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Reports from Hammamett in Tunisia are that the marina is very busy this winter with liveaboard cruisers. A WhatsApp group has been formed for cruisers to share information with direct contact to the harbour master out of hours. Shopping trips, desert outings and happy hours are regularly organised. Foreign yachts can remain in Tunisia for a substantial period if the rules are followed.
Our boat was based in Yasmine Hammamet for more than one year, for winterising but also as a base to cruise to nearby Sicilia, Sardinia, etc.
Tunisian people are very friendly, the country is welcoming, you can find serious people to take good care of your boat.
However, the guys at customs and immigrations are obnoxious. They morally harass you to force you to give money or gifts, systemically. For us, after a few trips, it just ruined all the pleasure of going sailing, to the point of not wanting to come back. We will never base our boat in Tunisia again, nor sail to Tunisia, ever!
These guys are spoiling the country’s economy and making life worse for their fellow citizens. What a pity.
Stapleton says:
Aug 13, 2018 01:06 PM
We were just in Hammamet last week, and had no issues at all with being asked for “gifts.” The check-in and check-out were bureaucratic but trouble-free. Fuel, as reported before is clean and very cheap. The marina staff was pleasant, and there are some excellent restaurants in the marina. A positive experience for sure.
I have the customs ask me for “a present” every single time now that I go through this port. They have no interest in checking the boat really. Usually, they want whiskey but last time they said: “euros will do”.
It’s mostly the customs but also the police. I never give them anything. I always say I have some beautiful Tunisian wine to get rid of them. They never want that. Tunisian wine is really not bad though.
Winterization in Port Yasmine Hammamet, WARNING:
We left our catamaran Libellule in Hammamet from Aug-15 to May-16 and experienced the following difficulties:
1. When arriving we had a medical urgency and my wife needed to go urgently to the hospital. However, Immigration took our passports away and wanted money. The whole thing took about 90 minutes to resolve, the officers told us literally they didn’t care if my wife died or not.
2. I sent a propeller from France to Hammamet, the parcel took 2 days to Hammamet and then 5 months, about 30 emails, and about EUR 1,000 of bribes to get it through customs.
3. We took the boat out of the water and left it in the shipyard Rodriguez. The antifouling they applied was of so poor quality that it lasted about 4 weeks before it partially started coming off and we had a real jungle under the boat; they did not even bother to put ground paint below the antifouling, nor did they sand the underboat before applying the antifouling.
4. The repairs we had asked them to execute were not done; no spare parts available locally, and poor/unreliable workmanship.
5. On the way out of Tunisia customs wanted money again, but this time we got away with paying nothing.
So if you consider winterizing your boat there, make sure you do it in a smarter way than us (bring your own spare parts, no antifouling job, no taking it out of the water, bring more time to fight bribes, no medical emergencies.
Sorry, Tunisia used to be a really nice country, and I had really good experiences there in the past, but this time it was just really really bad. People were friendly, though.
Philipp Cottier, s/v Libellule, Switzerland