Taking the ferry from Jordan to Egypt
Filmed on : September 2023
Filmed in : Jordan
Date of the crossing : September 25th, 2023
Our goal was to cross from Jordan to Egypt, they are 3 options :
cross by land through Israel (2 border crossings, the cheapest, but logistically more complicated)
take the ferry from Aqaba to Nuweiba (quite expensive, arriving in the middle of the night in Egypt)
take a flight (expensive, not what we wanted)
Option 1 : land crossing
We actually chose the first option to begin with, thinking that it would be the cheapest. So we studied the map, changed some money into shekels and spent our last dinars on a taxi to the border crossing. It turned out that that day was Yom Kippur so the crossing was closed.
Make sure that there is no national holiday on either side before trying to cross by land :)
Option 2 : taking the ferry
As we didn't have any accommodation for the night and were quite set on leaving the country that day, we opted for the ferry. Online we had seen that there was a daily service running in the evening for 80$, but we weren't sure how to get our tickets or if you had to book in advance at all.
The ferry company is AB Maritime.
So we just headed to a tour agency in downtown Aqaba and asked if they could book a ticket for us, which they did right away, for an extra 5$ per person. We don't remember the name of the agency, they were opposite the McDonalds, below street level, a proper shop.
Around here (29.530599, 35.001653)
They suggested to arrive much in advance at it can get crowded, so we listened to them and headed there at 6pm as advised. (We took a taxi for 10JD, probably overpaid, to take us to the port). There was no one, we waited for hours and were very tired already at 10:30pm when we started boarding. It's a bit waiting room with a couple of charging spots that everyone fights for.
We think that getting there later, 7:30pm for example, still gives plenty of time.
In the port, you have to pay the departure tax, prepare 10JD per person, and then head to the officers to be officially stamped out of the country.
Upon boarding the boat, the crew assembled all the foreigners together, made us board first and took our passports hostage for the entire duration of the crossing. It's a bit stressful to lose sight of your passport, but it looked like there was not much arguing possible. You will need to fill the entry form to Egypt in the boat and give it to the officers.
When arriving in Egypt, once again, all the foreigners are brought in priority out, following the boss who carries all the passports, and he will be in charge of collecting the money for the visas and doing all the logistics for you. Prepare 25USD or 25EUR per person (they don't give change).
Basically for the entire crossing you are handled as one big group. Once everyone has got their visa, we all move to security and are then escorted out of the terminal, where many taxis are waiting. We exited around 3:30am.
We had arranged a pickup with a contact given by a camp we booked in Nuweiba (El-Badawy Camp), which costed us 500egp in total. It's probably possible to just hire a taxi driver waiting there, although we don't know the price then.
Overall, there was a lot of waiting, a bit of stress regarding the passport situation and of entering a new country at 3am without a sim card and much planned. But it went pretty smoothly, there was no bribing or anything weird that went on as the boss who handles all the passports is doing everything for you.
Total cost : 80$ (ticket) + 5$ (ticketing fee) + 10JD (departing tax) + 25$ (egyptian visa)
For some ideas of what to do in Sinai, check out our Sinai vlog :
So this was the first border crossing of our African adventure. Our plan is to reach South Africa mostly by land. You can follow our adventures and get inspired on instagram @lisaandpol or on Youtube.
