El Salvador Rally dismayed by new taxes for visiting sailors

by Pat Rains, The Log/Sail-World Cruising on 1 May 2010 West coast Canadians and Americans sailing to or from the Caribbean are a big market for the coastal countries on the way. So when the Central American country of El Salvador announced two new tariffs, the newly announced El Salvador Cruisers Rally sailors were dismayed and local suppliers went into fight mode.

The new law requires port officials to charge $100 for clearing a yacht into El Salvador and $40 to clear it out with an exit Zarpe. Previously, the cost of port clearance was limited to about $10 per tourist visa, and the Zarpe was free.

The new taxation comes at a critical time in the tiny country’s foray into nautical tourism. The Salvadoran tourism department is currently sponsoring the inaugural El Salvador Cruisers Rally, March 15-May 15 — and the destination is Bahia del Sol Marina in Bahia Jaltepeque, 25 nautical miles west of Barillas.

Rally sponsors and organizers are hoping to showcase El Salvador as a safe and inexpensive cruising destination, attracting hundreds of the yachting visitors who normally travel between southern Mexico and the Panama Canal this time of year. Breaking bars guard the entrances to both marina estuaries, so the use of the free local panga guide service is essential for boaters crossing the bar and entering the area.

Dozens of rally participants have already arrived in Bahia del Sol, but hundreds more are expected before May 15. Bahia del Sol marina management has said it will provide a $100 credit at the hotel and restaurants, waiving the normal Cruisers Club fees, for any rally participant who has to pay the new port entrance fee.

Apart from the rally, cruisers are frequent visitors, for instance, to El Salvador’s Barillas Marina and its fuel dock. So Barillas and nearby Bahia del Sol Marina are also fighting the new law that they think could severely limit nautical tourism.

As for enjoying El Salvador and staying around for a while, that will be a 'no no' once another new tax is introduced. It's a valuation tax, which requires any owner of a foreign yacht that stays in Salvadoran waters more than 60 days to pay 10 percent of the vessel’s value in taxes.

“We are fighting it,” Heriberto Pineda, manager of Barillas Marina Club in Bahia Jiquilisco, El Salvador, told The Log. Barillas Marina is the largest boating facility in the country, providing 100 moorings, a fuel dock and shore amenities within a huge ecological park.

“We have spoken with the government, and (we believe) this new law will be rescinded — hopefully very soon,” Pineda said.

Because El Salvador’s east/west-running coastline is slightly south of normal hurricane latitudes, the safe marinas and estuaries here have become popular summering-over destinations. That aspect of nautical tourism faces almost-certain demise if the 10 percent valuation tax is not revoked before summer.