webcraft
Well-known member
We keep the boat in Portugal and we are planning a visit to Tangier next year. What paperwork will the Moroccan authorities require other than passports and boat insurance, will we have to formally check out of Spain?
Morocco - Tangier - checking out of Spain
- Thread starter webcraft
- Start date
GHA
Well-known member
been into Morocco couple times on the boat, Tangier & Asilah with no probs but that was ages ago. Looks like there's a UK boat in the marina on noforeignland that came from spain, maybe send them a NFL message to check the lay of the land in the real world. Marina gets top reviews though 
capnsensible
Well-known member
Been to Morocco stacks, lots of ports. Checking in and out of Morocco is very important, but I guess you got that. Prior to you know what, arriving back in Spain was never a problem.
But to the question. Back end of last year I took a boat from Lanza to Agadir. Got the non Spanish residents to nip up to Arecife to check out. Boat was there 3 months.....brexit thing.....and my mate the owner checked back into Spain on return. I was OK because I've got Spanish residency. If you have Portugese residency the same should apply.
Have a nice trip. Austrian friends of ours stopped for a visit here a couple of weeks back having departed from Tangier. They loved it.
capnsensible
Well-known member
Add. If you do clear in and out, a skipper I knew when I was in the area did so at the cruise ship terminal I Cadiz. Bit of a walk but solved his problem with non EU trainees on board. Marina is about a twenty minute walk.
Farleigh
New member
We went direct from Portugal to Tangier in September this year. We booked out of Portugal so I would assume you need to book out of Spain. Tanja Bay Marina are well set up and booking in there took an hour but was trouble free. They only seem to communicate by WhatsApp, never respond to emails or phone. The person to contact by WhatsApp is Rokia on +212 661 226301. We had to send copies of passports of crew, boat registration papers and insurance. On arrival they don’t answer VHF either you just enter and go on to the waiting pontoon, all entry requirements are done there with visit from police, customs and national guard to carry out a cursory search of boat. Customs issue a temporary import paper which when you leave needs to be certified to show you have left. Tangier is great and well worth a visit.
Graham376
Well-known member
We've never bothered booking out of EU but no option when arriving or departing Smir. No questions asked when arriving back in Gib or LaLinea.
billskip
Well-known member
When we sail into Tangier, the immigration/police came aboard, searched the boat and asked for passports, also to write our full names on a paper, when they returned with passports all ok except mine, big problem but I couldn't understand what, they grilled me for about half hour asking all sorts of stuff and wanted me to go off to the police station under arrest. I eventually managed to get from them what the problem was, the passport office had spelt my name wrong,and the spelling was different to the paper I had written.
Beneteau381
Well-known member
I went from La Linea to Smir direct about 4 years ago. Didnt check out, checked in at Smir, the whole nine yards, 4 little offices in a line including marina. Then checked out again when we left. Got into La Linea, no formalities at all. Just went to our berth
Jules W
Member
You can check in and out of Spain at La Lineav(at the Gibraltar birder) or at Motril (the black building). Presumably they could check you out at Ceuta too. The Moroccan authorities don't check whether you have checked out of Spain or not. They only stamp you in and out of Morocco. Whilst in tangier you might want to visit Rabat. Very easy by TGV. The marina staff are really friendly and will give you all the details.
john_morris_uk
Well-known member
Bear in mind that if you are tempted to visit Rabat by boat, the port can be closed in big swells off the Atlantic. We couldn’t get in once and I know of people who’ve got stuck inside for weeks.
capnsensible
Well-known member
Solent Cruiser
Member
For awareness, checking in and out of Tangier may take upto three hours. Don't carry a drone. The delays that may occur are singularly due to the very deliberate attitudes and practices of the Police and Customs officials, not the marina staff. Be aware too the boat cannot leave the marina for another port, even for a sail in local waters, without checking-out first. Tangier (and it's people) is otherwise a friendly, modern, forward-looking city - prob the very best in North Africa - that you will enjoy immensely if you visit.
Jules W
Member
Also be aware that they don't let you leave in fog. We had a frustrating day when we arrived on the customs quay to check out only to be told the visibility meant the port was closed. We checked out anyway. But then had to wait for an improvement before being allowed to head off. By this time it was after 5pm (we got there at 9am) so we asked if we could stay there and leave in the morning with the light. "No No... Stamp and Go" they cast off our lines and forced us off the quay. Ended up getting into Spain around midnight.
BobnLesley
Well-known member
Go for it anyway! Sailing from Greece to NZ Bouragreg-Rabat was one of the best places we stopped off and an easy train journey to anywhere else in Morocco you fancy visiting
Roberto
Well-known member
May I suggest Paul Bowles 'The sheltering sky', Burroughs 'Naked lunch', Truman Capote 'Answered prayers', D.Herbert 'Engaging eccentrics', Croft-Cooke 'The Caves of Hercules'.
Or 'a masterpiece of literary gossip' (cit.), Iain Finlaysons 'Tangier, City of the dreams', stories of the Bowles's, the visit/pilgrimage form the beat generation Ginsberg Kerouac Burroughs etc, stories of mad parties at US eccentrics millionaires, how Burroughs wrote the naked lunch while on acids for days, etc.
Very nice terrace at the Hotel Continental, where Bertolucci 'The sheltering sky' was filmed. Enjoy
