Sailing to the USA. Do I need a special visa?

[Baggywrinkle]

The USA is an incredible country to visit. Its national parks offer vistas that are stunning. There are amazing road trips as well as sailing destinations. I have never been asked to show my social media or have my phone scrutinised. 2026 would probably have been a good year for tourist deals to the US if it was not for the World Cup. Social media comments are fairly open and easily scrutinised from outside your phone unless you have been very careful curating your posts securely. The chances of being scrutinised are low unless your behaviour to the USA has attracted attention.

The bold bits are why I would never rule a visit out, but you are a sample size of one in millions, so your anecdotal experience doesn't really say anything.

The statistical chance of having your phone searched at the U.S. border is very low, less than 0.01% of all international travellers, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data from Fiscal Year 2024. While the actual number of searches is increasing and targeted searches are rising, it's still a tiny fraction (around 47,000 searches out of 420 million travelers). Your odds increase with repeated crossings, and non-U.S. citizens are targeted more often, but overall, it's a rare event.

The question is how do they choose the 47,000 people to search? Profiling, tip-offs, appearance? This will have a significant effect on your chances of having your phone searched, and I bet if you look like an average middle class white person speaking English your odds are extremely low.

 

[Minerva]

The USA is an incredible country to visit. Its national parks offer vistas that are stunning. There are amazing road trips as well as sailing destinations. I have never been asked to show my social media or have my phone scrutinised. 2026 would probably have been a good year for tourist deals to the US if it was not for the World Cup. Social media comments are fairly open and easily scrutinised from outside your phone unless you have been very careful curating your posts securely. The chances of being scrutinised are low unless your behaviour to the USA has attracted attention.

I’m sure North Korea and Russia are equally beautiful, still would t get me visiting either under current regime. Exactly the same as the US and their current bampot regime

 

[lustyd]

The question is how do they choose the 47,000 people to search? Profiling, tip-offs, appearance? This will have a significant effect on your chances of having your phone searched, and I bet if you look like an average middle class white person speaking English your odds are extremely low.

When I worked at <global tech company> we travelled to the US for onboarding and events. It’s rather clear how they chose. Even though we effectively chartered flights for 40,000 people meaning every one of them worked for the company, all of those stopped were non-white or had a “funny accent”. Every english speaking white person went into one queue (let’s call it the straight through queue) while most brown or non-English accents went to the other queue and had their bags searched. They were questioned for ten minutes on their purpose in America despite showing a corp letter explaining the trip and arriving on a chartered 747 containing only employees into airport gates assigned for the event. We even had our own lounges and queues at checkin.

 

[SimonX]

Unfortunately that’s not the case, there are many examples of arbitrary searches and refused entry recently. US border control love flexing their power when allowed, and this administration has encouraged it.

Unfortunately true. I was a regular visitor to the US in the '80s and '90s but the difference when we went in 2018 was stark and the feedback I get from friends says its worsened. Pity as, as Runaground says, there are some incredible places. Unfortunately some of the most beautiful areas are populated by the most bigoted people.

 

[mjcoon]

Unfortunately true. I was a regular visitor to the US in the '80s and '90s but the difference when we went in 2018 was stark and the feedback I get from friends says its worsened. Pity as, as Runaground says, there are some incredible places. Unfortunately some of the most beautiful areas are populated by the most bigoted people.

I can almost hear those banjos...

 

[oldbloke]

I’m sure North Korea and Russia are equally beautiful, still would t get me visiting either under current regime. Exactly the same as the US and their current bampot regime

This post probably guarantees an electronic search and probably a cavity inspection should you choose to go

 

[Minerva]

This post probably guarantees an electronic search and probably a cavity inspection should you choose to go

Thankfully that particular risk is entirely within my gift to easily mange.

 

[wonkywinch]

I flew Heathrow to Miami yesterday to sail around the Caribbean for 3 weeks (one of Cunard's vessels rather than white flappy things).

The BA check in said you now need a return or onward travel booking to fly to the US and when we arrived there were more thorough questions about our travel plans and finances, how much cash etc.

This was despite having a well used B1/B2 visa and pages of US stamps and insert slips full of entry/exits from the US when I was working.

Long queues and took 90 mins from stepping off plane to getting in the Uber.

Definitely a change in the air.

 

[Sea Change]

I flew Heathrow to Miami yesterday to sail around the Caribbean for 3 weeks (one of Cunard's vessels rather than white flappy things).

The BA check in said you now need a return or onward travel booking to fly to the US and when we arrived there were more thorough questions about our travel plans and finances, how much cash etc.

This was despite having a well used B1/B2 visa and pages of US stamps and insert slips full of entry/exits from the US when I was working.

Long queues and took 90 mins from stepping off plane to getting in the Uber.

Definitely a change in the air.

We have to fly back in April, our boat is over there.
I plan for that to be the last time I enter the US by air. My experience of arriving on our own boat was very friendly and relaxed. But of course it could be down to the individual officer we dealt with.

 

[Slowtack]

Send Big Don a million bucks... And $15,000 processing fee...

 

[SimonX]

I can almost hear those banjos...

I actually found the worst were mid western, bible belt states like Oklahoma and Arkansas. They are so insular and ignorant they know little of the world outside their state or city.

