Checking in and out of Suwarrow was pretty straightforward, and Harry the Park Ranger was pretty on top of things. Within minutes of getting the anchor down he radioed us and let us know he’d be coming out to the boat and that we were not to go ashore until he had checked us in. I had to ask him to give us about 30 minutes since Tim had gotten in the water to check the anchor. Harry was right on time, and 30 minutes later he showed up at Exodus in his metal skiff.
He was representing many aspects of The Cook Islands government (Customs, Immigration, quarantine, etc.) and he gave us a slew of paperwork to fill out. There was a fee that was accepted in US dollars, so we never did have to exchange to Cook Islands currency. I don’t recall how much the fee was, but I don’t think it was too outrageous. In addition to all the forms, Harry took some sort of bug spray and did a few token sprays around the boat. It seemed comical, and clearly, he was just checking a box because if we really had bugs, there’s no way those few sprays would have accomplished anything.
You are only allowed to stay in Suwarrow for two weeks, but since we were looking to leave at the first weather window, we didn’t butt up against this limit or have any experience with how strict it is followed.
Checking out was easy. I just went ashore and signed some papers. The only tricky part was deciding when to leave and then sticking to that once you have gone through the checkout process. Harry wasn’t very happy when people didn’t leave when they said they were going to, apparently.
Gresham Family Exodus 