How to get from Georgetown to Paramaribo

Georgetown in Guyana to Paramaribo in Suriname via the border at Moleson Creek-South which is done by ferry.

This post details on how to get from Georgetown in Guyana to Paramaribo in Suriname via the border at Moleson Creek/South Drain.

Know before you go:

You can visit Suriname without a visa for tourism for up to 90 days.

But do NOT let that fool you.

It is a VISA IN DISGUISE.

You must pay an single entry fee of 50 US dollars before you travel plus an 8 USD processing fee.

Or you can apply for a multiple entry and pay 75 USD plus the 8 USD:

https://suriname.vfsevisa.com/suriname/online/home/index

You have to register before you can start the online application process.

You will receive a confirmation email for your new account which you must confirm before you can start the application.

It’s fairly painless. You just need to upload a photo of the front page of your passport. Don’t try to upload a massive image. I reduced mine in size and it worked a treat.

I made the payment and received a confirmation email of payment within seconds and the PDF of the Entry Fee Voucher within 20 minutes, which I saved to my phone and had it printed out which they said was mandatory.

Quik Copy on Camp Street charge 40 G$ (20 cents US).

You also need to complete the online Immigration and Customs form for both arrival and departure.

You can do that up to seven days before. It’s a bit long winded. You need a selfie, low res/small size. Avoid pressing BACK, otherwise you’ll have to start again.

This is the ICF entry and departure website for Suriname.

The trip from Georgetown to Paramaribo is done in three stages:

Georgetown to Moleson Creek 186 km
Moleson Creek to South Drain ferry
South Drain to Paramaribo 257 km

In the absence of big/regular buses in Guyana, the mo of getting around here is to use minivans.

There are many companies that offer a door to door service between Georgetown and Paramaribo

They pick you up from your hostel at some ungodly hour, and drop you off at your hostel at the end. 50 USD seems to be the going rate though I chose one that had a Facebook page and replied immediately, that wanted only 45 USD.

The ferry is NOT included in the price. That’s 20 USD extra.

I messaged Twenty4 Hostel in Paramaribo, got them to hold a bed pending the confirmation of the ‘visa in disguise’ and once that was received confirmed five nights there.

Thats the basics. Here’s the trip report:

I was happy at the prospect of moving on after five nights in Georgetown.

St George's Cathedral in Georgetown, Guyana

So I had organised transport to Paramaribo with Ricardo’s Bus Service.

I was up bright and breezy.

It’s a pick up service, so pick up is from 3 am. You might be first on the list or you maybe last.

I messaged him at 3.15. He said he was on his way.

He then sent another message to say he would arrive at 4 am, which he did. Well, not actually him but anyways.

The ‘minivan’ turned out to be a regular car so was pretty comfortable, shared with a Guyanese born lady of Indian descent who lived in Suriname and another guy who didn’t talk.

So there is just one ferry a day (unless they decide that there are enough vehicles to warrant running an extra sailing).

Which is why there is a need to leave early.

It’s 186 km from Georgetown to Moleson Creek.

The dude drove like a fucking lunatic. A white knuckle ride for sure. We could have left at 6 and we would still have been on time. Knobhead.

Just before arriving at the ferry, we stopped to change money.

Guyanese Dollars are useless outside of the country. And hell, I aint ever coming back here so.

I kept 4,000 back for the ferry and swapped 5000 G$ for some Suriname Dollars at a not very good rate. Best mo would be to spend any left over Guyanese Dollars.

We arrived at the port just after 7 am.

Ricardo had quoted me 45 USD for the trip. Of course the driver wanted 50, the regular price. After a quick call, I handed over the 50 USD and got 1,000 in change (5 USD).

So the deal is, the transportation is organised all the way through to Paramaribo.

Door to door service.

I kept asking the Guyanese lady. Just to make sure. She’s made the trip multiple times. She knew our driver on the Suriname leg.

The driver took our photos to send to the next driver on the Suriname side.

I queued up for my ticket.

When I was changing my money, they were insisting the ticket was 6,300 (this is the return price!).

The one-way ticket is 4,000 G$ (20 USD +/-).

Moleson Creek to South Drain ferry ticket

Then the ticket lady said 4180 G$. Weird. Some tax I guess.

I handed over the extra doing my Guyana departure form online in the mean time, which was as easy as when I entered Guayna.

Then the ticket lady handed me my ticket, passport and the extra 180 G$ back. No idea what that was about!

I had enough Guyanese Dollars left to get a yummi rôti filled with curried chicken and a coffee for just 1000 G$.

The ferry arrived from Suriname at just after 9.30 am. Was a quick turnaround. Despite the 11 am schedule (?) at 10.18 Guyana time we are on the move.