Are you a bit confused about how to get from Guyana to Suriname? Never fear, we are here to help! This blog sets out everything you need to know about getting from Georgetown, Guyana to Paramaribo, Suriname.
Suriname Visa Or Travel Card
Before you do ANYTHING you need to find out whether you need a Suriname visa or tourist card.
If you have already got your visa or tourist card for Suriname, great! You are ready to rock and roll with the bus service from Guyana to Suriname.
Bus Service From Guyana To Suriname And Then Ferry
We booked shared mini van transportation all the way from Georgetown, Guyana to Paramaribo, Suriname with P&A (Paul and Adele) Guesthouse and Transportation Service.
Their office is at 75 Church Street, Georgetown.
This was the cheapest option to get to Suriname from Guyana by far. Flying costs hundreds of pounds!
The numbers for Paul and Adele are:
+5926286001 (Paul)
+5926884938 (Adele)
And they use WhatsApp which is useful for travellers.
Justin’s Bus Service
Paul and Adele can sometimes be unresponsive, so other travellers recommend using Justin’s Bus Service. Justin’s Bus Service are contactable and responsive via facebook.
Cost To Get From Guyana To Suriname
The bus service from Guyana to Suriname costs GYD 9,000 (£32/$43) each and will take you to Moleson Creek ferry port. Where you then pick up the ferry across the river to Suriname and then another pre-paid van company (Kevin Taxi and Bus Service) picks you up on the Suriname side.
Your ticket with P&A (which in Suriname turns into Kevin Taxi and Bus Service) only covers the two van trips on each side, NOT the ferry.
You have to pay for that separately at Moleson ferry port. The Guyana to Suriname ferry costs GYD 3,135 (£11/$14USD).
Your Guyana To Suriname Bus Ticket
On the Guyanan side, before you get on the ferry, your P&A van driver will give you a ticket to give to the Kevin Taxi and Bus service driver on the Suriname side:
Don’t lose this!
How Long Does The Journey From Guyana To Suriname Take?
The journey from Georgetown to Paramaribo altogether from door to door took us over 12 hours.
Where Am I Picked Up From In Georgetown, Guyana?
You are picked up from your accommodation in Georgetown at 4am (yawn!) to catch the 9am ferry to Suriname.
This is the only ferry that goes from Moleson ferry port per day. It is usually late. It left at 10:30am for us.
Delayed Ferry And Slow Immigration
We arrived at Moleson ferry port at 7:30am so the drive on the Guyanan side took us 3.5 hours.
The crossing then took us 4.5 hours. This wasn’t because it’s a long ferry journey, it only took 30 mins! But was because of immigration both sides and just generally waiting around for the delayed ferry.
We got to the Guyana ferry port at 7:30am Guyanan time yet didn’t leave the Surinamese side until 12noon Guyanan / 1pm Surinamese time.
From the Suriname ferry port it took us about 4 hours to get to Paramaribo, Suriname.
How Was The Journey From Guyana To Suriname?
It was longgggg. So long!
4am American Christian Preachers
On the Guyanan side, our van driver was listening to American Christian preachers at 4am in the morning. When that was over he started blasting out country music and ballads for the rest of our the journey on the Guyanan side.
The van was a bit packed up with bags, but it was fine and he drove safely. We almost ran over some guinea fowls, as one tried charging into the van.
Police Checkpoints In Guyana
We passed about 6 police checkpoints on the Guyanan side, but they didn’t seem interested in us.
Pumpkin Curry
We stopped for breakfast and the toilet at a place with lots of chickens. I love chickens! I highly recommend the very tasty pumpkin curry with roti!
Tedious, Tedious, Tedious
The ferry aspect was tedious, not the journey itself but everything around it. There was the usual passport checks when you enter the terminal and buy your ticket.
Yellow Fever
These guys also check your yellow fever certificate at the entrance so have that ready.
You then queue to buy your ticket. Then you have to fill out exit forms, go through immigration where they ask a few pressing questions on what you were doing in Guyana and where you stayed.
