient.
Les Siamois