Sailing with Dogs: Our Experience in the Leeward Islands

I previously wrote about the pet import process while cruising from the Bahamas to the British Virgin Islands. Click here to see how we got ready to cruise with the pups before we set sail. This season we continued cruising south down through the Leeward Islands. Just like last season, we had three documents for each pooch:

1. USDA Endorsed Health Certificate: We obtained an USDA Endorsed Health Certificate last season while we were in Puerto Rico. The health certificate includes all of the pups’ info, including shot records and microchip numbers. We used the same health certificate this season, despite an issued date of May 2015. No country seemed to care that the certificate was more than 30 days old.
2. Rabies Certificate: Nothing special here. Just a rabies certificate from our vet.
3. FAVN Titer Test Results: Many of the British islands require this when importing pets from countries that are not rabies free. We had the test performed last year before we set sail.

Below is our experience in each of the Leeward Islands. I want to point out that we did the best we could to comply with the pet import requirements for each country. Sometimes it was difficult to find those requirements and other times the requirements seemed to change depending on what vet or official we talked to. We even had friends that were traveling only a week ahead of us who had very different experiences. We don’t have all the answers. But hopefully our experience will be useful to those planning to travel the same route with their furry companions.

St. Martin/St. Bart’s/Guadeloupe/Martinique

Requirement: None

Our Experience: When checking into the French Islands, pets do not have to be declared. It’s not even a question on the customs/immigration form. This made clearing in and out of the French islands with our dogs a breeze. We did find that most of the beaches posted “no dogs” (Interdit aux Chiens) signs and most locals weren’t thrilled to see our pups. We usually walked them on trails or less popular beaches in the mornings and at dusk.

Favorite Dog Friendly Anchorages:

Ilet de Pinel, St. Martin—We found good protection tucked in on the west side of Ilet de Pinel. There are a couple of beach bars on the island and a baguette delivery boat that kept us humans happy. But this anchorage is also perfect for dogs. The island is covered in trails and short grass, which the pups loved running around on. And the dinghy dock made it very easy to access. We spent two lovely nights here and enjoyed sand free paws for a change.

Ile Fourche, St. Bart’s—This uninhabited island is a dog’s paradise. The pups loved hiking up the steep hills and sniffing out all the different scents. There’s no dinghy dock, but it’s easy to beach the dinghy on the pebbled shore.

Deshaies, Guadeloupe—We loved this sleepy French town; however, the anchorage is deep and finding a spot can be challenging when it’s crowded. Once anchored, the river on the south side of town is an excellent place to walk the pups. We dinghied into the canal and left the dinghy on the old dock to avoid walking our dogs in town. There’s a car path that follows the river for a bit. Afterwards we continued on the footpaths for a nice hike into the forest and up to a waterfall. We rarely ran into people on the river walk, so we usually let the pups explore off leash.

Fort de France, Martinique—Despite being the largest city we’ve encountered since leaving Puerto Rico, Fort de France was a very convenient place for the pups. There’s a massive green park just on the other side of the huge dinghy dock where we walked our furry anchors every day. If you use the park, be sure to clean up after your dog. There are plenty of trash cans in the park. We occasionally got some evil looks from locals, but that also true for all the French anchorages.

Sint Maarten

Requirement: Government Endorsed Health Certificate, Microchip, Rabies Certification, shot records, and import permit.

Our Experience: We filled out the pet import application a week prior to our arrival and emailed it to lvv@sintmaartengov.org along with a copy of the USDA Health Certificate, Rabies Certification, and shot records. Within 2 days, we had the pet permit sitting in our inbox. The Sint Maarten application states that the health certificate must be less than 7 days old. Even though ours was 6 months old, the vet official granted us the permit without question.

We ended up anchoring and checking in on the French side of the island. Like all of the French islands in the Caribbean, pets do not have to be declared. Once visitors are cleared into either the French or Dutch side, they are free to travel across the border without restrictions. We spent most of our time on the French side, only making a one night stop in Philipsburg (Dutch). We never used the Sint Maarten pet import that we obtained, but it was nice to have the document on board just in case.

St. Kitts and Nevis

Requirement: Government Endorsed Health Certificate, Microchip, Rabies Certification, import permit, FAVN Titer Certificate.

Our Experience: Despite our best efforts, we were never able to obtain an import permit for our pups in St. Kitts and Nevis. We filled out the application form and sent all of the required documentation to quarantinedoastk@hotmail.com and skbvet@hotmail.com. After we did not receive a response, we called the Department of Agriculture. Our inquiry remained unanswered. We were told to resend the email and again, never heard back.

So, we showed up in Basseterre with all of the documentation. Customs told us that the dogs needed to be inspected by a vet and cleared before they could go to shore. But of course they didn’t have the contact information for the vet, nor were they willing to help us track it down.

