I'm in La Paz now waiting to cross to Mazatlan in the next two days. The last I heard the ferry and steel rat are not running. What are our best options for getting 3 bikes from Panama to Columbia? Thanks

The Doris Gal should be running in Feb. $300 for a bike from Colon to Turbo. Go to Colon fishing port look for Rego.

Container share. I just did this since Rego was not running till Feb. Contact Tea at Seabord Marine. she will arrange a container share. $325 plus $150 port costs Colon to Cartegena. My bike was put in a container with anotehr bike and 2 cars. bike arrived in Colombia Tuesday and I;ve been riding here for 2 days already.

Thanks Vic. There is 3 of us and we may meet 2 others before the crossing. The prices you gave, is that for both rider and bike?

I am guessing those prices are for the bikes only. Unless you want to sneak into a sealed container. Not advisable.

A friend shipped two bikes in a container with a car and the cost was inline with what Mitch quoted. You'll have to shop around for airfare. Take some time to secure your bike. When my friend opened the container in Colombia, his bike had fallen over on its side. It took a few laps around the terminal to get the engine running right.

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Peter B
2008/09 - NJ to Costa Rica and back to NJ
2012/13 - NJ to Northern Argentina, Jamaica, Cuba and back to NJ
2023 - Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia...back to Peru.

Blogs: Peter's Ride

There is suppose to be a new ferry that starts late February 2016. They have a web site and Facebook page. I tried to register but no success. I want to leave the 26th. Try this: RESERVAR | www.Ferryexpress.com

That is not a new ferry. That is an old ferry which failed rather ingloriously after providing terrible service for a paltry few trips. The new web presence is presumably either 1. the same old owner trying to scam a few more of you, or 2. a brand new scam from the start, in which persons unknown hope that you'll send them some money although they have nothing whatsoever to do with any ferry, anywhere, ever.

I'm happy to be proven wrong about this. However, I suggest you research thoroughly and maintain a dubious attitude.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

Thanks Mark. I had the feeling it was too good to be true. We're still looking/searching for a way across.

I'm in Panama right now and am still sourcing transportation. Post any new info here please. After a bit of rest we'll head for Colon.

Ended up flying the bike to Bogota. $1,000 for bike, $600 for me.

Who did you use to fly and from where did you leave....
Looking to make this passage now in mid March 2016....

Usually the travelers will lead you to this sort of advice to investigate further :

GIRAG - Air Cargo. ( link)

Flying out of Tocumen Int'l Airport, Panama City , Panama

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http://advrider.com/index.php?thread....207964/page-5 then scroll down to post #93

New info-
We are shipping via airfreight. Using ServiCarga out of Panama City. We are booked for flying the bikes next week on March 16, 2016, so we have to turn them in to the shipper for crating up on the 15th. We pick them up in Bogota on the 16th. We are shipping as a group of 4, so the cost breaks down to about $820 each.

We visited the shipping office today and got everything pre-arranged. So far, great folks to deal with.

Bikes can have the boxes on. We will take the mirrors and windshields off, and strap everything plus helmets and gear down on the bikes. That way there is minimal crap to carry on the flight. We found tickets to Bogota for about $120 each on Viva Colombia. ServiCarga takes care of Aduana on the Panama side, not sure how it will work on the Colombia side.

Good luck,
Keith

Shipping went well! It was, however, another border crossing now, wasn't it? And it had it's own set of pain-in-the-ass factors, as one has to expect.

We took the bikes to ServiCarga in Panama City at Tocumen Airport (cargo terminal) on Tuesday morning (March 15) for packing. We rolled up a ramp and through a doorway, and with the help of two men very experienced in this, palletized the bikes after removing boxes, mirrors, and turning windshields upside down (or removing them). We loaded all our gear onto the pallets, retaining only as much as would be needed for ourselves to fly to Bogota the next day. We will have lots of photos of the process on our website within the next few days (waiting for good internet) - South on a Bike

After the bikes were palletized and shrink wrapped, the volume was determined and we paid accordingly. Averaged ~US$750 per bike for 3 F650GSs and one 800GSA. We paid up in cash to avoid a credit card surcharge. As all 4 bikes were done at once, and went on a SINGLE AIRWAY BILL, so we only paid one packing charge, one dangerous goods charge, and one customs handling charge, saving us about US$650. So get together with others if you can!

