Baku to Aktau ferry info. May 2013.
 

How to get on the Baku Ferry to Aktau.

Baku ferry.
First, you need to fill your empty tank of patience. Forget all the shit you went through with police and traffic trying to get to Baku. Take a deep breath. Ok now you are ready to start.
There are 2 ports in Baku, the “new port” and the “old port”. The ferry to Aktau can leave from either. There is no schedule. The ferry will leave when it is full of transport. If it is a rail ferry, you will not be able to go on it if there are petroleum cars or chemical cars. No passengers will. I am not sure about the ferry to Turkmenbashi and how to buy a ticket.

The link to Baku Port .::Baku Sea Port::.
(It won't be much help)

You need to find the lady named Vika. She is Russian looking in her 30s. Sandy blond/brown hair. Speaks some English and she is the ONLY person who can sell you a ticket. There are 2 ticket offices and its a crap shoot where she will be. Email me and I will send you her number. The old port ticket office is located near the Boulevard area of Baku. After you enter the main road from the Boulevard, you will drive between a wall on the right and a building on the left. You will cross railroad tracks and see a gate. The first building on the right after the gate is the ticket office. The door with moto stickers on it is the one you want.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5...ku%2520pic.jpg

Coordinates 40.376178277, 49.8650832704 (Old Port Entrance from Boulevard)
Coordinates 40.3744878209, 49.865611321 (Ticket office)

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-T...0/DSC07930.JPG
Ticket office on the right just past the gate.

The New Port (RoRo Port) is about 8 km east.
Coordinates 40.3691628766, 49.9352689035 (Ro Ro Port Entrence)
Coordinates 40.3628328103, 49.9344234767 (New port ticket office)

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-n...0/DSC07943.JPG
Left door is ticket office. Middle is passport control. right is customs.

The ticket office is the white building on the right side of the gate. There are 3 doors on the west wall. Left door is Ticket, middle door is passport control, right door is police/customs.

Call Vika every morning at 10:00 and ask if a ferry is leaving. She will probably say call back around 2 or no, there isn't one. When you call back around 2, the ferry will probably have chemical rail cars in which case you can't go. So you wait till the next day and call again.

Customs office.
When your 3 day transit import for your vehicle is up, you need to leave you vehicle or car at the customs office. Theoretically it is a “secure place” I had no problem with my motorcycle being messed with. I removed all luggage and locked my spare tires to the frame. You don't need to pay any money when you put your bike into custom. You will be able to remove your bike from customs when you have a ticket to the boat. They will let you ride to the new port if that is where the ship is leaving from. You should not have to pay any money to customs when you are leaving. You can leave your vehicle at customs in the new port also I think. But it will not be in a gated area.

Coordinates 40.3719194538, 49.865193405 (Old Port Customs office)

The ticket cost $200. I paid in USD.
Here are a few pictures from on the boat.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-e...0/DSC07986.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-q...0/DSC08046.JPG
Beer was 2 manat. Most meals were 2 or 3 Manat.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-s...0/DSC07985.JPG

Here is what you have to do for customs in Aktau.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-X...520customs.jpg

Great info, I did it a few years back when there was no new port. Customs guy did not make a copy for the border guy so had to go back and get one. Probably their bit of fun for the day!
We berthed at 8am and did not get out of the port until around 3pm....
Same deal Baku end with the lack of schedule available ferries ended up having to stay there almost a week, made it tight to get back to work in Atyrau and had to ride from Aktau to Atyrau in 1 hit.

Great info Noah ... I will add the waypoints to the database. :thumbup1:

co-ordinates in decimal format are the best ... thanks for those. But you only need 4 or 5 decimal places. 0.00001 of a degree has a maximum value of 1.1 metres (3.5 feet).

BTW mate ... I know you have been on the road a long time ... but its still only 2013 !!!

Also added to OSM map.

Thanks for the detailed description.

KP

I fixed the the tile. Unless it was actually a message from the future....
Chris

Yeah, I just noticed that. And no.. it isn't a message from the future :P

Vica
 

What is Vica's mobile phone number please?

PM sent.

I wasn't sure If I should post her number on the web since it is a cell phone. Last thing we want to do is have her go change it and be back to square 1. I don't know.. what do you think?

I don't know if there is any particular etiquette regarding phone numbers but I would not want somebody putting mine up here, passing it on through a pm to people who actually need it sounds acceptable though.

Hey Noar great info!

I am in Tbilisi now so i will go this way once i am ready to leave after seeing all the small villages:scooter:

Could you PM her number please and also where did you get you ABJ visa from was it Tbilisi?

Any info on this route from leaving Georgia to Kazak via ABJ would be great!

Maybe i will catch you up at some point jeiger

Azerbaijan visa in Tbilisi. It took about 1 week. Maybe longer.. PM sent.

Heh Snoah!! We are in Baku at the moment and are hoping to catch a ferry to Aktau ... in the next couple of days ...! Ish! Can you please send me Vika's number. The old port appears to be having a few re-structural amendments at the moment and will have to go to the new port 6km away hoping we can get info ...

