What You Need to Know

  The Boquillas Port of Entry is open for business  on Friday-Monday 9:00 am- 4:00 pm through the end of October. November 1, the days change to Wednesday-Sunday through mid-May.    Proper documentation is required to cross. U.S. and Canadian citizens can present a valid Passport or Passport Card to cross at this Class B Port of Entry. Birth certificates are not accepted at this Port of Entry.
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International travelers must have a valid passport and be registered with the ESTA visa waiver program
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Boquillas del Carmen is the primary gateway to the Maderas del Carmen Natural Protected Area in Mexico.  The National Commission of Natural Protect Areas charges $4 per person entrance fee. These fees help fund sustainable environmental projects in over 180 Natural Protected Areas in Mexico. Please stop by their office  in Boquillas for more information on the Maderas del Carmen Natural Protected Area.

Ferry service round trip is $5 per person. Children 7 and under are $1 each. Visitors may walk 3/4 miles to town, hire a burro or pick up truck for $10 per person, a horse for $15 per person. Those services usually include a town tour on foot and they wait while you eat lunch. Gratuities are appreciated for good service  There are also guides available on foot who work for tips. YOU DO NOT NEED A GUIDE to walk in to town, eat a meal, and explore on your own.

Big Bend National Park rangers are on site to provide information and assist with the re-entry process.


Upon return to the US, documentation is scanned and transmitted to the US immigration office in El Paso, where an official views the document remotely as well as the person presenting. Via a telephone connection, the official asks the standard questions:

  • What was the purpose of your trip?
  • What are you bringing back?
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Please note that visitors may not bring raw food products, alcohol, tobacco, rocks, minerals or anything made from animals or parts of animals