Heritage Quay is the cruise quay in St John's and a legal port of entry, where Customs lists boarding for both cruise ships and pleasure yachts and Immigration runs a station published daily from 06:00 to 21:00. Send the vessel, crew, route and timing details and we will introduce you to a local agent who can prepare the file and coordinate the formalities.
This is the one Antigua location where published Immigration hours run into the evening, which makes it attractive for awkward arrival and departure times. It is also a working cruise terminal, so yacht access depends on what else is alongside. An agent is the difference between using that long window and being turned away from it.
Immigration publishes 06:00 to 21:00 daily here, Customs publishes boarding from 06:00 to 18:00, and there is a separate Customs office window. An agent can confirm which governs your movement and whether your timing works.
The quay is a cruise berth first. An agent can advise on where the yacht should lie, whether coming alongside is realistic on your date, and what the alternative is if it is not.
St John's is the convenient side of the island for V.C. Bird International Airport. An agent can prepare crew sign-on and sign-off paperwork, which Immigration expects with passports, travel details and a copy of the inbound clearance list.
Prepare the applicable records before arrival or departure.
The national sequence applies. The local features are the long Immigration window, a separate Customs office alongside the boarding function, and shared use with cruise ships.
Lodge the eSeaClear notification with the vessel details and a complete crew and passenger list. An agent can submit it and keep the reference to hand.
Fly a yellow Q flag on arrival, with everyone remaining aboard until clearance is granted.
Customs lists boarding for cruise passenger ships and pleasure yachts, published as 06:00 to 18:00, and separately a Heritage Quay Customs office published as 08:00 to 16:30. Confirm which applies to your movement, because the two windows are not the same.
Listed among the operational stations, described as a commercial and cruise port accommodating cruise ships and other small craft, published daily from 06:00 to 21:00, the widest window of any seaport station.
Harbour fees and the cruising permit are settled with the Port Authority, the permit running up to six consecutive months. If anyone is flying in or out, this is a practical place to handle it: Immigration expects crew to be presented in person and anyone leaving signed off the list.
Complete outward clearance and settle charges before departure. If the yacht has been lying in English Harbour or Falmouth, keep the National Parks receipts available.
Points specific to this location; national requirements are on the homepage. Published hours and vessel-type listings are a planning aid, not confirmation that a private yacht can be accommodated on a given day.
Customs names Heritage Quay among the six legal ports of entry. It lists a boarding function stating the vessel types as cruise passenger ships and pleasure yachts, published as 06:00 to 18:00, and the only boarding function in the published list naming both. Customs also lists a separate Heritage Quay Customs office, published as 08:00 to 16:30. Which of the two governs a particular movement is worth confirming rather than assuming.
Immigration lists Heritage Quay among its operational stations, alongside Nelson's Dockyard, Jolly Harbour and Crabbs Slipway, describing the port as commercial and cruise. Hours are published as daily 06:00 to 21:00, against 08:00 to 17:00 weekdays and 08:00 to 16:00 weekends at Nelson's Dockyard and Jolly Harbour, and no published hours at all for Deep Water and Crabbs. Immigration adds that where a vessel arrives after closing and crew must leave by air, special arrangements can be negotiated.
St John's Harbour handles the country's cruise and commercial traffic, and cruise ships berth at Heritage Quay, so space and alongside access for private yachts depend on the cruise schedule and should be confirmed for the date. Yachts wanting marina facilities normally look to Jolly Harbour or the English Harbour and Falmouth area instead.
Port Authority harbour fees and the cruising permit apply on the same national basis as anywhere else, the permit running up to six consecutive months. National Parks charges belong to the English Harbour and Falmouth area and are not triggered by clearing in St John's, though receipts from an earlier stay there can still be asked for. Customs publishes an Embarkation Seaport Tax of EC$75, roughly US$30, for each passenger in the country more than twenty-four hours departing by pleasure craft.
Customs names it among the legal ports of entry and lists a boarding function covering cruise passenger ships and pleasure yachts, and Immigration runs an operational station at the quay. It is a working cruise terminal, so confirm access for your date and yacht before committing to it.
Timing, mostly. Immigration publishes 06:00 to 21:00 daily here, the widest of any seaport station in the country, and St John's is the convenient side of the island for the airport. The trade-off is a quay shared with cruise ships and no yacht facilities.
Customs publishes boarding from 06:00 to 18:00 and a separate Customs office from 08:00 to 16:30; Immigration publishes 06:00 to 21:00 daily. The three windows differ, so confirm which governs your movement before planning around any of them.
They sit in the same harbour but are described differently. Customs lists a yacht-boarding function at both. Immigration describes Heritage Quay as an operational commercial and cruise station with published daily hours, and Deep Water as a commercial and cargo station whose offices are not operational, where officers are transported in and clearance must be communicated in advance.
Yes, subject to the published requirements. Anyone leaving the vessel must be signed off the crew or passenger list in front of Immigration, with passports, travel details and a copy of the inbound clearance list. Crew cannot be processed until the vessel itself has entry clearance.
Customs publishes an Embarkation Seaport Tax of EC$75, roughly US$30, for each passenger in the country more than twenty-four hours who departs by pleasure craft. Confirm the current amount and who it applies to as part of the departure planning.
Use this page for Heritage Quay arrival, departure and Antigua yacht-paperwork assistance.