Entering by boat: Guadeloupe

Before you arrive

• Online procedure: Déclaration de clearance Antilles (démarche en ligne obligatoire de la douane depuis le 1er septembre 2024) — demarches-simplifiees.fr/commencer/declaration-clearance-antilles

The steps

1. Fill in the online clearance declaration (démarches-simplifiées) before arrival.
2. Keep the clearance certificate with the customs digital stamp (second e-mail), not just the submission receipt.
3. Without internet: fill in and print the declaration at an approved clearance point.
4. Do the same before leaving the French Antilles, and print the certificate for the next island.

Papers to have on board

• Passports for the whole crew
• Visas, if your nationality requires them
• Crew list
• Boat papers (registration certificate)
• Outward clearance from the previous country
• Insurance certificate

Good to know

• Since 1 September 2024 entry and exit clearance is done online (prefectoral order of 5 August 2024); 'approved clearance points' (customs list updated 30 January 2026) let you fill in and print the declaration without internet.
• The valid document is the certificate with the customs digital stamp (second e-mail), not the submission receipt; print it for the next foreign islands.
• You must clear out and in between Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint-Martin and St Barth.
• Failure to declare can be prosecuted under the Customs Code (art. 410).
• Marie-Galante: the Grand-Bourg customs unit only sees people by appointment.

Ports of entry

The ports where you can clear in, and the services available there.

Sources

• douane.gouv.fr/fiche/navigation-dans-les-departements-doutre-mer
• douane.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2024-08/19/clearance-guide_2024.pdf
• douane.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2026-01/30/liste-points-clearance-agrees-mise-a-jour.pdf
• noonsite.com/place/guadeloupe/

This information is gathered from public sources and sailors’ experience. It does not replace the country’s authorities, whose word is final: check before you leave.