New cruising permit fees for all boaters visiting the Bahamas took effect on April 1, marking the second major fee revision in 10 months. Unlike the previous increases, which many boaters said were excessive, this new schedule has been welcomed as a return to more reasonable costs. The July 1, 2025 fee changes had dramatically raised cruising permit prices for some categories, a move credited with reducing visitor numbers during the winter season.
Under the current schedule, a basic cruising permit for vessels between 30 and 50 feet now costs $250 for one month, $300 for six months (including one free re-entry), and $500 for a one-year permit. Boats from 50 to 100 feet face fees of $350 for one month, $750 for six months, and $1,000 for a one-year permit; the one-year option allows two re-entries, which are important for refueling and reprovisioning. Additional charges still apply for activities such as anchoring, fishing, carrying a tender over 25 feet, and carrying extra passengers. Smaller boats under 30 feet—including many weekend center-console craft that cross from Florida—are now charged $150 per month.
Many recreational captains greeted the rollback with relief. “For my boat, the fees last year went from $230 to almost $900 for six people,” says Chris Hetzel, a Florida resident who runs a swimming pool installation business on the Treasure Coast and serves as an unpaid Bahamas Boating Ambassador. Hetzel leads flotillas of small boats across the roughly 50-mile stretch from Florida to the West End and other Bahamian ports several times a year. The trips, supported by the Bahamas tourism office, help boaters learn the route and the customs and immigration process. Hetzel, who captains a 30-foot Sea Hunt, added, “I’m glad they loosened the fees; it’s a step in the right direction.”
Not every boater returned immediately, however. Rich Ashman of New Orleans said he avoided the Bahamas while fees were high, keeping his boat on the U.S. Gulf Coast instead. For his 50-foot vessel, the combination of a $500 annual cruising permit, $300 for monthly fishing permits, and docking fees that could reach $1,500 per month made the math unfavorable. “With import duties and VAT I pay, the government would get more than $4,300 from me over a year,” Ashman noted, explaining why he postponed trips.
The government’s reversal on the 2025 fee increases appears to reflect the economic harm they caused to local businesses. On July 1, 2025, short-term cruising permits were eliminated and replaced by annual fees of $500 for boats under 50 feet and $1,000 for boats between 50 and 100 feet. New monthly fishing fees of $100 to $300 and annual anchoring permits ranging from $200 to $1,500—both tied to vessel size—were introduced. That followed a 2024 regulation that implemented a $200-per-person immigration fee to extend visitors’ permits beyond the initial 90 to 120 days.
The reaction from the cruising community was immediate and vocal: many vowed to bypass the islands, calling the fees predatory. The impact was measurable. The Charter Yacht Show in Nassau was canceled in December 2025 because registration numbers were lower than expected, and the harbor saw nearly 25 percent fewer boats during the annual Georgetown Exuma Regatta in February. Across the islands, private boat traffic fell by roughly 40 percent during the 2025–26 season, according to Peter Maury, president of the Association of Bahamas Marinas. In a December 2025 letter to government officials, Maury warned that sustained higher fees could cost some 1,500 marina-based jobs.
Maury says the 2026 fee reductions have been welcomed by boaters, but he cautions that the damage from the 10 months of higher fees will not be reversed overnight. “It doesn’t bring back the considerable amount of business that we lost,” he said, pointing in particular to charter companies that relocated operations to Turks and Caicos or other lower-cost destinations.
Personal budgets illustrate the sting of the increases. Ed Pottonowicz, a CPA from Philadelphia who documents annual cruising expenses for his Hatteras 58 on the YouTube channel “Trying Not to Sink,” said the couple normally spends about $37,000 a year on dockage, fuel, and maintenance while cruising from Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas each spring. “Normally, our cruising permit was $350 for three months in the islands,” he said. Under the 2025 fee structure, that would have risen to $1,650. While the Pottonowiczes could likely have paid the higher amount, they and others felt a boycott was a necessary protest—though they recognized that such actions hurt local businesses like conch shacks and small family-run restaurants.
Pottonowicz also noted that marina nightly rates had climbed significantly over recent years—rising from about $125 per night to $400 per night by 2024—without corresponding improvements in facilities in some locations. “Some of these places are barely standing,” he said, underscoring concerns that high fees and rising service costs together created a difficult environment for visiting boaters and the Bahamian businesses that serve them.
While the fee rollback is a positive development for cruisers and for the tourism sector, industry leaders agree that restoring lost business and rebuilding traveler confidence will take time and consistent policy that balances revenue needs with the practical realities of recreational boating.