We flew ourselves out on Viva Colombia airlines (Panama Pacific airport). CAUTION - we bought our one-way tickets online, but when we checked in at the airport in Panama City, we were told that there was NO WAY we could fly to Colombia without a ticket out of the country - "Sorry, Colombian law". We talked to all kinds of people, managers, and officials, but in the end we had to knuckle under so we bought the cheapest ticket out, to Quito, about US$120. Hanging our heads a little, we boarded the plane and flew to Bogota.

The last thing as we left the airport was to get our Aduana papers closed out, and get the bikes stamped out of our Passports. Go slow on this, and make sure everything is correct!

We arrived all fine and dandy, and when we showed our passports and ticket out of Colombia to the Migration guy, he barely glanced at the ticket out of the country before stamping our Passports. Really??!! Please do check thoroughly into this rule if you decide to ship by air.

NOTE: We paid everything in US dollars in Panama, but in Colombia, everything is done in Colombian Pesos (COP). At this time (March 2016) the exchange is 3200 COP per US dollar. So get some COP as soon as you enter Colombia - ATMs and cambio (exchange) offices at the airport. Pay attention to the exchange rates being offered if you use a cambio.

We picked up the bikes on Thursday morning at the DHL office at the Bogota airport cargo terminal. High security - have your Passport, Airway Bill, and all your papers handy. Once we paid DHL for their handling fee (about US$25 per bike, I think), we were given papers to take to DIAN (Aduana in Colombia), and sat on our butts for two hours after filling out a form while everything was processed. The agent took me downstairs while he made copies of everything and I paid the equivalent of about 75 cents for them. Then, papers in hand, we went back over to DHL and were given our packages! After an hour of cutting the bikes free and assembling them, we rode down a makeshift ramp and were free to go. The folks at DHL were really great, and we had fun with them - we were the circus come to town! After photos and handshakes all 'round, we went looking for insurance.

Insurance is compulsory in Colombia. One must have SOAT, which is third-party liability insurance. You can buy it at most gas stations, however you will likely have to pay for a year of it, about US$130 for us (all over 400cc). We only wanted 3 months worth. So the lady at the station gave us the address of the main office, and we Ubered into downtown the next morning with all our papers, and were able to buy it for 3 months no problem, about US$34 each.

After that, we were all legal and free to roam about the country. At least for 3 months until our visas run out, and then it's Ecuador for us.

Would I do the air method again? The decision depends on a few things:
1 - Air flies you into Bogota, by sea takes you to Cartegena. So if you want avoid circling around to see the country, you might consider that. We have all the time in the world, so we don't particularly care.
2 - Air is more expensive than by sea, but faster. Make sure you factor in the waiting if considering a container, and the costs of hotels, taxis, food, etc. For us, it pencilled out better to take the plane.
3 - How much time and/or patience do you have? The plane process is three days total, some riders have done it in two, and customs for air freight goes much faster than it does in a sea port (I'm told). We chose to get it all over with in as short a time as possible. Kind of like getting a tooth pulled, I guess.

Right now we are chilling over the Easter holiday in Barichara, a beautiful little town near some stupendous canyon riding. I've explored the dirt way down, and tomorrow I'm looking forward to seeing what I think is the paved way down.

I hope this is of good help to folks traveling down. Please let me know if there are more details I can provide - I know there will be tons of questions, I sure had them. But it's all doable, so just keep stepping ahead and you'll be fine. If not poorer in the wallet, you'll be richer in the experience!

Whichever way you, container or air, good luck, ride safe, and I hope to see you on the road somewhere!

Keith and Jalene
South on a Bike

Great report, and very complete. Nice to hear firsthand that options continue to exist (and change constantly!). FWIW, I used a one-way ticket to Bogota without anyone objecting several years back. But standard operating procedure in such cases is to buy a fully-refundable ticket, then cash it in. More expensive in the short term, cheaper in the long run.

You do not mention closing out your Panamanian temporary import permit at the little aduana kiosk near the entrance to the airfreight section of the airport. I found this essential--not when leaving, but when I returned to Panama 8 months later. YMMV.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

I've edited the post, adding the info on checking out through Panamanian Aduana before leaving the air cargo area.

Thanks for pointing that out - it's really important!

Keith