Advice and information for recreational boaters arriving and departing the UK

Guidance for boaters (updated 18 March 2022) 

Arriving in the UK

The government has removed all COVID-19 international travel restrictions in the UK.

From 4am Friday 18 March, all COVID-19 travel restrictions have been lifted including the passenger locator form (PLF) for arrivals into UK as well as all tests for passengers who do not qualify as vaccinated. This change removes the need for all passengers including unvaccinated passengers to take a pre-departure test and a day 2 post arrival test.

This reflects the decisions taken by the UK government, as set out in the Living with COVID plan. To ensure the protection of public health, the government will maintain a range of contingency measures in reserve, which would enable it to take swift and proportionate action to delay any future harmful variants of COVID-19 entering the UK should the need arise.

In future, the government’s default approach will be to use the least stringent measures, if appropriate, to minimise the impact on travel as far as possible – given the high personal, economic and international costs border measures can have – and the contingency measures will only be implemented in extreme circumstances.

Current guidance: 

• England
• Scotland
• Wales
• Northern Ireland 

International travel

The UK government publishes advice about travelling abroad, including the latest information on coronavirus, safety and security, entry requirements and travel warnings. The country specific advice covers 226 countries and territories. Where available, the advice provides links to current Covid-19 entry restrictions and requirements that you may be expected to follow irrespective of the means of transport unless otherwise stated. The restrictions and requirements may change with little warning and you should monitor the advice provided for the latest updates.

The European Union has set up a website and a mobile app where you can see if travel is possible to each member state, the requirements of each destination, and other information to answer travellers’ questions. Go to Re-open EU for travel information and guidelines for each destination.

Noonsite provides a considerable amount of information that may help recreational boaters abroad and its Covid-19 document has guidance as well as links to the latest developments.

To get in touch

Should RYA members have any enquiries related to the guidance on this page please contact the RYA Cruising Team at cruising@rya.org.uk (please include your membership number in your email) or +44 (0) 23 8060 4233 (please have your membership number to hand).

For other enquiries, call the RYA on +44 (0) 23 8060 4100.