Hi guys, first time posting so hope this is the right section. My buddy and I had a lot of trouble getting on the Ferry Xpress from Panama to Colombia (didn't get on the first time). The ferry is quite pleasant once on board and clearly the cheapest option. So I wrote this guide as it's a business I want to see succeed...regardless of how hard they try to deter passengers.

HOW TO FERRY XPRESS

1) Get a D.I.J.
2) Buy ferry ticket.
3) Get third party Colombian insurance.
4) Arrive 11 hours before departure with copies.
5) $25 departure tax from Colombia port

1. Get a DIJ

Attend the Dirección de Investigación Judicial (DIJ). It’s in Ancon, Panama. There’s three buildings with the same name opposite each other. Go to the Policia Nacional office on the outbound from the city side of the road. It’s en route to Albrook Mall. **Wear long pants and shoes or they won't do it**

You will need
- Original seguro (insurance) + copy
- Original vehicle title + copy
- Original aduana (paper they give you when you enter the country) + copy
- Original passport + copy

Once the police complete the inspection (took us an hour for them to do a 5 minute inspection and we were the only people there), they won’t give you any new paperwork and will point across the road to the other DIJ building to the right on the main road. Don’t go to the bigger building on the left down a side street.

There will likely be a queue going outside to the left when you arrive. I have no idea what that is for. Walk past these people into the building and attend the reception desk. Just say “D.I.J”. They’ll ask for the original paperwork you gave the police across the road (not the copies), give you the usual Panamanian 20 minutes to 2 hours waiting time without explanation and return with the D.I.J for you to sign.

2. Buy ferry ticket

With your D.I.J and passport in hand, go to the Ferry Xpress office in Panama City (Ciudad de Panama). It’s 10 minutes by bike following the signs to Avenida Balboa from the DIJ Policia Nacional stations. At the time of writing the small but clearly marked office doesn’t exist on Google Maps. Easiest things to put into the GPS are “Harley Davidson Panama”, which shares a back wall with Ferry Xpress or “Multicentro Mall”, which is directly across the road.

It cost us $288 per person with a motorbike and they only take cash.

3. Get third party Colombian insurance.

I have no recommendations for who to go with. But once you're on the ferry they won't let you off until you pay them $75 for insurance that lasts 30 days and you don't get any terms and conditions paperwork for it. So if you can find insurance cheaper, buy that and print it out before getting on board.

4. Arrive at 8am for your 7pm trip and prepare for a long frustrating day.

When I went there were two cars and three of us on bikes (would've been four but my buddy wasn't allowed on for a passport stamp issue). On the day of your 7pm departing ferry, arrive at 8am. Bring plenty of snacks and some entertainment as there will be a lot of sitting around.

You will need
- Original seguro (insurance) x 3 copies
- Original vehicle title x 3 copies
- Original aduana (paper they give you when you enter the country) x 3 copies
- Original passport x 3 copies
- Original ticket given by Ferry Xpress x 1 copy

You can get copies there for $0.50 per sheet.


5. $25 departure tax

As we went to ride off after passing customs, we were hit with a $25 fee to get the bikes out of the port. There was a 15 minute argument between the staff whether we should have been charged it or not, but in the end we had to pay.

The ferry left an hour late at 8pm and by the time we passed customs and left the port it was 6pm.

Timetable

Monday

Departs: Colon, Panama 7pm
Arrives: Cartagena, Colombia 1pm

Tuesday
Departs: Cartagena, Colombia 7pm
Arrives: Colon, Panama 1pm

Wednesday
Departs: Colon, Panama 7pm
Arrives: Cartagena, Colombia 1pm

Thursday
Departs: Cartagena, Colombia 7pm
Arrives: Colon, Panama 1pm

*Friday and Saturday Ferry Xpress it goes to and from Colon, Panama to Bocas Del Toro, Panama.

On board advice
• If you’re on a budget bring plenty of food (no fresh fruit and vegetables) as it's about $8 for a small plate of food on board.
• You can get hot water for 2 minute noodles from the staff in the café.
• They have WiFi at $5 for 2 hours.
• They tried to confiscate all the tools from one rider. He stood his ground and managed to keep them, so make sure you do likewise!
• The air conditioning inside is like a movie theatre, so bring your sleeping bag. You can sleep in the aisles.
• The wall inputs are European. If you need an adaptor ask at reception on the 6th floor for a converter. It's only a $2 deposit. Hot tip is to try get a seat next to a socket on the wall, they're just above head height

Any questions happy to answer...and again sorry if this is posted in the wrong spot.