Hope you can help!

Melissa

Noah may have limited internet for a while. Try the two ticket offices and ask for her. Or maybe Wesley or Tomos can PM you with it

PM sent with phone number, i never took this ferry in the end as i went back up to Russia

Great (and detailed) info Noah! THX!!!



Jefe64

Hi, Snoah

Thanks for great info!

Now I am in Tbilisi and will go to Baku to take same ferry for Aktau too.
Could you PM her number?

I'm going back to Japan passing through Russia, so I worry about russian winter...
so have to hurry up.

how long did you wait for your ferry??


Shin

Hey Score,

We also took that ferry to Aktau..It was an experience. Supposed to take roughly 26hrs but ended up being 5 days. If you just make it down to the ticket office (about 1km past the big port building on the main boulevard and take a right) she will be there. You will see the door full of moto stickers (ours should be on there also).

The ferry to Aktau is really unpredictable and irregular. We were told that it would take up to 2 weeks waiting but in the end we got on after 2 days.

Azerbaijan and the ferry from Baku to Atkau
 

Hi,

Lots of really useful information on this thread, thanks.

But I was wondering, does anyone have any up to date useful information about entering and crossing Azerbaijan from Georgia or Armenia and, or taking the ferry.

My original plan was to enter Iran from Armenia this coming May and then travel round the Caspian Sea to Turkmenistan and Uzbeckistan, before turning west and heading back to Europe through Kazakhstan and Russia. Unfortunately UK passport holders are obliged to take a guide in Iran it would appear, which is something I don't want to do.

seeing as you've reopened this one - I'm planning to take the boat from Baku to Aktau in July and would welcome any current information as well

I don't see much issue crossing from Georgia to Azerbaijan ... from internet investigations I reckon the Armenia into Azerbaijan is a no go


http://caravanistan.com/transport/caspian-sea-ferry/

I've only just realised but the European games are being held in Baku in June 2015 so I wonder if that will have any effect on the post soviet shipping and historic organisation across the Caspian ?

Hey there,

Any infos for the port of Turkmenbashi?


Thank you and happy New year :)

See the caravanistan link above - there is a bit of info in there :thumbup1:

Should be good news:innocent:.....

RR.

I did use ferry in beginning of August last year on my way from Serbia to Japan which I accomplish in 3 month and 24.000km on Suzuki Dr650. No time table for ferry...you have to be there in order to move once they get ..go ahead from headquarters...I slept in front off the office for 2 days
and more then 12 hours at the dock before boarding ferry......crossing was smut and nice, clean cabins,food OK at $ 3 per mill ....once in Aktau harbor we could not disembark for 18 hours...and head to slip on a parking lot till morning, waiting for as custom office to open and custom procedure is confusing as so many forms is to be fill and stamp to be placed from different departments.

Don't you think with these conditions, it should be better to consider the loop around northern Caspien sea?
RR.

That's making a huge assumption that you can cross from Georgia into Russia.

If I remeber well, I've heard some reports from travellers who have crossed Russian/Georgian border (from Vladikawkaz to Tbilissi) with their own car.
I think the same thing should be done in the reverse direction...

RR.

It can be done, the border is reported to be open since a few years now.
BUT, last year, a few landslides blocked the road a few times.

I don't know the situation now, but next season should be ok.

Thanks Crisidsto for your reply!

Any report about this border crossing?

I'm planning to do it next summer after visiting Uzb./KAZ./South Russia (to come back in Turkey)

RR

I am considering doing this, but my primary choice is still to travel without the mandatory guide through Iran (which I am still investigating). Alternatively, I am considering the ferry to Turkmenbashy, but that appears to be fraught with complications and hassles.

Any information on recent experiences of any of these three routes would be gratefully received.

Last info I found on this site says landslide was cleared and the road reopened last september

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...985#post479098

Thanks again.
I think it's the same thing in the reverse direction...
RR.

I'm watching this thread with interest as I'm hoping to go to Samarkand this summer using either Iran, the Baku ferry or Russia, and ideally using 2 of those routes, so as not to retrace my steps.

Russia seems the least complicated at the moment.

Iran may still be an option and hoping that with an Irish passport I'll not need a guide.

Not getting a warm feeling about the ferry though

Great info. I might be heading down here 2016

I'm going to need to get this ferry in 2016 for sure now.

Any up to date info ?? Anything changed ??

Cheers, Ted

ferry
 

we, take this ferry (from Baku to Aktau). But we have not good memories about it:)

For the bad weather we have to eait for ferry 6 days in Baku. Price for our car with our tickets was horrible. 740 USD or so. Then when we finaly departure we have to stay on the Caspian sea for one extra night due the wheather....

We were only 3 cars on the boat and 5 tourists :)

740 USD !!! Holey crap...

yes, price disaster. 100 usd for 1 meter of car + 2 persones... :(

Do you know how much one person and a motorcycle costs ??

Vika´s number
 

hi everyone,

we are in Baku in the Moment.
Could anyone please PM me Vika´s number.
Would be a great help.
Thanks
Cheers Thomas