 

[BobnLesley]

There was (going back six years here) a B1/B2 loophole that a couple of people I know used:
Travelling on an ESTA, the 'first arrival' could only be made using a commercial carrier, so for short visits whilst in the Caribbean, they sailed to the BVIs, took a day trip by ferry to the USVIs using their ESTA and once stamped-in, returned to the BVIs, collected the boat and sailed back to the USVIs and Puerto Rico. It was only feasible for shorter stays as the ESTA had and probably still has 90 day maximum stay, whereas using a B1/B2 you generally got granted six months.

 

[capnsensible]

There was (going back six years here) a B1/B2 loophole that a couple of people I know used:
Travelling on an ESTA, the 'first arrival' could only be made using a commercial carrier, so for short visits whilst in the Caribbean, they sailed to the BVIs, took a day trip by ferry to the USVIs using their ESTA and once stamped-in, returned to the BVIs, collected the boat and sailed back to the USVIs and Puerto Rico. It was only feasible for shorter stays as the ESTA had and probably still has 90 day maximum stay, whereas using a B1/B2 you generally got granted six months.

We did that, worked a treat.

 

[BobnLesley]

We have to fly back in April, our boat is over there.
I plan for that to be the last time I enter the US by air. My experience of arriving on our own boat was very friendly and relaxed. But of course it could be down to the individual officer we dealt with.

There is a bit of truth in the 'individual officer' problem. The only time we had any issue was when we sailed into St Augustine and the Officer took a dislike to some of the places we'd previously visited in the middle-east and Europe; he included Turkey on his list and wouldn't believe that they were in NATO/on our side.
That said, we felt Miami was the weirdest place to get into: Flying into the international airport and it took around 3 hours from landing to queue our way through customs and immigration - it took over an hour even when I arrived there as a medical emergency! - But when we floated in on your own boat, we anchored off the back of Miami Beach, phoned them up and then took a taxi around to their office the following morning to do the paperwork in about fifteen minutes; their only requirement was that we attended their offices 'anytime within the next twenty-four hours', they never even saw the boat.

 

[Roberto]

A few months ago, a French aerospace researcher who flied to Houston for a scientific meeting was searched at the airport by the Border authority, they searched his phone and PC and found some private conversation with other scientists where they commented about recent US research orientations and he expressed a personal opinion about Pres Trump policy in the field, out it came: ''hainous speech, conspiracy, hatred towards Trump that can be qualified as terrorism'' etc etc. They reported him to the FBI, eventually he was placed on the first plane out of the US ''you should thank us, you could have gone into trial''. How kind

Etats-Unis : un chercheur français refoulé pour avoir exprimé « une opinion personnelle sur la politique menée par l’administration Trump »

 

[chriss999]

A place to avoid like the plague, IMHO.

I do know people who do go there for family reasons - they’ve not much choice! But it isn’t a thing that they like to do.

 

[Bajansailor]

But when we floated in on our own boat, we anchored off the back of Miami Beach, phoned them up and then took a taxi around to their office the following morning to do the paperwork in about fifteen minutes; their only requirement was that we attended their offices 'anytime within the next twenty-four hours'

We had a similar experience when arriving by small boat in Newport RI from Bermuda - we had a good window for crossing the Gulf Stream and arrived just before the first hurricane of the season came up from the south.
After hearing all sorts of horror stories as to what US Customs were like nowadays (altho' this was 30 years ago) we were expecting to be met, escorted in, maybe even searched...... but nada.
We tried repeatedly to call them up on the VHF as we were approaching, to tell them that we were furriners coming from abroad, but silence - they were not interested.
When we arrived we anchored in the bay - but the winds were probably 25 - 30 knots, and there was a bit of fetch in the bay, and we did not have an O/B motor for the dinghy, so we stayed on the boat for 36 hours before venturing ashore when things had calmed down - and nobody was upset in the slightest that we had not gone to check in immediately.
But this was the lovely Customs man that I mentioned in my previous post above - I would not like to try this nowadays, even if we had an excuse of rough weather.

 

[chriss999]

I recall that I did actually visit the USA in sunnier times. Well, I came over from the Canadian side of the Thousand Islands and landed on a US island for lunch and a natter. Very calm, very beautiful all round there, no guns, no border people within miles. Very civilised - but a long time ago.
No visa.

 

[SimonX]

Not sure I'd want to be approaching the US in a boat these days. Find yourself on the receiving end of some "anti-drug" operations

 

[john_morris_uk]

There is a bit of truth in the 'individual officer' problem. The only time we had any issue was when we sailed into St Augustine and the Officer took a dislike to some of the places we'd previously visited in the middle-east and Europe; he included Turkey on his list and wouldn't believe that they were in NATO/on our side.
That said, we felt Miami was the weirdest place to get into: Flying into the international airport and it took around 3 hours from landing to queue our way through customs and immigration - it took over an hour even when I arrived there as a medical emergency! - But when we floated in on your own boat, we anchored off the back of Miami Beach, phoned them up and then took a taxi around to their office the following morning to do the paperwork in about fifteen minutes; their only requirement was that we attended their offices 'anytime within the next twenty-four hours', they never even saw the boat.

The last two times I’ve entered the USA were by private yacht and on the first occasion didn’t do anything more than report our arrival via their CPB Roam App and do a video call with their local customs and immigration office. The second time the nearest office didn’t do video calls so we gad to go ashore. Ten minutes of waiting plus two minutes of polite conversation and we were in.