Guyana Border Customs Searches
There’s then a kind of customs check with random searches. They will check your yellow fever certificate multiple times.
The whole process of getting through immigration and customs took around 40 mins altogether.
Lots Of Waiting Around For The Guyana To Suriname Ferry
After that there’s a lot of waiting around. We thought the ferry was about to start boarding and stood up like everyone else, only to then be standing for another hour with all our bags whilst people disembarked. My back hurt!
Finally they started boarding the cars first, but this took quite a while as they all had to reverse on to the ferry. Before we got on the ferry our tickets were checked again.
The ferry takes around 30 mins. It’s just a standard car ferry and is largely full of locals, in fact I didn’t see or hear any other foreigners. Just us!
There is a kind of upstairs bit you can go up to get a view but most people just sat downstairs on the life raft boxes or in their cars. There are toilets if you need them, but better to go in the waiting room before you board.
Suriname Entry Forms
On the ferry we were given our entry forms for Suriname to fill out. To note, for these you need to know what address you are staying at in Paramaribo and you aren’t supposed to bring any food in, or must declare it as per the customs form.
Suriname Ferry Port
On the Suriname side, again there was a fair bit of waiting in queues to get through immigration. There was a queuing system in which those who were 60+ years in age, had children or were in large groups could move to the front of the queue. This caused significant confusion!
Start Queuing…Again!
Be warned – the first queue is just to get into the immigration office! On the Suriname side we were processed in 40 mins. Again our passports were looked at, as were our yellow fever vaccination certification and our Suriname travel cards were stamped. After this there are bag checks.
Money Changers
There are a few money changing guys both on the Guyana side (before you enter the ferry terminal) and the Suriname side (after you go through immigration). We didn’t check the rates though.
I’d recommend changing up your last Guyana dollars in Georgetown as they are bloody hard to get rid of in Suriname, unless you want to pay about 20% commission. That’s if you can find a money changer who will actually take them! Plus it is useful to have Suriname dollars for the journey so you can get food at the stop.
Suriname Travel Card
There is a sign saying you could get your Suriname travel card at the Suriname ferry port. However, I can imagine it’s slow. You still have to print everything out and who knows if the van on the Suriname side will wait that long for you!
Better off getting it in Georgetown when you are less rushed (and fed up!):
Getting Into Suriname
Our Suriname van driver found us, and we were off by 1pm. And when I say off, we really were off, it felt like he was trying to break the Surinamese land speed record in a mini van.
Whoop, Wifi On The Bus!
The van had WiFi though and it was some of the fastest we’ve had in Guyana and Suriname. Win!
We stopped for lunch and the toilet at a gas station quite early on, along with all the other vans coming from the ferry port. Our driver seemed in a hurry so we only managed to go to the toilet.
All the women’s were closed aside from one and a load of women deliberately jumped in front of me when I was waiting for the toilet. The men’s toilets were open air…
Guyana To Suriname Bus: Bring Snacks
Luckily we had snacks otherwise we’d have been hungry and I would have got hangry and made a memorable first impression on Suriname.
We stopped again at a market town where I think the other passengers on our van bought live fish.
Make sure you have your hotel address to hand to show the driver’s helper. That way they will drop you at your accommodation in Paramaribo.
Have fun in Paramaribo and Suriname!
Awesome Things To Do In Suriname:
Visit The Beautiful Brownberg National Park
Brownsberg, Suriname On A Budget (Comprehensive Up To Date Guide)
Fly Over The Amazon Basin In A TINY Plane To Palumeu
The Other Way Around: Bus Service From Suriname To Guyana
If you want to go from Suriname to Guyana, you can just do what we did the other way around. You can book tickets by contacting Kevin on +5978891188 or +5977410504.
This is great. We have Suriname, Guyana, and French Guiana planed for 2021. Your post is the first current info on your information. Thank you very much. Would you mind sharing what resources you used?
Cheers,
John and Susan
Medellin, Colombia
https://latitudeadjustmentblog.com/