The anchorage at (08°39.84N, 77°25.33W) is a bay offering no protection when waves are from the NW. Your boat needs to be under constant watch because of the swell and the holding is poor.
It is recommended to talk and listen to the locals, they have seen some boats stranded.
Isla de Pinos is a much safer anchorage and Puerto Perme, approx. 10 km east from Puerto Obaldia, is a very well protected bay.
Photos: View of Obaldia waterfront showing the location of two piers (police dock at right for entry), and closer view of police pier for dinghy landing to go ashore. Thanks to SV Totem.
Last updated January 2018.
If you have information for this section, or feedback on businesses used, please let us know at editor@noonsite.com. We also welcome new information about businesses you have used (see Related Businesses).
As a free user of Noonsite you are restricted to viewing 3 country formalities per month. You have viewed 0 formalities this month – but can view the countries you have accessed to date as many times as you want.
Become a Noonsite Member and you can view unlimited formalities each month and enjoy additional member benefits. Membership fees help our team keep country formalities information up-to-date in support of cruisers worldwide.
Find out more about membership levels and Become a Noonsite Member.
Leave a comment
You must Login or Register to submit comments.
Checked in Obaldia on April 2018 and the entry fee of $105 for entry visa was removed. Several copies of passports and boat documents are required but shop able to make copies are available next to the immigration office. Cruising permit requires “few” stamps to be applied to document: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkCzD563lXg&t=37s
Reported by SV Totem:
We arrived in Panama recently and cleared into Panama’s eastern Caribbean corner at Puerto Obaldia on January 27, 2018, after hearing positive reports on the ability to check into this relatively frontier post from other boats.
Clearance was a three-step process:
Police checkpoint (no document given, no fee) at the head of the dock; officer wrote down details from each crew members’ passport.
Immigration (visas for the crew, $105 per person for US citizens): office in town, the basic direction from a police checkpoint. Passport.
Port Captain (clearance provided, total cost $197: the cruising permit is $185, a few other nominal fees are noted on the receipt): around the corner from Migracion, blue/white building is also visible from Anchorage.
The crew should all go ashore. We were able to avoid doing this because conditions in the bay were unsafe for leaving the boat unattended – officials relented in our case, but we know they’ve required all crew to disembark in other clearances this season.
During peak trades, Jan-March, swell rolls in and this anchorage are barely tenable. We found good holding, but given the pitching of the boat in swells, did not want to linger.
Puerto Perme, approx. 10 km east from Puerto Obaldia, is a very well protected bay and the perfect place to move once formalities are completed.
Behan & the Totem crew