Getting From Georgetown to Paramaribo on a Budget

When I travelled to the Guianas, I found a lack of decent information on the internet when it came to planning how to get from Georgetown to Paramaribo, Paramaribo to Cayenne, and Cayenne to Macapa.

Therefore I’ve decided to share a detailed account of the journey below to help anyone else planning these trips. This post will focus specifically on travel from Georgetown in Guyana to Suriname’s capital Paramaribo.

Now if you think you have already seen this post before, you have probably read my guide on getting from Paramaribo to Georgetown on a budget.

Georgetown to Paramaribo certainly has a lot in common with the reverse journey. But there are a few subtle differences to be aware of. I will explain all for you here.

Suriname is far cheaper to fly into than Guyana or French Guiana, which meant the cheapest route through the Guianas is to fly to Belem in Brazil, then to Paramaribo. Afterwards you will have to go to either Guyana or French Guiana overland (and water) and return to Suriname to see all three territories.

Whilst this was a headache for me, it at least means I can provide you detailed information about the journeys in both directions between the capitals of Suriname and Guyana.

How Can You Get From Georgetown to Paramaribo Overland?

Just as with the reverse journey, you need three methods of transport between Georgetown and Paramaribo.

The first and third are shared taxis, either side of the river. You only need to pay once in order to cover both taxis, which your transport company will offer and have waiting for you.

The second is a ferry. It takes you across the Courantyne River which separates Guyana from Suriname.

I found this journey to be slightly more frustrating than the reverse trip.

The shared taxi (really a minivan) will pick you up from your accommodation at 4am. At least it’s meant to…

Mine arrived at 4:23am, which in all fairness was only half as late as the pickup from Paramaribo when I first came to Georgetown a few days previously.

It took 4 hours 15 minutes to drive from Georgetown to the border at Molsen Creek. This included 25 minutes waiting at a petrol station for more passengers to join.

Next up was a 3-hour wait for the ferry to arrive. It was meant to leave at 10am, but this is the Guianas, meaning nothing runs on time. It eventually departed at 11:30am.

The ferry ride took 1 hour and 10 minutes. This was marginally slower than the hour-long reverse journey.

Lastly, it took just over 4 hours to reach Paramaribo from the Surinamese border town of South Drain. It can take longer due to traffic, weather conditions, having to drop off other passengers, and the driver deciding to stop at random intervals.

I went with Long Hair Transport to travel between Guyana and Suriname (WhatsApp: +592 641 6010).

I had used Navin Bus Service (WhatsApp: +597 852-1998) for my Suriname to Guyana journey. On the Guyana side, the driver worked with Long Hair and gave me his business card. I contacted Long Hair over Navin on the way back because the second driver was much friendlier and his vehicle was more comfortable.

However this backfired as I had a different driver who had a much worse vehicle on this leg of the journey. In fact he used one of the buses that locals use to get around in Georgetown. And some of them are pretty bashed up…

Both Navin and Long Hair are good enough to take this trip with. The Guianas are short on comfortable options, so don’t expect luxury, but they’ll both get you from A to B safely, and that’s what really matters.

I won’t pretend they’re amazing companies where everything runs smoothly, but they get the job done.

You will pay US$50 (or the equivalent in Guyanese or Suriname dollars) to your driver once you arrive at the Molsen Creek border crossing.

You do not need to pay a second time on the other side.

How Good is the Transport Here?

To be honest, the quality of the transport is pretty uninspiring…

It’s not awful, but it’s not great either.

The minivans in most cases were uncomfortable, and drivers preferred to leave a window open to cool the vehicles down.

This is a problem as the wind lashes against your face. And I’m telling you now, that’s really uncomfortable for 4 minutes, let alone 4 hours.

The ferry was also rough. It’s far too hot and there are no fans or air con systems in place. Both Guyana and Suriname have poor quality infrastructure, and the ferry between the two is no different.

On both my trips between Georgetown and Paramaribo, the driver was late picking me up. They both said they would arrive at 4am, but would’ve been better suggesting a time range rather than the exact moment of arrival.

Communication on WhatsApp had mixed success. Navin went quiet at random points when I required key information. Long Hair at least were a lot better for this and consistently responded where needed.

How Much Does it Cost to Get From Georgetown to Paramaribo?

There are two transport expenses when you make this journey.

The first is a set price of US$50 to cover the shared transport from Georgetown to Molsen Creek, and from South Drain to Paramaribo.

The second is the ferry price: US$20 for a one-way trip or US$30 for a return ticket.

That makes the cost at least US$70 one-way, although you will need a minimum of US$128 for this journey. This is because you have to pay a US$58 entry fee to enter Suriname. This is one of the key differences between entering Guyana compared to entering Suriname.

What Documents do You Need to Enter Suriname?

You will need to meet 3 or 4 different requirements to enter Suriname. The “or” comes from the fact that you may or may not need a visa, depending on which country you come from.

People from the following 21 countries need a visa before arriving in Suriname:

Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Eritrea, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tunisia, Venezuela, Zambia.

Additionally, citizens of Haiti are banned from entering Suriname at all.

You can apply for an e-visa here if you’re from any of the 21 countries listed above.

The following 3 requirements have to be met by virtually every traveller visiting Suriname:

• Pay a US$58 entry fee. This can be done on the VFS Global website. Only Surinamese residents, people from CARICOM countries, and those from Vatican City are exempt (as are diplomats and a handful of other special cases). The fee is US$50 but also includes an US$8 service fee
• Fill out an Immigration and Customs Form (ICF). This is an online form where you fill out a few personal details and will be given a QR code at the end, which you must show at the Suriname border. Fill out the ICF here
• Bring proof of Yellow Fever vaccination. Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana are the only places I’ve been to in South America that really care about Yellow Fever vaccination. Without proof, you will not be able to enter the country

This should be obvious as it applies to pretty much any country, but you also require a valid passport with at least 6 months left and a spare page.

