Upon arrival in Richard's Bay, all boats should call the Richard's Bay Port Authority on VHF channel 16 or 12. You will be instructed to proceed to the customs dock in the small craft harbour to await the arrival of immigration and customs officials. The Port Authority will inform the appropriate immigration and customs offices of your arrival. The check in procedure involves no costs, nor are there any fees for lying alongside the customs wharf, even for several days.

The customs and immigration officials can sometimes take a bit of time to get to you, therefore it does not hurt to contact the Port Authority by VHF to remind them of your waiting status. Port Authority has little control over the punctuality of the customs and immigration officials, but they will continue to remind them of your presence at the customs dock. A wait of 24 hours is not unusual. In the meantime, if you wish to enter the Tuzi Gazi Marina, simply walk the short distance to the Tuzi Gazi Marina security office and inform the 24-hour uniformed security guard of your intentions, enter your request in the guest book and someone from the marina will get back to you within a short time. Alternatively, you could contact a marina official by telephone or email. See our Contact page for these numbers. There is also a check out procedure for all foreign yachts, called a "flight plan", even if you are not leaving South African waters to travel to another South African city or province.