For a year, the crossing stopped making sense for a lot of Insiders.
In July 2025 the Bahamas raised its boating fees across the board. A temporary cruising permit for a 50 to 99 foot boat doubled to $1,000. Over 100 feet went to $3,000. Fishing permits were pulled out of the cruising permit and charged separately. An anchoring fee appeared that applied whether or not you ever put the hook down.
The response was predictable and it showed up in the numbers. Visiting traffic dropped. Marinas noticed. Owners who had run to Bimini every year for two decades started going to Key West instead.
The government reviewed the policy over the winter, and on April 1, 2026 it changed course.
What the new structure looks like
The Port Authorities (Amendment) Bill took effect April 1 and rebuilt the permit system around three durations instead of one.
30-day permit. $350 for 51 to 100 feet, $600 for over 100 feet. No free re-entry.
Six-month permit. $750 for 51 to 100 feet, $2,000 for over 100 feet. One free re-entry inside the permit period.
12-month permit. Unchanged at $1,000 for 50 to 99 feet and $3,000 for over 100 feet — but the re-entry rule improved. You now get two free re-entries anywhere inside the 12-month window, instead of being boxed into a 30-day period.
Smaller boats got the biggest cut. A vessel in the 31 to 50 foot range comes in at $250.
Anchoring changed in a way that matters. It no longer applies if your boat is staying in a marina. If you do anchor out, it is $350 for 50 to 99 feet and $1,500 for 100 feet and up.
Tenders over 25 feet carry a separate $500 fee for up to 12 months. Under 25 feet, no charge.
Passenger tax stays as it was: $30 per person for every non-resident passenger over the age of six beyond the first three aboard.
Fishing permits are still separate from the cruising permit — $100 for vessels under 50 feet, $300 for 50 feet and over. Confirm the duration on your permit when you clear in, because that detail has moved around and you do not want to find out you were expired.
The card that changes the math for regulars
The Frequent Digital Cruising Card is the piece worth doing arithmetic on.
The FDCC buys unlimited entries for two years. It runs $1,500 for boats under 50 feet, $2,500 for 50 to 99 feet, and $8,000 for over 100 feet.
Do the math against your actual habits. If you make the crossing three or more times a year, the card almost certainly costs you less than buying permits trip by trip — and it strips out the clearance paperwork every time after the first.
If you go once a year for two weeks in the Abacos, the 30-day permit is your answer and the card is money burned. There is no single right choice here, only the one that matches how you actually use the boat.
Clearing in has not changed
Whatever permit you hold, the protocol is the same and it is not optional.
You clear Customs and Immigration at the nearest designated Port of Entry. Fly the yellow quarantine flag on the way in. Notify Customs that you have arrived. Only the Captain leaves the boat until the vessel is cleared — everybody else stays aboard, including the crew who have been aboard for eleven hours and want off.
Forms and clearance run through the Click2Clear portal. Do the digital submission before you go rather than trying to sort it out on a dock with marginal signal and a line behind you.
What this actually means
Two things are true at once.
The first is that the Bahamas listened. A government reversing a revenue decision because the people it affects stopped showing up is rare enough to be worth noting, and the marinas and owners who spoke up got a result.
The second is that this is still meaningfully more expensive than it was two years ago. The 12-month permit rates did not come down at all — they held at the doubled 2025 numbers. What got cheaper was the ability to go for a shorter time and pay accordingly, and to stop paying for anchoring you never did.
For a Captain running a 40-footer over from South Florida for a long weekend at Bimini, that is a real difference. For a program keeping a boat over there for a season, less so.
Either way, the trip is back on the table. The Gulf Stream has not moved, the water is the same color it has always been, and the crossing is still the best day of running most Insiders will do all year.
Check current fees on the official Bahamian portal before you go — this structure has changed twice in twelve months, and it may change again.
See you on the water.