Is The Journey Safe?

Both Suriname and Guyana are pretty dodgy. But the journey between both capitals should run relatively smoothly in terms of safety.

Crime is high in both countries, but unlikely to occur during an organised transfer that keeps you in a bit of a bubble away from standard transport and the general population.

The ferry is perhaps the riskiest part of the journey, mostly due to the fact that it’s a pretty ropey old boat that doesn’t seem particularly well maintained.

Chances are however that even the ferry will run smoothly, and you won’t need to reach for the lifejackets which is does at least have.

I experienced no safety issues on either leg of the journey.

People taking the journey between Georgetown and Paramaribo generally are quite rich by local standards. Therefore the probability of them targeting you for crime is fairly low.

Even as the only white person, I didn’t receive too much attention from locals, and certainly not anything negative.

What Languages do I Need to Speak Whilst Travelling From Guyana to Suriname?

You only really need to speak English to make this trip.

Guyana is an English-speaking country anyway, although even as a Brit I will admit that I found Guyanese people difficult to understand with their local slang, thick Caribbean accents and use of Guyanese Creole.

Suriname is a Dutch-speaking country, but the locals speak surprisingly good English in general, therefore you don’t need to worry about having to overcome language barriers here.

A border guard laughed as I left Suriname in the other direction to visit French Guiana. I showed him a pre-written message in Google Translate, and he told me that the British had colonised the country as well as the Dutch, leading to English being well-understood by many Surinamese people.

Can I Exchange Money at the Border?

Once the ferry arrives in South Drain and you successfully make it through immigration, there will be several characters in the car park with Surinamese dollars to exchange for Guyanese or US dollars (it depends on the dealer, but you may also get away with Euros or Brazilian reais).

To ensure you exchange money safely, make sure you find your driver for the second leg of the journey first, and ask them who you can trust.

Your driver will be able to identify you because the other driver will take a picture of you in Molsen Creek, before sending it to their colleague across the border.

I was scammed twice during 4 days in Suriname, so do be careful here. Although both occasions came in Paramaribo rather than on the border.

Is the Journey Comfortable?

The journey from Georgetown to Paramaribo was far worse than the reverse trip.

The main reason for this is the vehicles used.

For the Georgetown to Molsen Creek leg of the journey, we were in a cramped minivan just like those used to transport locals around Georgetown.

It had no seatbelts and went over numerous bumps, which was bad news for a tall guy like myself who ended up headbutting the roof on multiple occasions.

There was little space for legroom either.

The ferry was also pretty rough, due to the intense heat and lack of options to shelter from it. You can pick up a cool breeze by heading to the top of the boat, however sunburn will get you here instead. Not the most ideal situation.

The final leg from South Drain to Paramaribo was also unpleasant. The passenger in front had his window open, which led to me getting blasted with wind for half an hour until we stopped and I was able to close the window.

As I said earlier, the Guianas are fairly rough and not good for comfort lovers.

A Detailed Account of my Journey from Georgetown to Paramaribo

After a very early start, I was ready for my transport to arrive at 4am. Of course, it was late and eventually turned up at 4:23am.

We drove around picking up other passengers before stopping at a petrol station at 4:55am where we waited in dark, rainy Georgetown for another bus to drop off more passengers from another part of the city. This took 25 minutes.

We eventually left and made it to the ferry terminal at Molsen Creek at exactly 8:38am (yes, I counted). The journey wasn’t fun, not least due to the obnoxiously loud chap who didn’t seem to have discovered headphones at this point in his life…

I didn’t need to buy a ferry ticket as I purchased a return ticket whilst coming to Guyana a few days previously. If you do however, you can queue up at the office and buy one for US$20 (one-way) or US$30 if you plan on returning to Guyana.

The wait for the ferry was long however (2.5 hours before it arrived and we were able to board). And the facilities in Molsen Creek weren’t as good as those in South Drain on the Suriname side of the river. Suriname at least had a large canteen with a lot of food and drink options. Molsen Creek had much less to offer.

At 11:27am we finally left, arriving 1 hour and 10 minutes later after an uncomfortable journey in the blazing heat.

The boat journey is nothing to write home about, with only murky brown waters and a handful of trees nearby.

Upon arrival, we queued to be stamped into Suriname. If you have all your documents prepared, this process is easy and pain-free.

There was a booth stating you could pay the US$50 Suriname entry fee there and then. However I would not rely on this.

It may (seemingly) save you US$8 on the service fee, but I have heard of many people being barred from entering because the form is meant to be filled in online.

Do it on your computer just to be on the safe side, as Suriname is a country where the rules don’t always make sense and getting into the country can come down to how the immigration official feels on the day.

After walking out of immigration and going through a quick airport-style bag scanner, I found my driver who recognised me from the previous trip. He should be able to spot you even if your journey started in Georgetown. This is because your first driver sends a picture of you to your second driver to make it easy to spot you.

I didn’t exchange money as I already had Surinamese dollars, but you can do so in the car park if you wish.

At 1:09pm we left, and made it to Paramaribo around 4 hours later. The driver left me directly outside my hostel (Twenty4 Hostel is where most travellers stay in the Surinamese capital, and it’s where I stayed too).

You need to hope things go smoothly and you do make it to Paramaribo around the 5pm expected time of arrival. This is because the city isn’t very safe at the best of times, let alone after dark.

Although you should at least be dropped directly outside your accommodation which is one positive.

Overall, the journey took around 12.5 hours. It wasn’t the most fun, but it wasn’t awful either.