After all the confusion and lack of information, we gave up on obtaining the permit. We knew we had all of the correct documentation and we felt that we did what was reasonably expected of us to try and obtain the permit. We spent two weeks in St. Kitts and Nevis and never had an issue taking our dogs to shore. We were even boarded by the St. Kitts and Nevis coast guard twice. They didn’t care about the dogs at all. In fact, they really like Baxter because he looks like a Pit Bull and asked us how we get their coats so shiny.

Favorite Dog Friendly Anchorages:

Whitehouse Bay—Other than a nice beach bar, there’s no other amenities in this anchorage. However, this makes it a nice place to walk the pups. We beached the dinghy on the pebbled shore and walked them behind the restaurant in the large field next to the mega yacht marina. Be on the lookout for the famous St. Kitts and Nevis green monkeys.

Oulie Beach—This quiet anchorage is full of fishing boats. There’s a nice dinghy dock and plenty of nearby fields. Everyone is friendly and the small resort didn’t seem to mind us using the dock to walk the pups. But of course we also frequented their beach bar as well.

Montserrat

Requirement: Government Endorsed Health Certificate, Rabies Certificate, shot records, pet permit, $50 EC inspection fee.

Our Experience: We emailed selvyn.maloney@gmail.com and rodriguesc@gov.ms and informed them of our estimated arrival date. The following day I had an email in my inbox from Catherine with a questionnaire that I filled out for each pup and returned along with all the documentation. Again, our health certificate was much older than the 72 hour requirement, but the vet still issued us a permit for each dog. Catherine was very responsive to emails. We ended up not visiting Montserrat because of weather. However, we planned to contact them 24 hours prior to our arrival to arrange an inspection appointment. We were told that the inspection would cost $50 EC and afterwards the pups would be allowed to go ashore.

Antigua & Barbuda

Requirement: Government Endorsed Health Certificate (<7 days), Microchip, Rabies Certificate, FAVN Titer Certificate, shot records, Lyme Disease test (<6 months), pet permit, $50 US inspection fee.

Our Experience: We decided to skip Antigua & Barbuda because we didn’t have the Lyme Disease test. From what I could tell, the vet in Antigua would perform the Lyme Disease test for $41 US in addition to the $50 US inspection fee. Since we are traveling with two dogs, we decided this was too pricey for our budget.

Dominica

Requirement: Government Endorsed Health Certificate, Rabies Certificate, FAVN Titer Certificate, shot records, pet permit.

Our Experience: Two weeks prior to our arrival, we emailed agrivet4@hotmail.com and forestvet@gmail.com our information along with the required documentation. After a week with no response, we sent a reminder email. We also tried calling, but didn’t get through to anyone. However, it was the week between Christmas and New Year’s and we figured the vet officials were taking time off (we would be too if we were still working). We were right. By January 4^th, we had an email from Dr. Aimee with the pet import permit. Since we already had the permit when we cleared into customs in Portsmouth, we were good to go.

We were told that we should carry the pet permit with us in case we were questioned by locals. We only actually remembered to do this the first time we took the pups to shore, but fortunately we were never asked to show it during our stay. We were also told that the locals aren’t crazy about dogs (we are used to this by now) and to keep an eye out for poison. This was enough to terrify me and any time our dogs picked up something in their mouths, I’d scream bloody murder and made them drop it. However, we never actually encountered any poisonous traps.

Our friends on s/v Wanderlust arrived in Dominica a week before us. They were never able to get in contact with Dr. Aimee (forestvet@gmail.com). I’m assuming this is because of the holidays. When they cleared into customs without a pet permit, they were instructed to call Dr. Brian. He visited their boat in Portsmouth, inspected Ruca, and reviewed their documentation. He charged $50 USD for the inspection and then issued the permit.

This shows how inconsistent the pet import process can be. Even though we were only traveling a week apart, we had different pet import experiences.

Favorite Dog Friendly Anchorages:

Portsmouth—Prince Rupert’s Bay was convenient for both humans and canines. There’s a very long beach in this large bay that is rarely crowded. We played with the pups on the most northern part of the beach in the mornings and evenings when it was empty. There are a few local beach dogs that roam around, but the ones that we encountered were friendly. In contrast, Roseau was a very difficult spot for our pooches. There aren’t any beaches and by the reaction of the locals, walking them in town isn’t welcomed. That left us with the rocky shore. We made do, but Baxter and Jaela didn’t get much exercise during our stay.

We continue to find that there’s more leniency in the requirements than online documentation may suggest, especially when it come to the Health Certificate issue date. Armed with the proper vaccination documentation and FAVN titer test result, we’ve yet to be denied entrance into a country.

There was an adjustment period when we first moved the pups on board last season. But this year they are fully embracing life on the boat. They seem to enjoy exploring new places just as much as we do. The paperwork and logistics can be daunting at times, but we are happy to share this experience with our furry companions.