Boat Crossing to Bahamas with Your Dog

If you read my previous post, you’ll know that Zuly has now completed her first crossing to the Bahamas by boat!

Our departure from Stuart, FL to Great Sale, Bahamas and then to check in with customs at Green Turtle, Bahamas was in February ‘24 and we began doing cursory research around importing dogs in November. We downloaded the necessary permit required from the Bahamian government Dept of Agriculture and went to work completing the form and obtaining the necessary supporting documents they required (at the time those documents included a color photograph, health records, vaccinations, and rabies certificate.) We mailed it all in at the end of November and we waited. And we waited. And after the month went by, we started to become a little concerned.

And then a bit of magic occurred:

Edward’s brother happened to run into someone that routinely went to the Bahamas with their dog and he was told about a man named Wellington that supports the entire process and physically takes your permit to the office to be submitted. Could this be?? We were ready to give it a shot. We quickly resubmitted all of the paperwork to Wellington and had a response back within 10 days. We highly recommend him and you can find his website HERE. (And as information, we did eventually receive the approved permit from the Bahamian Dept of Agriculture but it was about a week before we RETURNED from our Bahamas trip.) Needless to say, this discovery goes down in the “must know” category if you are hoping to take your dog with you to the Bahamas.

• One thing to note is that you have to have a Vet sign off on a specific document called the Dept. of Agriculture Form IMP1(B) within 48 hours of your ARRIVAL in the Bahamas. (This is tricky depending on your boat speed because it takes us a day and a half to arrive in the Bahamas!) So it meant that the afternoon before our early morning departure we had to have a vet appointment. Thankfully, Dr. Abraham Matthew at the Northmil Animal Clinic in Palm Beach was happy to see Zuly and took care of this for us.

Once we arrived in the Bahamas with all the appropriate paperwork and approved permit, her import approval went through easily and they didn’t ask to see her in person. I guess her cute picture was all they needed ;-)

Best of luck on your journey!

Laura