How to get from Paramaribo to Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni

Here I detail how I travelled overland from Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname, to Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni in French Guiana.

Paramaribo to Albina:

The first part of the journey involves taking a bus from the main bus station in Paramaribo on Heiligenweg to Albina.

Of course I checked things out at the bus station, which is more of a parking lot, in the days before I travelled.

Forewarned is forearmed.

I went to the ticket office and asked! Easy as fuck when you know how.

30-seater minibuses run between Paramaribo and Albina at 6am, 8am, 10am, 12.30pm and 2pm, Monday to Saturday. On Sunday there is just one service, at 8am.

But the system here is totally weird.

So here’s how it works:

You can get a ‘number’ for free, from the ticket office, which is more of a control room for the bus drivers, anytime from 4 am and pay the driver when you board the bus.

From what I deduced and observed when I went there at 6.30 in the morning to see, this is like priority boarding. You get the best seats. And there are only a few numbers, hence the said scramble and need (?) to go at 4am.

I went with my roomie on the Sunday, who was gonna take the bus.

There were no numbers left.

We got talking to a local lady.

She didn’t get up early enough, so she didn’t have a ‘number’ either.

Sometimes there are people selling numbers. They come at 4am, ask for a few numbers and then sell them on. The point is, you also then have to pay the driver.

The actual fare is 100 Suriname Dollars, plus you need to pay the dude who was here at 4am, working for you so you can get a good seat. I don’t know how much this costs.

Why can’t they just run big buses with lots of seats and do away with this rather confusing method.

One blogger called it a scam, slammed the country as being the worst ever. And more.

You know how tickets are sold at big sporting events, people buy a load of tickets and then resell them on the day of the event, with a massive mark up.

It’s almost the same system here. It’s not a scam, just an entrepreneur milking the system.

The lady we were talking to, said she would buy from this man too, but he didn’t show. Not on a Sunday when it was pouring with rain.

The minibus arrived at almost 8am and our new friend got on without having a number.

What happened to the mad scramble? Even on a Sunday with only one bus, there was no chaos.

The lady said sometimes you have to stand or sit on the fold up seats in the middle of the aisle. Paying an extra 100 or 150 Suriname was the price of a better seat.

Shared taxis also run from the shared taxi station on Drambrandersgracht. There are shared cars which cost 700 Suriname and minivans which cost 300 Suriname.

So you see the need to get the regular bus?

My roomie bailed as the streets were now under water from the intense downpour.

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It’s 140 km from Paramaribo to Albina.

Having backpacked Paramaribo, I was super excited to be moving on.

At just gone 7am I was at the bus station.

I went to the little office and asked for a number. Easy as. There was no chaos. Everything was orderly. Quiet.

Waiting for the Paramaribo to Albina bus:

A man came over to see me and told me I could board the bus.

The 30-seater mini bus from Paramaribo to Albina:

We set off at just after eight.

We made one stop for breakfast around nine.

Other than that the journey was uneventful.

We arrived in Albina at just before 11 after a journey of 2 hours 50 minutes. I jumped off at the crossroads coming into town and walked the short distance to the immigration office.

I had done my online departure thingy the night before.

Exiting Suriname was quick and efficient.

How to cross from Suriname to French Guiana at Albina

The border is kinda flexible/porous. If you are just going to Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni for a quick visit, use one of the pirogues in town and you will bypass immigration.

I was travelling all the way to Belém in Brazil, so I had to pass through immigration.

The ferry only runs when there are enough vehicles making the crossing. Foot passengers take one of the many pirogues that ply the route.

There was an American couple who were on a visa run. They were teachers in Paramaribo and every three months they had to make a trip to Albina and cross into French Guiana and then go back again.

They knew the score. They signalled to one of the boat men and he went off to get his pirogue.

I asked how much it was, as I had heard the price had gone up from 200 Suriname to 400. That’s 5 Euros to 10 Euros.

They said that there was a flexible pricing system.

The boat ride across the Maroni River took 10 minutes or so and once we arrived, I just handed over a 200 Suriname dollar note, like I knew what I was doing!

This strategy has always served me well.

Entering French Guiana

Immigration rules for French Guiana

French Guiana is an overseas department of France. It is France in South America. They use the Euro, they belong to the European Union but they are NOT part of the Schengen Zone.

• If you are an EU/EEA or Swiss citizen: You do not need a visa; a valid passport or national ID card is generally sufficient
• If you are from a visa-exempt non-EU country (e.g., USA, Canada, UK, Australia): You can enter without a visa for short stays (up to 90 days)
• If you need a visa, you need a French Overseas visa for French Guiana. A Schengen Visa is NOT valid for entry here.

Exit stamp for Suriname and entry stamp for French Guiana:

Logistics:

As I said before, they use Euros here. Everywhere accepts card, but the taxis and buses don’t. So if you are heading to Kourou and Cayenne, you will need cash.

There are a few ATMs in town. The PNB ATM near the Super U is out of action. Looks like it hasn’t worked in a while.

There is the BRED-Banque Populaire ATM. I used this one. No withdrawal fee.

There is also the Credit Agricole bank near the church.

If you have GPS enabled on your bank app, disable it. Even if I had used my card in the Supermarket, my bank app says I was in French Guiana but Google couldn’t verify my location for ATM withdrawals.

Welcome to French Guiana.