Thank you for this information! I will be heading to this direction in around 1-2 months.

__________________
www.whereishemuli.eu
Riding round the World

Facebook:WhereIsHemuli

Thanks for sharing this informations that detailed!

Surfy

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About Overlanding, Travelogues, Equipment
Trans-Africa over the west coast

Thanks for the information. We are trying for the December 1 sailing and this like saved us a couple of days.

This is awesome! I have read reports of on and off service but this time it's consistent. Before I leave I am printing your report as a guide and buying a euro plug adapter for my laptop! I think we all agree that you did the community a great service for this report!

Hi All, just to let you know that Ferry Xpress has currently suspended shipping motor vehicles and do not expect to resume services until mid January.

Motorcycles are being shipped as normal.

We have made agreement with the operator so that we are able to offer discounts to overlanders more info here Ferry Xpress Discount

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MyOverlandAdventure
OverlandingAssociation.org Overlanding Africa

Fantastic!!! I am in Nicaragua heading to South America and have heard lots about Ferry Xpress but you are the first people that I have heard of that have actually been on the boat. Great information!!!!

Thanks for your time and effort with this. Greatly appreciated.

Hank

They are completely booked for the 17th of dec.. you can't even get a seat it's getting to be busy holiday travel time .....I was told that they are not taking cars cause they got a problem with the ramp ...but bikes still ok ...I'm leaving on Monday .the 15th ... was also told you have to buy insurance for columbia on the boat ....good luck getting the dij form from the cops ..it was a head ache ...oh bikes also need to be entered into the system at least 3 days Iin advance ... I got pics of the building for the dij can't load them duh ...

Update: Ferry Xpress are transporting Vehicles on January 5th from Panama to Cartagena and January 6 from Cartagena to Panama, only those two days.

Check our FB group for more info: https://www.facebook.com/groups/OverlandSphere

Note OS Contributors get a full 15% discount, non contributors 5%

***Note Motorcycles are being transported as normal!!***

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MyOverlandAdventure
OverlandingAssociation.org Overlanding Africa

Is this ferry going from Panama to Colombia after Jan 5th or is the service now stopped?

__________________
www.whereishemuli.eu
Riding round the World

Facebook:WhereIsHemuli

@Hemuli

The service will continue to run, during December they temporally suspended shipping Vehicles (not motorcycles)

Currently they say that the vehicle service on the 5th/6th is a one off, and have not confirmed when the regular vehicle service will resume.

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MyOverlandAdventure
OverlandingAssociation.org Overlanding Africa

Thanks for this update. Most of the instructions I read are for the southbound leg (Panama to Columbia). Has anyone done it the other way (from Cartegena) who can provide similar instructions on how to get a the bike onto the ferry, out of Columbia and into Panama

Thanks.

Hey guys i bought tickets for 4 riders last november, for the new season at April and now looks like the company just disaperead. Any help?? Any news?
anybody else has same problems or crossed at 2016??
US$ 1940 for 4 bikes and 4 cabins.

last year [url=http://www.ferryexpresstour.com]Bale

Sorry to hear that. Looks like it was a scam after all... Overlandsphere was warning about it in Nov. 15:
http://overlandsphere.com/overland-forum/threads/a-new-ferry-express-panama-to-colombia-vehicle-ferry.11456/

Really sorry to hear you lost your money on that. I live in Panama and was really hoping that the company would be able to make a go of it.

I think that there were a couple of things that caused it to fail. First, when the announced the ferry route airfares from Panama to Colombia were really expensive. Then VivaColombia airlines started offering cheap fares and other airlines matched them, so the ferry lost economic advantage. Second, getting paperwork for a Panama registered vehicle to leave is a long, tedious process. Panamanians who thought they could take a car to Colombia easily found they couldn't. I also heard (but can't confirm) that there was a problem with the loading ramp and so the ferry couldn't take larger vehicles.

If the Stahlratte is available I've heard good reports from people who have taken it. Otherwise I suggest air freight.

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Steve Barnett
Panama City, Panama