A document list and log for the AMP cruising permit (permiso de navegación) and the zarpes you collect while cruising Panama. Use it when you first apply at a port captain, then keep it in the ship's folder and add a line for every zarpe. Have the registration certificate, crew list, passport copies, Migración entry stamps and your last zarpe ready.
Fill in the fields below, then print the worksheet or download your entries as a text file. Entries stay on this page until you leave unless you download them. Don’t enter passport, card or medical details; keep copies of those separately.
How to fill it in
The first nine lines are for the permit application. Lines 10 to 12 are a running log for the rest of your stay. Add rows on the back if you move often.
The permit
- Who issues it. An AMP Capitanía de Puerto at a port of entry. At Cristóbal, Shelter Bay Marina's office sends the application to the port authority in Colón. Porvenir had no port captain as of March 2025, per noonsite.
- Order. Clear Migración first. The port captain wants to see the entry stamps.
- Fee and term. The AMP does not publish a current yacht permit tariff. Cruisers have reported one-year permits. Decreto Ejecutivo 4 of 2025 grants a free special navigation permit for the first three months. Write down exactly what the window tells you. Confirm with the AMP on +507 501-5000 or [email protected].
- Processing. A yacht services guide puts it at two to four days, longer from December to April. Collect the original and keep it aboard.
- Expiry. Read the date printed on the permit, not the one you expected. Renew in person before it lapses, including when the boat sits in a marina while you fly home.
The zarpes
- A zarpe covers one passage, and the permit covers your stay. Some port captains ask for a domestic zarpe between regions, such as Colón or Puerto Lindo to San Blas, or Balboa to Chiriquí. Ask before each move.
- Fees are small and unpublished. Log what you pay.
- For the international zarpe, get everyone stamped out by Migración first. The names on the zarpe must match the people stamped out.
- Get the zarpe on the last working day before you sail. If weather holds you, go back rather than sail on an old date.
Charter
Do not take paying guests on a private cruising permit. The 2025 decree has a separate charter permit tied to a locally licensed operator.
Read the companion guide
Before using this resource, read Panama cruising permit (permiso de navegación).
Use it alongside these guides
Panama cruising permit (permiso de navegación)
Panama's cruising permit is issued by the AMP port captain to foreign yachts that stay and cruise: who needs it, what it costs, validity, renewal.
Zarpe in Panama: domestic vs international clearance
A zarpe is the AMP port captain's clearance to sail to a named port. You need an international zarpe to leave Panama, sometimes a domestic one.
Leaving Panama by boat: exit zarpe and stamps
Leave Panama by yacht: stamp everyone out at Migración, then get the international zarpe from the AMP port captain. Where, when, and San Blas exits.
Panama cruising permit, visa and zarpe planner
Plan your Panama dates by boat: clearance, cruising permit, your 180-day visitor stay (US/Canada), the yacht's 24-month transit limit and your zarpe.